Migrants need work visas now
Removing barriers to immigration will solve a lot of our problems. Take, for example, our nationally declining population and its implications for our economy and social safety nets. Due to our low birthrate and a declining workforce, funding for social security, Medicaid and Medicare is projected to be unsustainable for future generations.
Instead of phasing out these essential programs, requiring people to work longer into their golden years, loosening child labor laws and forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies to increase the “home-grown” workforce, we should provide the influx of migrants at the border with work visas. Immediately.
I’m not trying to be provocative by citing the idea that we’d rather force women to give birth than let more (brown) people into the country. The current speaker of the House once argued that abortion leads to negative economic consequences, saying, “You think about the implications of that on the economy; we’re all struggling here to cover the bases of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest. If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy, we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this … (The New Republic, Oct. 25).”
Further, I regularly see news headlines reading, “Despite hazardous conditions, many states are rolling back child labor laws. (ABC News, Feb. 21)” and “Republicans continue effort to erode U.S. child labor rules despite teen deaths (The Guardian, Oct. 25).” We’re exploiting U.S. citizens rather than remove barriers to immigration. Give migrants work visas, now.
Giving migrants work visas will save taxpayers money. There is an influx of migrants and asylum seekers at the southern border, causing massive disruption to the folks living in those border cities and draining tax money to detain people at the border, increase the militarization of border towns and provide health care and other human resources to a population who just want a better life.
Migrants are now being bused to cities like Chicago, New York and Denver (among others), and this is creating problems of homelessness across the nation and, once again, draining tax money to provide the basic needs of any human being: food, shelter and water. If we allowed migrants to work, they could afford their own basic needs and reduce the financial burden for cities taking on a population barred from working.
You may be thinking, “But the federal government oversees immigration policy. What can states and cities really do?” Well, Texas and the U.S. Supreme Court may have provided a path forward. Recently, Supreme Court justices remained silent while Texas imposed its own policies on immigration by allowing the police in Texas to arrest migrants suspected of being undocumented, a duty once relegated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement — a federal agency.
If we’re heading in the direction of “states’ rights” for pretty much everything, we can join folks like the mayor of Denver who are advocating for work permits for migrants and asylum seekers. Let’s see what the Supreme Court has to say about that, given their propensity to let states govern outside federal mandates.
In addition to helping the economy and reducing financial stress on tax monies, we’d be doing the right thing. This is a nation of immigrants. Our global community needs our help, and we need theirs. It’s a pragmatic solution to a practically manufactured social crisis.