Si me voy

[cyrano]

I am once again exposing my White Privelege. Because I need somebody to explain in small words something about the immigration issue. I understand why many in labor feel that the guest worker plan is a bad one--the idea that a corporation can basically blackmail employees by threatening to fire them and get them deported if they do anything inconvenient. But in an article I read today, UNITE HERE president Bruce Raynor says "There are 12 million undocumented people living here, who are important to the economy." So far, so good. I understand that. "They have a right to seek employement, and employers have a right to hire them." This is where I get confused. 'Undocumented' often means that they're in the country illegally, which I think would restrict some of their rights.
I don't understand the idea that somebody has gained entry to the country by breaking the law and therefore should be allowed to stay because they're already here. As a left wing socialist, I feel like I'm missing something.

Comments

[xleste.livejournal.com]

This is one of those places where my humanitarian side conflicts with my b&w 'right' vs 'wrong' side. On the one hand, illegal immigration is an issue because our current systems don't really bear the cost of them (education, healthcare, etc.) and a government ought to have say in who it admits within its borders. I firmly believe that. On the other, I'm familiar with the desperation of poverty and the utter lack of hope in the home countries illegal immigrants can hail from, conditions that are insanely degrading and where the most basic tenets of human decency don't exist. That desperation leads them to America which is still the promised land. My parents came here with $50 in their pockets, and one of my cousins back in the Philippines is trying to scrape a living together selling eggs. I don't know. I don't have any clarity on this issue.