"Let me be emphatic; all undocumented immigrants have committed a crime. They have all broken immigration law. All of the undocumented immigrants I spoke to frankly admitted this. And almost all of them also expressed a real desire for immigration reform. That surprised me-at first. Although, on second thought, they would almost certainly benefit from any rationalized system-which would necessarily recognize their indispensable importance to the U.S. economy."
"But mass deportation doesn't appear to be the real objective of Trump's terror campaign. It is doubtful that the Republican Party's billionaire and trillionaire donor class or its millionaire Congress would ever allow for the mass deportation of 11 million undocumented workers-even if it were logistically or politically possible. They wouldn't-their wealth and status depends on the mass exploitation of immigrant labor."
"Given the real danger and dire poverty of their counties of departure, ICE terror is unlikely to inspire mass "reverse immigration" either. As bad as things are, none of the people I spoke to spoke of fleeing. They spoke of hiding."
All undocumented immigrants have violated immigration law and many acknowledge that fact. Many undocumented workers desire immigration reform and would benefit from a rationalized system that recognizes their economic importance. A Reagan-style amnesty could provide a path to citizenship for long-serving workers as earned sweat equity. Trump's ICE relies on terror and spectacle rather than effective arrests, and those tactics are unlikely to produce mass departures; immigrants more often hide. Mass deportation is implausible because wealthy donors and Congress depend on the exploitation of immigrant labor. The administration appears to pursue intimidation and political theater instead of practical reform.
Read at East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda
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