Illegal aliens

Gene at Harry’s Place contributes to the debate in the US over illegal immigration – specifically what to do with the estimated 11-12 million illegals that have already found their way in.

On a practical level, there is no way to deport every illegal immigrant and hermetically seal the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

Agreed.

No matter how they came to the US, law-abiding and employed immigrants should have the chance to become American citizens.

Nice idea in principle - but in practice, it risks making illegal immigration a valid route to citizenship. Some kind of amnesty makes a lot more sense than mass deportation (both practically and morally) but it doesn’t solve the problem.

Of course in the sort of world for which those of us on the Left ought to be striving, the huge gap between rich and poor countries which is the main cause of immigration would not exist. But that world may be some distance in the future.

And, in the meantime?

Do illegal immigrants depress the wages of US workers at the low end of the economic scale? Probably. They are of course easier to exploit because, for obvious reasons, it's harder for them to complain about being denied the minimum wage (as pathetically low as that is), overtime pay, etc. Giving them legal status would at least compel employers to meet minimum federal and state standards on wages and hours.

Illegal immigrants are indeed easier to exploit, but simply giving them "legal" status won't put an end to illegal and exploitative employment practices.

If the US had been able to effectively “compel employers to meet minimum federal and state standards” the problem wouldn’t have arisen in the first place. Given the failure to enforce existing labor regulations, it seems fanciful to assume that a change in legislation will necessarily have the effect of improving workers’ conditions generally.

The effect of an amnesty for undocumented workers and the offer of a route to citizenship will put those workers who benefit from it in the same competitive position as the rest of the US labor force. In other words, it will still be profitable for businesses to employ people who are willing to work illegally.

The US has porous borders and a poor record of enforcing employment laws in the sectors that employ migrant workers. An amnesty (involving a guest worker program and a path to citizenship) may be the right thing to do, but it won’t stop illegal immigration and it won’t stop the use of cheap, illegal labor.