March 2, 2006
Democrats Have a Real Opening on Immigration
By Froma
Harrop
President Bush gets
lousy ratings over Iraq, Katrina and the economy. But he hits
bedrock bottom on the issue of immigration. Bush believes that
cheap labor is the birthright of every American employer, and
so has refused to enforce the law against hiring undocumented
workers. In all of 2004, the federal government fined only three
companies for employing illegal aliens.
Some Republicans
are quite angry at the immigration free-for-all, but they apparently
have little influence over the administration. Democrats now have
an opportunity to show that they can govern where Republicans
have failed. Some have already begun.
In Arizona, Democratic
Gov. Janet Napolitano is pushing for a state law that would slap
heavy fines on companies that employ illegal immigrants. And from
New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton is demanding serious enforcement
of employer penalties. "I am, you know, adamantly against
illegal immigration," she said in a now-famous radio interview.
Meanwhile, In Washington,
Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is distributing
a 350-page draft bill that pretends to address the problem. The
measure would legalize millions of undocumented workers and expand
legal immigration, while offering only vague promises to enforce
the law on the books. It's the Bush approach: If you legalize
everybody, there's no more illegal immigration.
Many Democrats are
tempted to sit back and let the Republicans tear themselves apart
over the issue. Some may assume that a swelling population of
poor workers is good for their voter rolls. But as defenders of
working people, they have a duty to maintain fair labor markets.
And by helping restore order at the border, Democrats can also
ease concerns that they are weak on national security.
Bush figures that
he can indulge employers and not worry, because the costs of illegal
immigration fall mostly on state and local governments. His new
budget actually ends federal reimbursements to the states for
the expense of jailing illegals. Arizona spent $77 million on
that outlay in 2004.
Like all states,
Arizona must pay for medical care, education and other services
delivered to illegal workers who pay little or no taxes. But as
a next-door neighbor to Mexico, it bears the extra burden of dealing
with the chaos at the border.
The Arizona Chamber
of Commerce opposes Napolitano's bill, which was introduced into
the state senate by a Democrat. The Chamber is backing a Republican
alternative that would fine employers who "knowingly and
intentionally" hire illegal aliens -- but absolve them if
they make a show of following the rules. That sounds a lot like
the federal law that everyone ignores.
The president has
responded to the widespread anger with a distracting but ineffective
police action at the border. Democrats have an advantage in that
they are not wholly owned by corporate America. That gives them
more freedom to do the only thing that can fix the problem: apply
the employer sanctions.
This would also be
the more humane approach. It moves the spotlight off the immigrants
-- who think, not without reason, that the law they're breaking
barely exists -- and onto the people who hire them. Cutting off
the job magnet would reduce confrontation at the border. The Border
Patrol could then focus on terrorists. And demands to build a
fence between the United States and Mexico could be shelved.
Once law and order
is established, Americans can draw up a sensible immigration policy.
They might decide that more immigrants are needed, and increase
the legal limits. They could consider a guest-worker program for
agriculture. They might even want to extend amnesty to some immigrants
who have been here a long time.
The point is, any
expansion of the numbers would occur after, and only after, genuine
enforcement of the laws had commenced. And the public would have
an input: Employers could no longer offer terrible wages and no
benefits, then unilaterally declare that Americans won't do the
work.
The Democratic Party
can take its lead from Arizona's Napolitano. First, it must resist
voices on the left that refuse to distinguish between legal and
illegal immigrants. (These "liberals" should really
stop collaborating with cheap-labor conservatives.) Then, Democrats
can craft an immigration agenda that respects American workers,
foreigners, businesses and the law. The public will be sure to
notice.
Copyright
2006 Creators Syndicate
