Viewpoint: Immigration “Compromises” Fall Short

The immigration reform bill that passed in the House of Representatives in December is an open attack on all immigrants. It makes being an undocumented worker a felony, provides no legitimate path to citizenship and exploits workers to the benefit of their employer.

Similar bills discussed in the Senate over the past few months, whether the McCain-Kennedy bill, Sensenbrenner bill or any number of versions of bill HR4437 have continued to be openly hostile to immigrants.

The Senate’s latest proposed legislation is the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, also called the Hagel-Martinez “compromise” bill. It is supposed to revive the possibility of passing an immigration reform bill some time this summer. It is a response to the unprecedented demonstration of support for immigrants that has exploded in the streets of cities all over this country since March, as well as a response to the political dialogue and deadlock it has created.

The Hagel-Martinez bill is no better than its predecessors and spits in the face of all immigrants, legal or not, as well as every single person who took to the streets in support of Immigrant Rights.

LEGAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS

With all of the politicians’ arguing over immigration reform, we have seen very little of what the legislation actually looks like. Based on the guidelines present in the Hagel-Martinez compromise, it is optimistic to say that three million of the twelve million undocumented immigrants in the country today would be able to obtain citizenship under this process.

At the same time, legal and civil rights of immigrants will be under unprecedented attack. Non-citizens, including permanent residents, will be subject to detention, deportation and will not be allowed to apply for citizenship because of minor criminal offenses.

This is due to the fact that the “compromise” bill redefines the term “aggravated felony” to include charges that are not felonies. This would happen retroactively, meaning someone who agreed to a lesser misdemeanor charge 10 years ago is subject to deportation. The right of U.S. citizens to petition to obtain visas and lawful residence for their immediate family including spouses or children will also be limited; this will be a first in U.S. history.

This is just a taste of some of the harsh new rules that will come into effect under the compromise, blocking traditional paths to citizenship that already exist.

These new rules will ultimately increase the undocumented immigrant population by forcing millions of people previously eligible for citizenship back into the shadows as undocumented immigrants.

WORKERS’ RIGHTS

The Hagel-Martinez bill on immigration reform has far-reaching consequences for workers.

For instance, under Hagel-Martinez guest workers applying for citizenship would be required to prove that they are continuously employed for six years after applying. Periods of unemployment during those six years cannot exceed 60 days, though the average time of unemployment in the U.S. is between 87 to 160 days.

Workers facing these requirements will be hard pressed to fight for their rights on the job, even though they might have legal status. Employers will have more leverage than ever. With workers’ citizenship on the line for six long years, If an employer demands wage cuts or other concessions, immigrant workers would have to take a tremendous risk in challenging it.

This highlights one of the biggest misconceptions about immigrant workers: the idea that “they drive down wages because they are willing to work for less.” In reality, their wages are lower because of the precarious position they are pushed into as undocumented workers.

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The effect this has on other workers’ wages is a result of the exploitation undocumented workers face--not because they “work for less.” Employers are legally permitted to discriminate against undocumented workers because their rights are not protected by law or respected by employers or politicians.

THE HAND OF THE WTO

Hagel-Martinez guest worker provisions place employers’ interests first and are in league with international efforts to rollback workers’ protections. The bill was designed to be in compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) policies that are working to create an international guest-worker program.

Under the plan, the process for citizenship will have a six-month application window after the legislation takes affect, and then that road will be closed. Once this six month application window ends, this legislation’s usefulness to immigrants will cease though the harsher guidelines included in the bill will continue to effect them.

Already existing paths to citizenship such as applying at the risk of being deported will once again be the only options for undocumented immigrants and due to harsher guidelines, will be more difficult than ever.

TIME LIMITS

An additional negative aspect to the proposed guest worker program is a 5-8 year time limit placed on being eligible for the program. This differs greatly from already existing guest worker programs that have no eligibility cap.

Without the cap, workers have a better opportunity to establish themselves with their employers as well as organize themselves to protect their rights over longer periods of time.

The latest example of this is the Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s contract in North Carolina that is comprised entirely of guest workers. They have a collective bargaining agreement that protects them where the law does not.

Rotating through workers every six years (the currently proposed eligibility cap) would most likely prevent union organizing and collective bargaining from happening. It creates an expendable labor force that has no opportunity to improve its position.

Most of these workers will likely remain in the U.S. as undocumented workers because they need jobs to provide for their families, regardless of where the job is or whether the law says it is ok. In the long run, the temporary guest worker program will create more undocumented workers by bringing them here as guest workers and then subjecting them to a more rigid citizenship process and harsher penalties.

Immigrant workers come here because they need jobs. Corporations and employers rely on immigrant labor. These two realities would seem to fit nicely together, yet they lead to conflict and hostility. Why?

They do not fit together because the relationship between employers and immigrants has been firmly rooted in the soil of exploitation.

They also do not fit because immigrants and their allies in the labor movement are fighting to gain the rights and respect they deserve in a movement of their own making. This solution is not up for compromise.

David Mitchell is a former FLOC organizer and is currently doing grass-roots community organizing in Lansing, Michigan.