When it comes to immigration, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein sides with the interests of the rich and stands against the interests of working Americans.

I'll provide two Stein quotes - one fairly shocking - and list some of those who are on the same side as her below.

But first, let me address a misconception some in her target market might have. Namely, that supporting massive and/or illegal immigration is the underdog position. In fact, virtually the entire establishment - the moneyed elite and their helpers - supports massive and illegal immigration in one way or another. That includes "conservative" stalwarts such as Grover Norquist and Dick Armey. The immigration issue doesn't pit left vs. right so much as elites vs. the majority of Americans. See immigration vulnerable for more.

The first Stein quote is from the so-called "People's State of the Union" [1]:

...The Green New Deal will repeal the Patriot Act and those parts of the National Defense Authorization Act that violate our civil liberties. It will prohibit the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI from conspiring with local police forces to suppress our freedoms of assembly and of speech. And it will end the war on immigrants – including the cruel, so-called "secure communities" program - which is terrorizing millions of Americans, both citizens and non-citizen immigrants, on no basis other than their perceived immigration status.

The second Stein quote is something that shocked even me, and I'm used to these type of things (bolding added) [2]:

This year, 2011, marked a record number of deportations by the U.S. government, including a record number of deportations of un-accompanied minors and of long-term residents. The human cost of this escalating war on immigrants includes families torn apart and children emotionally traumatized, the expansion of racial profiling in policing, and the reinforcement of a caste system in which undocumented workers form the most vulnerable and exploitable level in the labor force.

We must end the systemic practice of detention and deportation of immigrant women, men, and children. We must reverse the militarization of our borders and the federalization of our local police. Undocumented immigrants who are already residing and working in the United States, and their families, should be granted a legal status which includes the chance to become U.S. citizens. Our priorities for immigration reform must include family reunification, asylum for political, racial, gender, and religious refugees, and the normalization of border crossings throughout North America.

From the above, it's safe to say that Jill Stein doesn't have much use for immigration enforcement. She'd make it easier for people to come here, but at the same time she'd do little or no enforcement of our immigration laws. And, by doing so, she'd give moneyed interests what they want: a ready supply of workers and consumers. Just some of those she'd be helping make more money and gain more power are listed below.

At the same time, Jill Stein would make things even more difficult for American workers as they saw increased competition. For a current example, most of those harmed by Obama's amnesty will be lower-skilled American workers.

Most Americans want immigration levels to stay the same or be reduced; Jill Stein would go in the opposite direction. Her ideas closely mesh with those of the elites, even if some in her target market might be confused.

But, the most shocking part of her second quote is the bolded section, which sounds like something George W Bush would have said. See North American Union and NAFTA Superhighway. Despite what you've heard from a very effective disinformation campaign, the Bush administration was secretly working on "integrating" the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Whatever exact form Stein's "normalization" would take, it would result in blurring the borders among the three countries. Proposing such a blurring puts Stein square on the side of the top elites in the U.S. (see Council on Foreign Relations).

Whatever form Stein's immigration policies would take, they'd result in even more immigration from Mexico. That would continue to hollow out that country and reduce the number of workers there (not too many years ago, 14% of working age Mexicans lived in the U.S.) Reducing immigration from Mexico would put pressure on that country's elite to reform and to take care of their own people; instead, Jill Stein would let those elites off the hook and let them continue to use the U.S. as a pressure release valve.

Regarding the comprehensive immigration reform she supports, see the link for just some of the many downsides.

As for the Secure Communities program ("SCOMM"), see the detailed description at the link. There's no "perceived" involved in that program, it just uses Department of Homeland Security databases. The FBI uses the same stream of data as the DHS to determine if someone is wanted by the FBI, meaning that Jill Stein is also calling into question the legitimacy of the FBI's use of that data. Of course, Stein could be confusing SCOMM with the program it supplanted, 287g. If so, she's also wrong, and she can't even do a basic web search to find the DHS page describing what SCOMM actually does.

Regarding the "record number of deportations", note that the Obama administration cooked the books on the numbers deported before 2011, and they may have done something similar for 2011. See also this.

As for "families torn apart", at least she got one thing partially right: with what amounts to open borders, the 500 million in Latin America and the 5 billion people around the globe who are poorer than Mexicans could come here basically at will, with little fear of family members being deported. Those who support halfway measure on immigration - some form of loose but not open borders - do indeed support something like a "caste system". Jill Stein would do away with that too. And, all it would take is to in effect let people come here at will.

Exactly how many dozens or hundreds of millions would come here if they could? If Jill Stein says there'd be a limit, then the only way to enforce that limit would be to do immigration enforcement, something she presents as inhumane.

So, who are Jill Stein's fellow travelers on immigration? Who supports massive and illegal immigration? Here's a partial list:

* The Koch family, Dick Armey of FreedomWorks, Grover Norquist, and other top tea parties leaders...
* The Federal Reserve and corrupt major banks: see immigration banks...
* The US Chamber of Commerce...
* Occupy Wall Street's top opponent, Michael Bloomberg...
* Other tycoons like Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates...
* Business groups like the Western Growers, Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, National Association of Manufacturers...
* The entire MSM: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and on and on...
* The Mexican government...
* Major businesses such as WalMart, Western Union, Home Depot, and on and on...
* Hacks like Tamar Jacoby and Linda Chavez...
* People like the Rubashkins (see Postville)...
* Libertarian groups like the CATO Institute (part of the "Kochtopus")...
* George W Bush, Barack Obama (see Obama immigration) and a whole host of other corrupt politicians...
* The Rockefeller family and other superrich establishment figures...

If you're a Green and/or a Jill Stein supporter, please contact @DrJillStein and @greenstarlene with your thoughts (Starlene Rankin is the "US Green Party Media Coordinator").

Ask them why Stein is siding with the Kochs, Dick Armey, George W. Bush, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and all the rest, and against the wishes of most Americans.

9/24/13 UPDATE: Stein used to use @jillstein2012, which is now inactive. I changed it to her current handle.

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[1] jillstein . org/text_psou

[2] "Statement on International Migrants Day", Dec. 19, 2011,
jillstein . org/statement_on_international_migrants_day