Recently, Alabama’s Republican legislature passed the most restrictive immigrant legislation since the Japanese saw the inside of an internment camp. The real reasons are politically cynical (most families that are illegal have kids or relatives that are legal, if the whole family uproots to a different state none of them will be able to vote…and they would likely vote Democrat), and play on the worst impulses of Alabama voters glad to see Mexicans go. The “official” reason is this is a “jobs creation bill” for Alabamians.
But how is that possible? This bill won’t create a single job that didn’t exist before it (unless you count unpaid churches being asked to turn in members of their congregation that are illegal). That’s right lucky readers, if you’re white and you wanted to debone chickens at Tyson Foods before this bill, you could have already. So the logic that getting Mexicans to leave Alabama in droves will create jobs is false.
In fact, it will cost jobs. Even though no job an illegal immigrant has (poultry, meat packing, construction) was previously off limits to whites that would want it, the management jobs above those at Tyson or Smithfield will have to leave if the plant decides to relocate to another state. Also, in rural areas like the one I’m from, a county might have 5 or 6 thousand illegal immigrants. If they up and move tomorrow that’s 5 or 6 thousand salaries we don’t have spending money in that county.
We’ll miss out on the income taxes of those jobs. We’ll miss out on the sales taxes of their spending. And struggling small town businesses might not be able to keep their doors open if all the illegal immigrants aren’t there to buy things in their stores. [Not to mention the legal businesses that have built around the immigrant community and will almost certainly leave when they do. A bank called “El Centro Del Sol” won’t have much place on a Main Street with no Mexicans…some would say “Well good riddance” until they figure out we need the tax base.]
The real problem is that people are scapegoating Mexicans for a problem they have nothing to do with. At the same time they started coming to the US in mass numbers was also the same time all of our jobs started going overseas to save millions in labor costs. Good paying unionized jobs with decent benefits started closing down and instead of looking at the top CEOs that were pocketing those salaries, we pointed the finger at the unskilled laborer working a job that doesn’t pay half of the one that just left.
It didn’t help that some on the liberal side started spreading the less than truthful slogan of “They’re just doing jobs white people won’t do” without filling in the second part of “for less than ten dollars an hour.” It helped spread the misconception that Mexicans were scab labor that were being hired to replace people that cost more. When in reality they should have said “If they don’t hire cheap labor here, they’ll just send it overseas for even cheaper.”
I’m no fan of scabs or cheap labor myself. But I also recognize that Mexicans are just the victims of bad timing, coming for jobs at the same time we started sending all of our jobs overseas. They’re not guilty of taking your jobs. The only thing they’re really guilty of is being the guy who showed up to the party at the end.
I’ve never thought of it that way before
Arrrr, dem bastards be taken’ all de good jobs at poultry plants and strawberry fields…get real America, Mexicans are taking jobs nobody wants to take
As a American of Mexican decent this law makes me feel that evil is alive and well but when I read editorials like these and educated comments it gives me hope.