From the Inbox
In reference to CFR.org’s piece, “The X’s and Y’s of Immigration,’ reader Edward Pinchiff writes:
It would be helpful to the immigration debate if the CFR staff could put together a thoughtful analysis of the real issue underlying the immigration issue. It is not immigration. The issue is simply the causes and consequences of doing an end run around the democratic system.
Immigrant labor is a source of cheap, or at least cheaper, labor coveted by business. There are valid arguments for bringing immigrant labor into the country, not the least of which is the fact that labor, like energy, fuels economic expansion. In these days of globalization, it is also worth noting that bringing immigrant labor to US business is perhaps better than the alternative which is US business taking part of its operations to the immigrant’s home country. How much immigrant labor should be brought into this country is a matter that should be decided by Congress where it can be debated by all citizens of this country via their elected representatives. Right, wrong, or somewhere in between, the ultimate decision is then something everyone can accept because the process of making that decision was fair.
In the present situation, business did an end run around this process. Business hired illegal immigrants on a large scale with the federal government giving a mere wink to enforcing immigration laws - both at the point of entering the country and hiring of the immigrant. The proper alternative course of action would have been for business to press the immigration issue in Congress and present its argument that the country would be better off with much higher levels of legal immigration.
The consequence of this end run around the democratic system is that it put off an honest intellectual debate which would have encouraged a greater consensus on immigration levels. Another consequence is that the citizens who favored less immigration are left feeling violated with respect to their right to have a say in the matter. This is why you have a broad polarized base of citizens who will not consider any part of the immigration issue except enforcement first. They do not trust the democratic system with respect to this issue.
Another consequence of this end run around the democratic system, is that the immigration issue becomes more difficult to solve because it becomes more convoluted. The knowledge that businesses will hire illegal immigrants if they can make it across the border encourages illegal immigration which increases the resources necessary to police the border. So, in addition to debating the level of immigration to be allowed, we are now also debating the level of resources that should be devoted to border enforcement.
Another consequence of this end run around the democratic system, is that the immigration issue becomes even more difficult to resolve now that there is a large group of illegal immigrants in the country and our economic system has in many ways become dependant on their presence. The sudden departure of that much labor would have significant economic consequences.
The point to be made here is that the democratic process is the important issue. The failure to abide by the democratic process is the reason the immigration issue has become so contentious and difficult to resolve. If we can reach a common acknowledgment and understanding of this point, perhaps we can begin a dialogue and debate that will lead to consensus.
- Edward Pinchiff
