I think the writer below is a bit optimistic but he has a point
America’s immigration problem is, at its root, an embarrassment of riches. Too many Americans need too many things – things which they’re willing to pay for in money from their heretofore securely-salaried careers, but unwilling to pay for in labor. “Labor” is the domain of jobs, positions which Americans long ago eschewed for “careers.” It was a rejection born of the luxury to choose, born of the opulence of option. Mexican immigrants, having not yet paid their Ameri-generational dues, took jobs that Americans wouldn’t.
It’s an argument most often used by immigrant apologists – and because of that it reeks of dogmatic, impractical tolerance – but it’s nonetheless completely accurate. But the party’s over – for us and for them. And that’s just it:
Who is “us” and who is “them” is increasingly unclear, the lines blurred by rising unemployment. Here’s what Bob Gray, a California-based food grower, had to say about the situation in a recent Wall Street Journal article:
In particular, Mr. Gray has observed an influx of U.S.-born Latinos and other workers who previously shunned field work. “These are domestic workers who appear to be displacing immigrants,” says Mr. Gray. A similar situation has emerged in U.S. cities from New York to Los Angeles, where unemployed, nonimmigrant laborers are seeking informal work that typically has been performed by low-skilled immigrants that once commanded a 50% premium over the hourly minimum wage.
The thing is, those “careers” – so often in public relations or consulting or new media – are the first to wind up on the chopping block when companies look to cut back. What’s still standing are the labor-intensive jobs, those which for so long have been filled by illegal immigrants. All of a sudden, those jobs are pretty attractive to Americans robbed of work choice.
For the first time in a decade, unskilled immigrants are competing with Americans for work. And evidence is emerging that tens of thousands of Hispanic immigrants are withdrawing from the labor market as U.S. workers crowd them out of potential jobs. At least some of the foreigners are returning home. “We see competition from more nonimmigrant workers,” says Abel Valenzuela, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who studies day laborers.
And that’s creating some competition between illegals and Americans, as both groups seek work in the same fields for the first time ever. That sounds on its face like it’s a bad thing, but remember that we mentioned the word “competition” – and even in our post-capitalist economy (well, insomuch as it even exists) that’s still a good thing. Faced for the first time with no job prospects, immigrants are finally returning to their birth countries.
Among Hispanic immigrants who entered the U.S. between 1990 and 1999, the survey found that 217,000 quit the labor force between the third quarter of 2007 and the third quarter of 2008. Since population falls as a result of individual death or emigration from the U.S., “these trends suggest that at least some foreign-born Latinos are not only leaving the labor force but, perhaps, also returning to their countries of origin,” the report said. “There is definitely a lot of talk about leaving,” says Mr. Jemio, who helps manage the Hollywood day-laborer center. “People are on their last hope.”
This, at least, we can be thankful for during this time of economic despair. The immigration problem is appearing to fix itself, using as its tool the free market system – a system which, by the way, needs as much positive PR as it can get in these days of New Deal-esque socialism.
Political leaders (mostly Republicans) have been saying all along that something must be done about illegal immigration, and they’ve wanted that “something” to be the government actually enforcing its own laws. In that way, they turned to the government for a solution. Sure it would be nice if the government enforced its own immigration laws. But, though it would be welcomed, it’s not necessary. The free market is taking care of it, now that it’s been given some time to do that.
If only the government had taken such a hands-off approach to the economy, maybe we’d soon see the free market eventuality prove itself right in that regard, too.
