The management of immigration in the United States has been a major topic for discussion since the 19th century. With each wave of immigrants arriving from different countries come complaints on the part of the native citizens. From a young age, we are taught in school that immigrants come to the United States searching for a better life in the ‘land of opportunity.’ Often times, however, they accomplish this feat by taking the jobs of native U.S. citizens, as they are willing to work for lower pay and in substandard working conditions. In his essay, “What’s Wrong with the U.S. Immigration Debate?” Peter Kwong sheds light on who is really to blame for the loss of jobs of native workers as well as the poor working environment of immigrant workers.
I found the explanation of demand for immigrant labor to be of particular interest in Kwong’s essay. We have always considered immigrants from countries and regions all over the world such as China, Mexico, and the Caribbean, to constantly be in high supply. The immigrants have the desire to come to America and assertively compete for jobs and social positions. Kwong, however, identifies the mandate for immigrant workers in business. Kwong states,
“The destruction of the powerful labor movement that was able to make significant gains in collective bargaining, higher wages, health and retirement benefits, unemployment compensation, …is the chief objective of this new business order in the United States. And the best way to achieve that objective is by hiring the least organized and most vulnerable labor available- new immigrants or, preferably, undocumented aliens who have no protection at all” (Kwong, 306).
Many employers are driven by greed and, therefore, do not care for either the interests of the natives or immigrants. They are clearly willing to do whatever it takes to make the most profit, even if it means undermining all of the social and economic change that came about through the Progressive Era. Since some immigrants are undocumented and do not have a legal status, the employers can take advantage of them because of the lack of regulation that applies to this sort of labor. Furthermore, the immigrants cannot do anything in response. If they try to file a complaint, they risk revealing themselves as illegal immigrants and being sent back to their native countries. Thus, employers create a demand for inexpensive immigrant labor, which inevitably leads to the pay cuts of native workers.
A second aspect of Kwong’s essay that astonished me was the intentions behind one of the guest-worker plans initiated by the United States known as the Bracero Program. Looking to bring a stable supply of farm laborers into the country to cover wartime shortages of agricultural workers, the Bracero program accelerated the flow of illegal flow of immigrants into the country (Kwong, 309). The United States used these immigrants to temporarily fill jobs, vacated by those enlisting in the army, with no intention of granting them permanent legal status. These workers were quite literally used for their services. And how were they repaid? They were repaid with xenophobic and discriminatory behaviors towards them by the native workers.
Immigrants have received much unnecessary blame for the condition of their jobs and the status of native workers. We must first analyze the cause of the immigration and how it is accomplished, prior to placing blame.
