Chuck Pennacchio on Immigration Reform

From Chuck Pennacchio:

April 30, 2006

America needs immigration reform. Throughout U.S. history immigrants have made important contributions to our nation but our current immigration system is dysfunctional. Our borders are not secure. Many of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U,S. are working in unsafe conditions for poverty-level incomes. The large supply of low-cost immigrant labor depresses wages for less-skilled citizens and has contributed to the stagnation of median family incomes in the U.S. over the past two decades.

We need immigration reform that: 1) reasserts control of our borders; 2) treats immigrants with respect and creates realistic opportunities for them to gain legal status; 3) improves working conditions and living standards for low-income workers both inside and outside the United States.

Too many employers are exploiting immigrant laborers as a source of cheap labor. That must end. As we bring immigrant laborers into legal status we should also enact legislation that will enable both immigrants and American citizens to earn a living wage.

We also need to insist on worker health and safety standards and locally adjusted living wage provisions in international trade agreements. This will reduce the pressure for immigration by making it more attractive for potential immigrants to stay with their families in their home nations. These wage and safety standards will also help level the playing field between American employers and their foreign competitors that are gaining an unfair advantage by underpaying their employees. Finally, as the only PAC free candidate in this race, Chuck is uniquely qualified to stand up to the corporate interests that are manipulating America’s immigration and trade policies at the expense of working people.

The immigration issue is a troubling one. I don't see the jobs being taken by immigrants as "American" jobs, nor do I see them as jobs no one else wants. I just see them as jobs. Employers should have the right to fill those jobs with whoever they want to fill them with regardless of nationality. And Employers will fill jobs with people who meet two criteria -- they will work for less than the next guy and they will get the job done. (Well, except when it comes to CEOs -- there it seems that they will hire the guy who demands the most money.)

How do we solve the "immigration" problem? One big step towards a solution is to return to a LIVING WAGE and make EVERY American employer pay it-- including Dole and McDonald's.

Pay a living wage and you'll see 4,000 people -- Americans and "guest workers" -- line up for 100 openings to pick corn in Ohio. I know this results in higher prices at the supermarket, but this is where the real effect of the living wage comes in -- the "trickle up" effect. Take a million or so families out of poverty and watch what could happen to our economy. (And, frankly, how much better off would we ALL be if we ate a million or so fewer Big Macs?)

Coming back to the current immigration issue -- I am not sure where Chuck stands on legalizing the current batch of illegal workers in America, or on the guest worker program. I'd like to know more.

But, I do know, having seen Chuck speak and read everything on his site (including all of these position papers), that I am perfectly comfortable in trusting in his ability to reason it out with reference to real facts. I know that he will approach this issue with deep appreciation for the suffering and needs of everyone affected. Equally important -- and something I cannot say about any of his opponents-- he'll do it without reference to the special interests represented by all of those hundred of corporate PACs that simultaneously give money to Santorum and Casey.