Tula Connell/AFL-CIO tries selling illegal immigration (NAFTA)

Tula Connell, AFL-CIO managing editor, offers "Border Crossings Start in the Boardroom" (link). It's the standard leftwing pass-the-buck complaint about NAFTA and other trade deals leading to worsened working conditions, which leads to illegal immigration.

They might have a point, however, their solution to the problem involves apologizing for illegal immigration, making things worse for most people in both the U.S. and the sending countries. And, the fact that a group of people would suggest making things worse as their solution reveals that they cannot be trusted to come up with solutions.

Of course, not everyone is negatively impacted. Those who profit from illegal labor make money, as do the Mexican and other governments. And, the AFL-CIO profits as well, in that illegal aliens make up a portion of their membership and give them political power. Her post was also cross-posted at FireDogLake, a site that has an indirect link to the Mexican government.

If the AFL-CIO was honest about solving this problem, they would support stringent immigration enforcement, putting pressure on the sending countries to reform, and conducting a campaign to change existing "free trade" deals. And, by supporting enforcement they'd gain a lot more support than their current position of supporting and enabling illegal immigration. However, I'm not entirely convinced that the AFL-CIO wants to solve this problem, since that reduce their membership roles. Tula Connell needs to examine this issue in a much more honest fashion.

Immigration2008a · Fri, 02/08/2008 - 10:19 · · Importance: 1