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08-09-2013, 12:53 PM #1
How the Immigration Bill Harms the Working Class—and How Conservatives Can Help It
First Things
August 8, 2013
Pete Spiliakos
Now is the time to speak directly to the real and legitimate concerns of millions of hurting Americans whose wages have declined and whose job prospects have grown only bleaker. —Jeff Sessions
This is because Democrats are thinking long-term and Republicans are thinking short-term. It is time for conservatives to start thinking long-term too.
Democrats prioritize the interests of incoming low-skill workers over current low-skill workers. Sure, male, low-skill American residents have been experiencing a thirty-year decline in wages, and parents with the lowest educational attainment have endured severe family disruption. Yet for many on the left, the needs of low-skill workers who are already here are outweighed by the needs of incoming low-skill workers who would be even poorer. As Matthew Yglesias put it, “The idea of avoiding a small harm to poor people by inflicting a much-larger harm on substantially poorer people makes very little sense to me.” The interests of those who wish to come here have priority over those who are already here.
There is a partisan motive here, too. As increased low-skill immigration drives down wages for low-skill workers, the politics of declining wages pushes politics in the direction of greater redistribution. As Yglesias writes, “To the extent that you have more immigrants you have both a stronger moral case for redistribution to low-income natives and a stronger practical case for redistribution to low-income natives.” An anti-working-class politics actually creates the conditions for higher taxes on behalf of the working class.
There are costs to such a policy. A recent Third Way report found that declining wages tended to coincide with disrupted family formation. That is hardly a political problem for the party of the Life of Julia. Democrats can tell themselves that even if their policies will reduce the wages and injure the families of low-skill workers in the short term, Democrats can make it up to them through higher taxes and bigger government spending on the back end.
Some Republicans have their own reasons for expanding low-skill immigration. Republican politicians like George W. Bush have long found the current population of low-skill workers too small and insufficiently willing to do unpleasant jobs. Republican politicians have pushed for low-skill guest worker programs in which immigrants who undergo a spell of unemployment would face deportation. This combination of business demand for, and contempt of, low-leverage labor was aptly summed up by a Marco Rubio aide, who in arguing for a larger guest worker program in the construction industry, said many American workers “can’t cut it.” Paul Ryan, too, has defended expanding low-skill immigration as a way of keeping down wages in the low-skill sector of the economy—despite the thirty-year decline of low-skill wages.
This bipartisan alliance in favor of low-skill immigration is not a perfect match. Republicans would like more of the low-skill immigrants to be guest workers who would have limited access to the welfare system and who would not be eligible for citizenship. They prefer a longer “path to citizenship” for current illegal immigrants who would get amnesty. The Democrats, on the other hand, would want to extend government benefits and citizenship. This leaves the Republicans fighting a rearguard action to prevent the extension of benefits and delay attainment of citizenship. The Republicans might win delays, but at the price of seeming, and being, indifferent to the struggles of all low-wage workers.
Conservative opponents of the Senate bill have the public on their side. Americans of both parties would prefer transitioning to a policy that would favor high-skill and English proficient immigrants. What conservative opponents of the Senate bill lack is a vocabulary and broader framework for their opposition. They lack a way of talking about limited government that does not put the interests of high-earners and business owners first.
Conservative opponents should oppose the Senate bill because it hurts the economic prospects of low-skill citizens and current residents, but that is not enough. Conservatives can’t be the party of the working class on immigration and the party of the “job creators” on everything else. While supporting relatively lower taxes and lower spending (relative to the left), conservatives need to do a better job of addressing working-class concerns about stagnating wages and access to health insurance. Conservatives need what Senator Jeff Sessions called “a larger effort to broaden our appeal to working Americans of all backgrounds.” They might find that a “humble and honest populism” sounds like common sense to much of the American public.
Pete Spiliakos is a columnist for First Things. His previous “On the Square” columns can be found here. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
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08-09-2013, 12:58 PM #2
RELATED
Sec of Labor: Immigration reform is an economic imperative
I'm particularly concerned about undocumented young people who live in the United States because their parents came here seeking a brighter future. I think about them every time I talk about the DREAM Act -
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08-09-2013, 01:06 PM #3
Sec of Labor: Immigration reform is an economic imperative
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
National Council of La Raza Conference — Health Care Town Hall Forum
Chicago, Illinois Sunday, July 26, 2009
http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/speeches/20090726_NCLRC.htm
And it's always great to be with the National Council of La Raza.
Before I begin, I wanted to thank Janet Murguía, the NCLR board and staff for the outstanding work they do each day on behalf of the Latino community and our country. NCLaRaza is a bedrock for the Latino community — committed to strengthening this great nation by promoting the advancement of Latino families. I am proud of what NCLR stands for and the work that your organization and affiliates across our country do everyday.
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Gala
Gala Theme: "A Legacy of Public Service" San Antonio, TexasJuly 13, 2010
It's inspiring to say that today NCLR is in 41 states, and Puerto Rico... and the District of Columbia.
NCLaRaza is everywhere!
That means that in virtually every part of this country, there are organizations that work for the advancement of our familias.
Solis served near the end of the Carter administration in the White House Office of Hispanic Affairs
At the start of the Reagan administration in 1981, she became a management analyst at the civil rights division of the Office of Management and Budget, but her dislike for Ronald Reagan's policies motivated her to leave later that year.[6][14]
Solis was born in Los Angeles, California[1] as the daughter of immigrant parents who had met in citizenship class and married in 1953: Juana Sequeira (b. 1926, from Nicaragua) and Raul Solis (from Mexico).
being accepted into the Educational Opportunity Program at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (a program that assists low-income, first-generation college students)[11] and paying for it with the help of government grants and part-time jobs.Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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08-09-2013, 01:10 PM #4Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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08-09-2013, 01:15 PM #5
We'd like to take credit for most of this ..Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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08-09-2013, 01:17 PM #6
Do Conservatives actually believe this?Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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08-09-2013, 03:13 PM #7
Republican Party 2004 Campaign [targeted at Hispanics]
(make sure you rewind this to the start, it has a tendency to begin in the middle)
George W. Bush on Immigration
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08-10-2013, 04:19 PM #8
Added to Homepage--
http://www.alipac.us/content.php?r=2...es-Can-Help-ItJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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08-29-2013, 09:18 PM #9Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
Durbin pushes voting rights for illegal aliens without public...
04-25-2024, 09:10 PM in Non-Citizen & illegal migrant voters