U.S. ruling-class politicians, both Republican and Democrats, seem now to have decided to work together to implement the immigration reform initially proposed by President Obama. They’ve given few details, and perhaps never will, but the proposals under consideration are well known and predictable. One must just read between the lines of the statements by those driving the reform.
(1) Seal and militarize the border. “Immediately reform border security with new technology,” i.e. drones; ramp up both military and border agents’ presence on the border; increase the legal processes which control border exits and entrances.
(2) Legalize and contain immigrant workers as a segregated sub-class in slave-like working conditions. “At the same time as we reform the border security, those immigrants here ‘illegally’ must register with the government.” They must pass background checks and pay back taxes and fines. Immigrants will then receive a “period of legal probation” during which they can live and work legally in the U.S. but will be ineligible to receive Federal benefits. This is a rehash of the “guest worker” program under which immigrants remain in the U.S. at the whim of their bosses.
(3) A path to citizenship? Some Senators are demanding a mandatory program to check the legal status of all new employees throughout the U.S. (Expansion of E-Verify). These “reformers” also insist that immigrants who get “legal status” under this legislation and pass their period of probation must then “go to the back of the line” behind those who have come through legal channels and are seeking citizenship. This could take decades. It also leaves these “guest workers” subject to the manipulation of visa and citizenship quotas due to country of origin or education and job skills. So-called “permanent residency” and “citizenship” are at the end of a long tunnel. Many will never find their way out.
(4) Arrange for a large number of young people to join the military. While many politicians and government think tanks know this could provide a path to citizenship for many younger workers, those who hold power in the U.S. understand the need for a bigger war machine to defend their empire in a period of continuous wars. What better way to get “willing” recruits than to dangle the potential for citizenship before many young immigrants? The so-called Dream Act incorporates this process.
The rampant segregation of immigrant workers concerning their work location, residence site and their cultural and political life, leaves many immigrants vulnerable to the false promises in this movement for immigration reform.
But there’s another side: Workers worldwide have always fought back and continue to fight for a better life. However, if we just see ourselves as immigrants, we lose. If we just see ourselves as citizens, we lose. The bosses win when immigrants and their supporters organize to fight back on “their issues.” Immigrants and citizens belong to only one class — we are the producers of all the world’s riches. When we unite as one class, which does not recognize the rulers’ borders or ethnic\heritage\“racial”\gender differences, this unity immediately puts us on the offensive against the attacks by the capitalist class.
March on May Day, May 1, for the unity of the international working class.