The Debate Over Illegal Immigrants: Fair and Balanced?

Large news corporations such as CNN and Fox News are constantly running programming about the illegal immigration problems facing our nation. But does their portrayal of this issue tell the whole story? For example, why is it acceptable for large American corporations to export good paying American jobs to other countries for cheaper wages, yet it is not acceptable, in fact illegal, for workers from Mexico, to immigrate to the U.S. to seek a better life? Why are American corporations not penalized for exploiting the vulnerability of these illegal workers for the sake of making bigger profits?

These news organizations don’t tell the full story behind the increase in illegal immigration from Mexico. One of these is the advent of the North American Free Trade Agreement, also known as NAFTA, which includes Canada, the United States, and Mexico. NAFTA went into effect on January 1, 1994. This eliminated the tariffs between the three nations. Since American farmers can produce food at a much faster rate than Mexican farmers because they have better technology and machinery, they took advantage of this by shipping their products the Mexico to sell at lower prices. This tactic put many Mexican farm workers out of work. Many of these workers packed up and moved to the cities. Eventually, when the cities became overcrowded, these people immigrated to the U.S. in search of work and a better overall standard of living.

Another reason why these displaced or unemployed workers immigrate to the U.S. is because the Mexican government is corrupt and the crime rate there is extremely high. If Mexico is the fourth largest oil producer in the world, then why is the nation so poverty-stricken? There is a huge gap between the poor and the rich; in fact Mexico has the second largest gap between the rich and the poor in the world (the United States is third) which greatly contributes to the crime rates in Mexico. In Mexico City, it is estimated that about 2,000-3,000 crimes are committed daily, but only about 600 are reported. Would you want to live in a place like this?

American news channels also fail to tell the full story behind the struggles that illegal immigrants face each day trying to get by in the U.S. Legal immigration is supposed to give people the opportunity to come to the U.S. to work and get paid a fair wage. However, for those who are forced to immigrate illegally, that is usually not the case. Large corporations such as Wal-Mart and McDonalds hire and exploit illegal immigrants. They pay them below minimum wage - under the table – to do jobs that we American citizens refuse to do. Illegal immigrants provide cheap labor and are an easy way for big corporations to increase their profits.

We say it every morning during the pledge of allegiance; "With liberty and justice for all." Illegal immigrants have no real rights in this country. If this nation was built on liberty, justice, and rights for all, then why haven’t these immigrants gotten the basic human rights that they deserve? If our nation was founded and built by immigrants, then why are these illegal aliens rejected by Washington? Why are these desperate people looked down upon in today’s society? One would think that after 200+ years of immigration, the nation would have some sort of place in society for immigration –whether legal or through the desperate measures of illegal immigration.

Many lawsuits have been filed against Wal-Mart by employees who were forced to work off the clock - which is working several hours without pay after their shifts have ended. Wal-Mart says it tells its managers never to let employees work off the clock. Wal-Mart’s slogan is “Always low prices.” Why? Because in fact, high-ranking executives at Wal-Mart have formulated policies to pay illegal workers substandard wages so they can keep the prices low to wipe out their competitors. Illegal immigration makes all of this possible because if the workers try and assemble or speak out against their oppressors, they lose their jobs and are possibly deported. Employment tactics like these are nothing new to Wal-Mart, who is known to be a big union buster and executives at Wal-Mart know full well that no union would accept undocumented workers into their ranks.

McDonald’s hires thousands of illegal immigrants. Do you think the big McDonald’s executives and CEOs care whether or not their employees receive their deserved minimum wage and rights? Not a chance. They are too busy counting their billions of “hard-earned” dollars. Do you believe that they will think twice about hiring an illegal immigrant? Of course not. The less money they have pay their workers, the more money there they can keep in their pockets.

If our politicians did not spend all of their time demonizing one another and wreaking political havoc out of issues they know they cannot control, such as high gas prices, or thinking immigrants are their ticket to electoral victory, then we would not have this problem. Illegal immigration is not a new or one dimensional issue. It has long been a problem, but has only recently been made a huge deal by the media because there are upcoming elections for Congress in November.

Increased immigration is important for both the economic and spiritual well being of the United States. Immigrants often take jobs which would otherwise go unfilled and they also increase overall productivity of our economy. The United States has recently undergone a long period of increased immigration and has an economy which may have its ups and downs, but is still the envy of the world.

Most importantly, let us not forget that illegal immigrants are people who simply want a better life, just like our parents and grandparents did. Helping their quest for a better life makes us rich in ways which should transcend our own cultural biases and the hypocrisy of American corporations.