Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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June 11, 2008 9:44 AM
From the horse's mouth (guest post)
Now, it's kind of funny to be blogging about David on his own blog, but since there's been some confusion recently about his position on both immigration and Lou Dobbs, I thought it worthwhile to point readers toward David's recent post on his HuffPost diary about his appearance on Lou Dobb's radio show.
One of the main points that David tried to make in his debate with Dobbs and which he emphasizes in his post is that Dobbs "deliberately separates the issue of free trade from the issue of immigration specifically to stoke anger." He emphasizes that while Dobbs has "admirably progressive views on trade policy," he unfortunately uses those views to "stoke anti-immigrant and xenophobic sentiment."
To my mind, the important thing that David reminds us of here is that we must not lose sight of the fact that "free" trade has been bad for workers everywhere, not just in the US. The solution to the problem is not pitting US workers against immigrant workers, but to fight for increased workplace and wage standards for everyone.
In the column on "immigration con artists" that he links back to on his diary, David puts it more eloquently than i probably could:
...nobody asks the taboo question: What is illegal immigration actually about?
The answer is exploitation. Employers looking to maximize profits want an economically desperate, politically disenfranchised population that will accept ever worse pay and working conditions. Illegal immigrants perfectly fit the bill.
Politicians know exploitation fuels illegal immigration. But they refuse to confront it because doing so would mean challenging their financiers.
Instead we get lawmakers chest-thumping about immigration enforcement while avoiding a discussion about strengthening wage and workplace safety enforcement -- proposals that address the real problem.
Equally deplorable, these same lawmakers keep supporting trade policies that make things worse. Just last week, both Emanuel and Tancredo voted to expand NAFTA into the Southern Hemisphere. This is the same trade model that not only decimated American jobs and wages, but also increased illegal immigration by driving millions of Mexican farmers off their land, into poverty and ultimately over our southern border in search of subsistence work.
What David doesn't mention is that the US's trade policies have been disastrous not only for Mexican farmers, but also the same Mexican industrial workers that were supposed to benefit from NAFTA. Competition from more exploitation-friendly factories in China has caused many Mexican "maquiladoras" to go out of business, resulting in a net decrease in Mexican manufacturing jobs from 4.1 million to 3.5 million from 2000 to 2004. Moreover, the unequal distribution of the benefits of foreign investment in Mexico have created a decline in Mexican manufacturing real wages. The result? Free trade has pushed Mexican workers not just off of their farms but out of factories as well.
Too often when supporters of workers in this country go after either NAFTA or the immigration system, they forget that it is the selling out of workers in another country that creates problems for workers in this one. To be truly progressive on this issue (and not just partly, though "admirably" progressive as Dobbs is), we must not just oppose NAFTA because it ships American jobs overseas or rail against the broken immigration system because it pushes down the wages of US workers. We must recognize that the current immigration system and NAFTA hurt workers on the other side of the border as well: driving their real wages down and pushing them out of their homes. We must recognize that the only people who benefit from the current system are the multinational corporations whose race to the bottom of acceptable wages and working conditions is officially sanctioned by US economic policy. We must recognize that these policies are the true enemy and not the workers on either side of the border whose exploitation those policies perpetuate.
In short, we must recognize that the fates of US workers, foreign workers, and immigrant workers are inextricably linked. We must affirm that the best way to better the lot of some workers is to better the lot of all workers. This concept should be fairly familiar to advocates of workers' rights. It's called "solidarity," and it's as old as the trade union movement itself. Funny we should have to keep reminding ourselves of its importance.
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
Heavy fines/jailtime for illegal employers are a more plausible and prompt sol'n than wage/conditions legislation and unionization.
Most folx haven't the time or resources to wait for the int'l workers' Utopia prescribed here.
That said, mutually unfair trade agreements are indeed the long term problem.
The reason that mass illegal immigration has not been addressed over the past couple of decades is that there is in effect an unusual coalition between the left wing and the right wing on this issue. The corporate interests of the right wing want mass immigration to lower wages, and the left wing wants mass immigration to help them electorally.
Populists on the other hand, want was is best for the country, which is well-regulated, legal, and moderate amounts of immigration. Anything else helps the corporate right wing or the left wing at the expense of decent wages for workers and our standard of living.
