The Scoop: More immigrants will test job market
President Bush took a step away from the Iraq fiasco on Wednesday when he proposed drastic changes to this country’s immigration policy.
Normally, talk of national policy doesn’t seize my attention, but this is vastly different since it hits close to home. Warren County is flooded with members of the Hispanic community, which, for the most part, doesn’t bother me.
I’ve never been harassed by a Mexican, and I enjoy eating their food, so their prevalence in this area has by no means altered my life. However, I do find a couple things bothersome about Bush’s proposal.
First and foremost, Bush recommended increasing the number of green cards the United States issues each year. Green cards grant immigrants permanent residency in this country and some 140,000 are issued each year.
From where I’m sitting, 140,000 is enough. It’s no secret why foreigners want to make their way to America — to find work. Or, another way to say that, they come to this country to snatch our jobs.
Bush’s plan fails to fully consider the pressures of today’s job market. American factories are already shutting down and re-opening south of the border. Can we really afford to send jobs to Mexico, then open our arms for more Hispanics to come here and fill the jobs we have left?
I also wonder what impact an additional surge in cheap, Hispanic labor would do to American paychecks. As Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) correctly asserted, cheap foreign labor would only depress the wages U.S. citizens are accustomed to earning.
Another major drawback of Bush’s proposal is it grants amnesty to an estimated 8 to 10 million foreign workers who are already in this country illegally. It would allow those illegal residents to gain a temporary three-year visa, meaning their stay in the U.S. would now be perfectly legal. In short, it would reward them for breaking the law.
I don’t see the difference in that and, for example, granting the meth cookers of this country three years worth of amnesty. It’s like saying “We know you’re making meth illegally so if you register as an official meth cooker, you can do it for three years and not get arrested.”
There are aspects of Bush’s plan I applaud, the first of which is he’s confronting the challenge of shaping a controversial policy during an election year. I always shudder to see politicians run and hide from an issue for fear it might cost them a few votes.
It’s also reassuring to see Bush flash his compassionate side. During most of his waking hours, the president seems more determined to play with his military toys or bolster the bottom line of big oil companies than worry about the “little guy.”
Bush contends his new policy would help immigrants from being exploited by their employers. These employers would be forced to pay immigrants more competitive wages since the temporary citizens would be free to seek employment elsewhere. Their pay wouldn’t have to come (wink, wink) under the table. They wouldn’t have to live in fear of working long hours or being turned over to authorities, so the theory goes.
I would like it if Bush, and the rest of the politicians, put more emphasis on Americans and less emphasis on policing and caring for the entire world population. So many countries are quick to beg for U.S. charity, yet never make an attempt to repay it.
As a taxpayer, I don’t want the weight of the world on my shoulders. We have enough problems right here at home.
One of those problems is immigration. My solution to that is to keep more people out of our country, not to dust off the welcome mat and invite everyone in.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)