More Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The NYT editorial board is out today with yet another very strong piece on the wide-reaching economic arguments supporting immigration reform legislation that includes the legalization of the people currently located in the U.S. without valid immigration status. The key grafs:
The unions, at least, understand that there is a better way. They see immigration reform as an issue of worker empowerment. If undocumented immigrants undercut wages and job conditions for Americans — and many do, by tolerating low pay and abuse and bolstering an off-the-books system that robs law-abiding employers and taxpayers — it is because they cannot stand up for their rights.
“Workers don’t depress wages. Unscrupulous employers do,” said Terence O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. Unemployment in his industry is above 21 percent. Nearly two million construction workers are out of work. So what does Mr. O’Sullivan want? Reform that allows immigrants to legalize. “If we can free them so they can come out of the shadows, we can not only improve their lives, but all workers’ lives,” he said.
When framed in terms of the economic benefits to all American workers (especially laborers), rather than nativist misinformation, immigration reform and the legalization of currently undocumented workers just makes sense.