Regards,
Agreed.
It starts w/ "progressives" like Diane Feinstein whining about "inadequate supply of H2A's" for her agbiz contributors.
She and her ilk are enablers for the slavery lite system against which free workers must compete.
Meanwhile, unemployment for non/semi-skilled citizens is well into double digits.
If there was truly a "labor shortage", and if our economy was as free/fair as claimed, wages would skyrocket. Simple supply and demand.
Anyone remember when arduous labor was paid a premium.
We all know what's happening here. Lazy-assed over-schooled and under-educated "progressives" want to keep their cheap landscapers, nannies, etc. If they gave a flying **** about their gardener, they'd pay him/her a living wage - somewhere well north of $20/hr.
JumperPin: If you cared about gardeners or domestic workers, wouldn't you want them all to be able to be paid a living wage?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBfBRBlFI5K1v0dukKJdoqzUdHkAD9137U502
Hi Austin,
That's a disturbing but not surprising article. This kind of abuse is common out here in El Paso, TX. Illegal employers are indeed a major problem. As much as I like Lou Dobbs, since he was a Wall Street Libertarian in his earlier days, he rarely discusses the true effects of NAFTA or even illegal employers in general. As a matter of fact, when 3 times guest on his show brought up the issue of illegal employers and 5 other times guests brought up the issue of "free" trade, he would go about dismissing it and try to focus only on the immigrant itself. He would say "Yeah, but that's not important" to them. It's like blaming innocent Iraqi civilians for 9/11 when in fact Al Quaida, now stronger than ever and nearly gaining back on Afghanistan to levels right before 9/11, is the real culprit. But then again, Al Quaida, "free" trade, and illegal employers were made in America by horrible economic and foreign policies.
P.S.:
There is a double standard going on though which no one talks about. A Cuban illegal gets unlimited rights and protections because they're given blanket "legal" status.
Actually I have heard Dobbs on numerous occasions rail against corporations or companies who hire illegal immigrants, and he has called for criminal charges to be brought against those employers. People can agree or disagree with Dobbs on his positions, but he is basically just a patriotic American with populist ideas.
Attacking him for favoring well-regulated, legal, and moderate amounts of immigration, that is right in line with a populist ideology, is basically attcking him for being a populist. If you disagree with that view of immigration that is fine, but your view is not of a populist nature, it is more in line with a right-wing corporatist or left-wing ideologue.
Regards,
I'll be honest. About Lou Dobbs, don't get me wrong. I don't despise him. I only get time to watch him on a weekend although I may watch him on an occasional weekday.
Now about his populism. Yeah, he may be more populist sounding than even Sirota. However, he still has a long ways to go. I have yet to see him bring up the issue of the Cuban immigration double standard that is going on right under our noses. Visit any part of FL and it won't take long to find out. Hint: Do a google search on Cuban vs Haitian immigrants in Florida. He may bring up the issues of business elites on the occasion but 9 out of 10 times, I only see him giving higher priority to only the immigrants and not as much time on the employers and various policies, foreign and economic, that enabled this mess. For example, Lou Dobbs never brought up the issue of the stolen election in Mexico last year where the US and Mexican media along with the US Government and corrupt officials in Mexico cooperated to help Phelepe Caulderon STEAL the election from Obrador. Caulderon supports even more dumping of illegals into the US whereas Obrador tried to push for improving the economic conditions within Mexico itself so that people wouldn't be pushed into desperately crossing the borders illegally. I don't see any evidence of Obrador supporting open borders blatantly but if there's proof, please provide me a link. And why is Lou Dobbs buying into the phoney "war on drugs"? Big Pharma and the drug dealers and cartels have been winning because of it and look at how they're enjoying ripping people off. If Cannabis hadn't been outlawed, our RIGGED economy dubbed "free" wouldn't be completely tied to petroleum and the decades of wars for oil would have been highly unlikely. Hemp is not marijuana and its 26000 industrial uses including fuel are capable of replacing petroleum 100%.
And I'm just as ticked off that Sirota supports coal-gas while giving less say on solar and wind. While both are far more patriotic than most pols or the Far Left/Right, I don't think that either Sirota or Dobbs are complete populists as both have long ways to go.
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