Muse – Immigration

Bush has made serious waves on both sides of the political spectrum with his recent Immigration legislation. The Temporary Worker program is meant to make it easier for immigrants to come and work here legally for a term before returning to their home countries.

One of the problems, however, is that most immigrants who come here come with he intent to stay. If things were good in their home country, they wouldn’t risk their lives to get here and to bring their families with them at times.

These workers will have legal clearance to work here. They’ll be able to leave the country to visit their relatives and they’ll get some of the privileges that citizens get. However they have to remain in the good graces of the employer, because the job is what keeps them here. I’ve heard someone the radio liken it, in that way, to indentured servitude. I don’t think I’d go that far, but it would seem to give the employer considerable power over the employee.

Employers are supposed to prove that a job is unwanted by American workers before it goes to be offered to immigrants looking to get Temporary Worker visas. I’m interested in what the standards will be for proving this. If a job gets even one resume from an American, that would mean that an American wants to do it. What if none of them are hired, could the company then turn to the Temporary Workers? Americans still want the job, after all.

Overall, I think Bush was stupid to make this legislation. Purely on the basis of politics, first off. I don’t see how they could have expected it to go off well. From the ideological standpoint.. I’ve always been wary of immigration in general. I recognize it is good and that it has been a serious boon to the early development of this and many other countries around the world. But, as well, it is a means through which monies leave our country to be spent elsewhere today. As jobs go overseas and those that remain here are cut to bare minimum wages, where an American couldn’t hope to live on what they’re paid without some financial assistance, it makes me wonder.

It would be different if most Americans were trained and educated to do ‘higher tier’ jobs. If these bare minimum jobs were entirely the venue of foreign workers who, despite the low pay by our standards, are reaping serious funds hand over fist in comparison to their home country, then I would have fewer reservations. Facts are facts, however, and many Americans rely on ‘low’ jobs to make ends meet; yet those jobs are slowly slipping too far down.

I suppose that I’m stuck between my compassion for those who simply aren’t skilled enough to get a higher paying job and the positive benefits of immigration and immigrant workers. The solutions are somewhat simple, really. Greater focus on educating our own masses and providing for more higher tier employment opportunities would fix the equation, yet we have a poor work and education ethic in this country. We, as a nation, have forgotten what it’s like to truly fight for survival. We’ve had things easier than most and it has, like civilization itself, dulled our instincts for survival. And as soft people, we don’t appreciate the benefits of struggling for more.

So we have those on the top and those on the bottom, where those on the bottom are relegated to substandard pay for the work they do, as those on the top vie for the cheapest labor they can get in the name of being competitive with their rivals. Where comes the solution to this?