the right microbus--as he was leading me in the right direction, we had
a conversation that started out with me asking for the directions, and
ended with him telling me about all the places he had been in South
Dakota.
Somewhere along the way, he told me that he had been deported by U.S.
immigration authorities about six months ago, from Southern California.
Apparently didn't harm his goodwill towards us Estadounidenses, though.
After we found my bus and shook hands, I got to thinking about the
simplistic ideas of the anti-immigrant advocacy crowd, who believe that
immigrants are taking jobs away from US citizens and importing
undesirable cultural traits.
It's no coincidence, I think, that these are the same people that argue
vehemently for unregulated free trade.
Not that I'm one of the anti-globalization crowd (I'm not) and not that
I believe the world is this simple (it's not), but the people who
support free trade but oppose immigration do not see the trade and
immigration issues as complex shades of grey. They see simple shades of
black and white:
trade = good
immigration = bad
Broadly, this is consistent with the idea that globalization is a
zero-sum game, and we (the US) gain from trade, and the other guy (the
Guatemalans etc.) gain from immigration. It's further consistent with
an unwillingness to share the benefits of globalization. We want to
import cheap consumer goods from China, but we don't want to allow the
poor Mexicans take advantage of our better-paying labor market.
Like a teenage kid who wants to enjoy all the benefits of the good life
without sharing any of the responsibilities...
Makes me mad, when I think about how that sort of attitude might have
impacted my day. What if that guy was mad about his deportation, and
decided to take it out on the only Estadounidense around?
I'm with the crowd that favors regulated, increased global trade, and
regulated, increased migration. Free movement of people and goods to
facilitate markets, with democratic regulatory procedures, when markets
don't produce desirable outcomes (like increases in poverty and
inequality which sometimes result from unregulated markets).
In any event, I hope that the Guatemalan guy who helped me out today
will get another chance to come back to the states legally in another
year or two, under new immigration laws which permit greater
immigration, but more closely regulate the immigration we have. Blows
my mind that the far right wing rails against the welfare state, but
wants to stop people who want to come to _work_ from crossing the
border. That's nonsense.
No comments:
Post a Comment