An idea that would give a Minuteman a heart attack
By Katie Llanos-Small, June 15th, 2008
If factories can pick up and move overseas when they want, then why can’t workers? That’s what the US Socialist Worker Party’s candidate for the Presidency, Roger Calero, reckons.
I interviewed Calero a few weeks ago and, on the whole, our perspectives on world affairs were so far apart that I sometimes wondered if we were both talking about the same global system.
But I agreed with what he had to say about immigration.
Mexicans perish in the Arizona desert trying to reach a US city. Sudanese drown as their overloaded dinghies sink on the way to the Canary Islands. Moroccans are shot as they try to jump the wall into Spanish territories Ceuta and Melilla.
How horrendous is it that hundreds, if not thousands, of people die every year, for doing nothing more than trying to enter another country to earn some money?
You can keep your national security concerns, if that’s what you’re into. But it is unfair that the Western world puts up so many barriers for healthy, working age people who legitimately want to work.
Europeans, Australians, Canadians, US citizens, Kiwis – we were all incredibly lucky to hold the passports we do, to be able to live and work in prosperous countries. What did we do to merit that right? How can we say to the majority of humanity that they must live in the underdeveloped world, that we cannot share our privileges?
Yeah, it would be economic chaos at the beginning - first world countries have immigration laws largely to protect their working population.
But how can you justify the system as it is?
PS - With reference to the headline, see also www.minutemanproject.com. Discretion advised.
Other posts by Katie Llanos-Small
June 16th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Rubbish! There ia a legal way to come to America. We welcome LEGAL immigrants.
Illegal Aliens are welcomed. They have broken the laws to come here. They deserve a better life in their own Country. Illegal aliens do not have the right to enter the USA and then demand that we pay their Medical, Housing, Educating their children, free pre-school, translators, food stamps and this is just a few things that they are given at tax payer expense.
California has the highest numbers of Illegal Aliens living there. Hospitals are closing because illegal aliens use it for all of their medical needs. They will take an ambulance so that they do not have to pay for a Taxi.
Illegal aliens need to fix the countries that they came from.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Correction on past comments, Illegal Aliens are not welcomed.
In addition Thousands of Americans are harmed or killed by illegal aliens each year. Google it.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Aren’t many of these illegal immigrants doing a lot of work that US citizens wouldn’t really want to do? Aren’t they contributing a great deal to the US economy?
Can you see how morally arbitrary it is that you born in a country where you get far more opportunities than people born in many other countries?
Can you see the advantages that come from having a particular type of passport that makes you (in comparison) welcomed around the world?
June 16th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Yes PJ American you are right, but just in part, you just see the negative consequences of illegal immigration but you never think that without these people that you dislike many of the goods that you consume would be double the price, or how many American businesses survive in the global market thanks for the cheap price of these workers.
If you really dislike the immigrants don’t complain just about them coming to The U.S. to improve their lives. Complain against the rich owners of many companies that don’t want to hire legal Americans because if they do they could not afford a new European car.
And about your last assertion “ Illegal aliens need to fix the countries that they came from” well I think that you would not be U.S citizen if the Native Americans would have said the same to your ancestors..that of course …were illegal immigrants too.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
“What did we do to merit that right? How can we say to the majority of humanity that they must live in the underdeveloped world, that we cannot share our privileges?”
I agree one hundred per cent with that view, Katie. To disagree with that point can only be racist, plain and simple.
Does the term “illegal alien” seem to anyone else to be a really good way of dehumanising foreign immigrants? It is easier not to feel compassion for people you do not recognise.
The reality the privileged forget is they are only in their country through immigration, be it their own migration or their ancestors. To then look down on others who come from a less fortunate country is sick indeed. Sure, ideally we should aim to ensure all nations are prosperous, and that no one should need to flee their homeland, but in the immediate future this is not realistic. Of course neither is letting in all immigrants. However it is ignorant not to acknowledge that most western countries have acquired their wealth off of exploiting developing nations. These people suffer so you can scoff your mouth with burgers and drive an SUV. How honourable!
June 18th, 2008 at 8:28 am
The fact that the the ‘Western World’ is a result of immigration should be recognised. But dont forget that most nations in the America’s resulted from the same relative period of immigration. What is it that has resulted in the comparative wealth of the USA?
I’m no expert in politics or history, but I think an important part of the US wealth is setting up and working hard to protect their particular constitution and system of laws. Do you think that US citizens have a right to inherit the society that their parents and near ancestors have created for them? The restrictions on immigration are there to protect the structure of the society that they have built.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Tim,
To some extent hard work is responsible for America’s wealth, but no more so than any other country. More so than other countries, America’s wealth was built on slavery and resource exploitation, particularly oil reserves. To consolidate this wealth America has propped up corrupt regimes across the world, from Suharto’s Indonesia to Saddam’s Iraq, from Apartheid South Africa to Batista’s Cuba. The US, and other Western nations, have supported countries who are friendly to US business and trade interests, but are not so friendly to their own people’s interests.
Immigrants do the work in countries that no one else world. Educated immigrants go to countries that can pay them the best and offer them the best standard of living. I think it is time people recognise just how vital immigrants are to the prosperity of a country. More a tap, than a drain.
Paul