09-02-2007, 07:52 PM
Quote:I agree with you in regards to Walmart, because with the advent of mostly free trade, corporations are not restricted to national borders. With jobs, borders and variable laws form boundaries within which a corporation can navigate, but an unskilled individual usually cannot. The effect of illegal immigration on jobs is equivalent to the effect of bootlegging on the distilled drink industry, or black market pharma on the legal drug companies. It supplies a commodity at an extremely low price allowing the unscrupulous who break the laws to unfairly undercut their competition. We can debate the value of borders and variable laws, but then we delve into the merits of national sovereignty.
Yes. And closing down the border, imprisoning or deporting illegal immigrants, and generally cracking down on migration has the same effect that prohibition did: it creates that same nasty, exploitive, underground market. Since the traffic is in humans and not alcohol, it is even worse. The only solution to speakeasies is to legalize bars. Stronger prohibition leads to gangs, disrespect for the law, and fails utterly to solve the underlying problem.
But those humans are making choices for themselves. Migrant workers are not being snatched out of Mexico by body thieves and sold on a black market. They choose their course because they are willing to take the risks to earn more money. What I would like to see, at the US-Mexico border and everywhere else, is a way for all people to be able to work for their living under fair conditions, free from exploitation.
Perhaps a guest worker program would be the best model. I have no objection to it, if it is set up properly, with the good of everyone in mind. The more open the border, and indeed, the more open all borders, the better, in my mind.
-Jester