Why do immigrants come to the United States?
People do not make the decision to leave their homes lightly. Most immigrants leave their countries because of extreme poverty or violence — hardships caused by the same corporations and politicians that are responsible for so many injustices here.
Take NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement infamous for destroying blue collar jobs in the United States. NAFTA was also devastating for Mexican farmers. One provision of NAFTA opened the door for agriculture corporations to buy up huge amounts of land, leaving people in the countryside without the means to survive. Many of them were then forced to move to the U.S. in search of work.
The U.S. government uses its power to control the lives of people in this country and all around the world. Where there are governments that won’t follow U.S. orders, Washington imposes sanctions that cut the country off from trading with the rest of the world, or even intervenes militarily. In Venezuela, for example, Obama and Trump put sanctions that suffocated the economy and destroyed the country’s oil industry. Haiti too has been the target of repeated invasions and military occupations carried out directly or indirectly by the Pentagon. As a result, large numbers of Venezuelans and Haitians have no choice but to leave their home to find a safe place to live and work.
Four reasons we should all oppose mass deportations
Immigrants contribute to society and the economy
Billionaires like Trump and Elon Musk want us to believe immigrants are dangerous criminals, but that’s a lie. All scientific research shows that immigrants are far less likely to commit violent crimes than non-immigrants. Immigrant workers want the exact same thing that workers born here want: the ability to provide a decent life for themselves and their families. And immigrants are a key part of our economy—without immigrants, key industries would break down. Immigrants also pay sales taxes and often income tax—unlike the super rich.
The working class is stronger when we stand together
The real reason why working people, born here or abroad, experience so much hardship is that the wealth we create goes to a tiny handful of ultra-rich people and the corporations they own. If we want that to change, we have to stand together. Falsely believing that immigrants are the cause for rising prices, scarce employment opportunities, and worsening conditions on the job only harms our ability to fight the real source of our problems together.
Mass deportations are a huge waste of public money
The American Immigration Council estimates that the cost of deporting approximately one million immigrants in a single year amounts to $88 billion. There are approximately 13 million undocumented people living in the United States. With that same amount of money, we could end homelessness and hunger in America AND replace all the lead pipes in water systems. Or we could construct 2.9 million homes. Or we could cover the tuition of 8.9 million college students. It’s a massive waste to rip apart families and communities, pretending that’s the source of our problems, than to fund real solutions.
First they came for immigrants – who’s next?
Trump wants to send tens of thousands of heavily armed cops into communities across the country to carry out military-style raids that round up millions of people and send them off to camps. If he can get away with unleashing a reign of terror like this against immigrants, why would he stop there? Any number of groups could be labeled “the enemy within” and be subject to the same treatment. Union organizers, people opposing war and genocide, communities standing up against police violence—anyone who gets in the way of Trump and his billionaire partners could be next.
How can we make sure everyone has a decent job and an affordable home?
Trump and the people in his administration tell us that the reason it’s so hard to find a good job or an affordable home is that immigrant workers have taken them. These are purely lies designed to let the real guilty parties off the hook.
Good jobs disappeared from so many communities because corporate executives decided to close factories and other workplaces, or replace workers with computers and machines. Many jobs that used to pay a living wage can no longer sustain a family because of union busting and inflation.
There are about 16 million vacant homes in the United States—there is no “housing shortage”. The reality is that landlords and banks are raising rents and home prices because they can, and big investment firms are buying up housing units with the intention of turning around and selling them for more money in the future.
The PSL’s solution is to seize the 100 largest corporations in America and turn them into public property. This would include the big banks and property management corporations that own millions of vacant housing units, which could be given to people who need them. That would be coupled with a new law prohibiting landlords from charging more than 10% of a person’s income for rent. With the money and resources from these corporations, we could create 20 million jobs through massive programs to strengthen infrastructure, build public transportation and improve housing.
This article is also available as a downloadable pamphlet here.
