The political economy of the "illegal" immigrant.

AuthorMartinot, Steve

Immigrant workers labor without proper papers under substandard conditions, mostly in agricultural work that is very hard and injurious to health, both physically and chemically. Politically, they live precariously, subject to arrest by immigration authorities, the callous breaking of family bonds, often held (unconstitutionally) in indefinite detention, yet with taxes withheld from paychecks that they then cannot reclaim. They do essential work in this economy, yet face demands that they leave. They are excluded from social services, such as health care and education, that they nevertheless pay for through their labor and their taxes. From a value-added standpoint (the primary standpoint of a capitalist economy), they constitute an ideal labor force.

Justice would demand that those who add value to this society be at least honored for it, if not granted citizenship. Yet these people are considered a threat, and are thought of as seizing that which properly belongs to more worthy people. Let us deconstruct this briefly in the context of the international political economy to which these immigrant workers belong.

What drives the current wave of Latino immigration? Why do they come here? After all, they come with an awareness of the hardships, the dangers of dealing with violent paramilitary anti-Latino vigilantes, the anti-immigrant legislations and the impunity and brutality of immigration police with which they are greeted when found. The mainstream response is: "they want what we have." And the hidden truth in that response is the question, where did we get it? That is a question of political economy.

The central economic fact of the western hemisphere in the 20th century has been US corporate investment throughout Latin America. As Juan Jose Arevalo (former president of Guatemala) revealed in his book, The Shark and the Sardines, this investment historically gave the US financial control of Latin American trade and production, and through that, control of their political structure. Traditionally, before the 1970s, such investment (typically in agricultural products and mining, both labor intensive), enjoyed a profit rate of around 20%, owing to low wage scales and non-union labor conditions enforced by military rule. That is, its capital outlay was recuperated in a mere five years.

The result was impoverishment. The profit from resource extraction (including labor) was brought to the US. The resources brought to the US were used to...

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