America's Voice lies, misleads in "The Anti-Worker Truth About the Anti-Immigrant Lobby"

Frank Sharry's America's Voice offers "The Anti-Worker Truth About the Anti-Immigrant Lobby" [1]. From their summary:

In recent months, some of the most virulent anti-immigrant Members of Congress have been taking advantage of hard economic times to advance their same, old mass deportation agenda. They argue that blocking comprehensive immigration reform would somehow help the American worker and furthermore, that an unrealistic, multi-billion dollar mass deportation plan would provide instant relief to hardworking Americans in need of good jobs.

But a closer look at the voting records of these Members shows them to be some of the most consistent opponents of legislation to benefit American workers. And analysis of their immigration policy proposals reveals their main goal to be expelling millions of Latinos, Asians, Haitians, Africans, and other immigrants from the United States, not leveling the playing field for all workers and expanding the tax base. When it comes to protecting the American worker, the anti-immigrant lobby simply has no legs to stand on.

1. While they do pretend that comprehensive immigration reform would help Americans, they're also more or less implicitly ceding the point of those Members of Congress, that reducing the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. would help Americans. That's why they're using the deportations false choice: because they can't present an argument that a gradual reduction in the number of illegal aliens would somehow hurt American workers.
2. Few - and I would guess none among the referenced Members of Congress - are calling for mass deportations; more on that in #5.
3. No one with any power wants to expel "immigrants", i.e., those who came here legally; America's Voice is trying to mislead their readers.
4. Part of their report consists of the same old debunked smears of FAIR and related groups, such as by using the "hate group" designations of the Southern Poverty Law Center, not exactly a trustworthy source.
5. Their section on the costs of deportations references the Center for American Progress' "Deporting the Undocumented", a joke study that used a highly-flawed methodology. It also mentions the misleading, business-sponsored Perryman Group study that was briefly mentioned in the second footnote here and the misleading Cato Institute study discussed here. For both of the last, America's Voice tries to pretend they aren't on the same side as cheap labor employers, not revealing the business ties of the Perryman study and of the last saying: Even the conservative Cato Institute has said that "legalization of low-skilled immigrant workers would yield significant income gains for American workers and households."
6. Consider the following:

Sending an out-of-work auto worker and her family in Michigan to pick strawberries in California is not a credible answer to the many Americans desperately in need of good jobs at high wages with good benefits. Rather than promoting a race to the bottom, comprehensive immigration reform would expand labor rights and create a level playing field to ensure better jobs and working conditions for all.

That has an un-American and anti-Mexican subtext, as if only Mexicans and Central Americans are able to pick crops and as if Americans are too good to take bad jobs until the economy improves, even if it involves moving to a different state. The latter is a rather un-American idea.

And, in most cases, Americans wouldn't have to move far at all. Reducing the number of illegal aliens in Michigan would free up jobs for Americans, and likewise with California. And, regarding the fallacy of that "level playing field", see immigration wage floor.

[1] americasvoiceonline.org/pages/
the_anti_immigrant_truth_about_the_anti_immigrant_lobby

Comments

When you live in a country that wants to become a third world country so bad its a joke, "what is Truth or lies"? its all the same joke. The right wing guys need us under control and the other BS People need us dead so what's truth? but got to say, this is fun, for me; but not you who have a third world country coming.

The hilariously misnamed "America's Voice" is repeating the same old tired open-borders line about "mass deporations" when no one credible from the mainstream pro-enforcement side espouses this. This is why the pro-amnesty cabal is so afraid of the true middle ground, cost-effective way of attrition through enforcement.

They keep claiming CIR would 'lift wages' for everyone. No, it will increase the labor supply (currently in heavy oversupply) through amnesty and the creation of new guest worker programs. Family members of the newly legalized will be brought in, further increasing the competition for limited employment opportunities. American workers in job competition with this influx will have no bargaining power for increased wages. And, of course, illegal hiring will continue unabated.

'Rather than hurting American workers, immigrants strengthen our economy.' They have negligible effect on the overall economy. American workers at the lower end are hurt badly by unlimited cheap labor as the statistics on their flat and falling wages prove.

So how much $$$ does Frank Shery stand to make if they are legalized? Talk about no legs to stand on! Nothing like a fucking hypocriticle anti American liberal. Oops forgot, thats how ALL LIBERALS are.

to above about 120-300 billion each year its not a joke, all the big bitch on the inside will make billions on the backs of people and make it without doing a thing.