De Facto Immigration Policy

My view on immigration is laissez faire, but I can see how other people might feel otherwise. For some, it’s a matter of taste; they don’t like Mexicans so much. Others have a more principled objection to immigration policy as it is currently enacted. The flow of immigrants is not, in fact, free and unregulated. It is actually influenced a great deal by what the government does or omits to do.

In a sense, the facts of immigration in America today reflect policy. It is the policy of the ruling elites to encourage a steady influx of undocumented laborers to comprise a class of the un-enfranchised, powerless, and vulnerable. Whether this is a good or bad idea is not the point here. The point is that this de facto policy is counter to the de jure policy as enacted by the duly elected representatives of the people. When the ruling elites don’t even bother to pretend that the laws matter, this is cause for concern.

Moreover, the presence among us of large numbers of second-class subjects who are in no position to complain about anything may be harmful to the working class. The existence of slavery or peonage hurts the working class. And while the undocumented workers are hardly slaves or peons, they are somewhat more powerless than documented workers. This pits worker against worker and works against the formation of class consciousness.

For my part, I don’t reckon the solution is more laws for the ruling elites to circumvent and which will just hurt poor migrants. I am not one to advocate more government power or the use of force on folks who are peaceably trying to work and make a living. The government should, in my view, neither encourage nor discourage immigration. It shouldn’t contribute to crappy conditions south of the border that drive migration to the US, and it shouldn’t interfere with people’s comings and goings. That way, the undocumented worker will enjoy equal protection before the law and will not weaken the position of the working class either in its bargaining position or in the development of class consciousness.