Byron Dorgan has got to be one of the most underappreciated senators in the Democratic Party. From eloquently leading the fight against CAFTA in the senate to his proposed amendment that would elliminate a guest worker program from an immigration bill, Dorgan is always standing up for America's working class. Dorgan's amendment should be celebrated just as much as Feingold's censure resolution.
But this diary isn't about Byron Dorgan. It's about me, and how the immigration debacle has challanged my progressive principles.
I'd consider myself an average Dkos user and I don't get on and comment all the time. But if you've ever read some of my comments on here, you might be suprised by what your about to read. Ever since the immigration debate erupted with the introduction of hr 4437, I have never hesitated to passionately defend immigrant rights. For the sake of simplicity, I have always been the "pro-immigrant" commentor arguing against those who support a tougher crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Like any compassionate human being, I natrually sympathize with the plight of the Hispanic community. Even more so, I admire their community more than any other in America today. The nearly insurmountable hardships that these people overcome to get to where they are today could teach every American a lesson about the meaning of hard work (one that I'm obviously not getting because I should definitely be studdying for all my finals right now). I live in a heavily Hispanic community, and just about every family I've talked to has said the main reason they came to America was so their children could get an education. I'm not superficially observing all these great things from the internet. My mother has dedicated the last two years of her life to helping the Hispanic community and so there's also that personal connection I have as well.
Perhaps what amazes me most about the Mexican community in my hometown, however, is the way they deal with the despicaable yet ever so prominent force of xenophobia. Those of you who live in a conservative city that has received a recent influx of Hispanics know exactly what I'm talking about. But the Hispanics don't let it ruin their American dream. The last time I cried was when I saw a sea of American flags on television at one of the largest of immigration rallies in Washington. Seeing the unwavering sense of patriotism in all the immigration rallies doubled an existing passion for helping the Hispanic community.
Another great passion of mine deals with something that's so similar- yet its though of to be so different in the context of the immigration debate: Improving the lives of America's working class.
There are many people in the media who have been vehmentley opposed to immigration who I have a great deal of respect for. Lou Dobbs is one of them. He has argued quite eloquently that current illegal immigrants have already done irreparable damage to our economy and more specifically, our traditional working class.
I agree with Dobbs that the "there are jobs that Americans simply won't do" theory is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. But notice I use the word "job." I do not consider packing meat for 14 hours a day in Garden City, Kansas a job. Same goes for laboring for half a day on a Texas farm for less than minimum wage. That's slavery, and it should never, ever be equated with employment. And the term "guest workers" is an egregious euhpemism used by corpoate America to cover up the plight of these slave laborers.
So what do I go with, my pro-fair trade let's raise the minumum wage instincts or my more emotional connection the America's Hispanic community. I wish this was a blatant oversimplification but I don't think it is. The very presence of cheap labor drives down wages and working conditions. That's a fact.
But I feel like I've reached a perfect compromise. There would be nothing more inhumane and immoral than for our government to tell my community's Hispanics to get the hell out. They've established a way of life over here and have done more than enough to justify full citizenship. They have nothing to do with the cheap labor problem I talked about above and work real jobs that comply with minimum wage laws. While the xenophobes at Freerepublic might refer to them as "illegals" I prefer to call them working class Americans.
At the same time, I think the status quo of uncontrolled immigration presents many dangers to the future of America's workers. I havn't really studied the various proposals to improve our border protection, but anything more than right now would be an improvement. Illegal immigration from Mexico can't be elliminated but it can be curtailed significantly.
As for slave laborers, I say deport them and imprison their employer. I know the deportation part sounds a bit controversial but how could those conditions be better than Mexico? To me, it seems like deporting them would be in both their best interest and our working class.
More than anything, however, it pains me that two causes that simply involve standing up for repressed people come into so much conflict with each other. Like I said above, I hope its a gross oversimplification and if so, make sure to let me know below.