Amy Traub

How Congress Voted: Immigration Edition

Among the most interesting pieces of feedback we've received on our newly released scorecard, Congress at the Midterm: Their 2005 Middle-Class Record, comes from Solomon Grundy at the Left Behind blog, who notes that "DMI is not evaluating whether the middle class supports the legislation, but whether the legislation supports the middle class."

He's absolutely right -- our scorecard is not a poll of what people in a particular income segment believe in terms of public policy. Instead, we're interested in discussing legislation that would support and expand the American middle class (or, as is far more common this year, bills that would undercut and shrink it). The aim is both to inform readers about how Congress voted and to educate them about the issues. And nowhere is the distinction between the existing state of public opinion and the reality of policies that would benefit the middle class and aspiring middle class more evident than the case of immigration.

The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act is one of 11 bills we featured in the scorecard. Today, the Washington Post reports that House Republican leaders believe this 'deport 'em all' bill is far more popular with voters, than any compromise they could work out with the Senate. Yet as we argue in our explanation of the bill, and at greater length in our paper on immigration policy and the middle class, the evidence suggests that just cracking down on illegal immigrants isn't the best policy for the American middle class.

The paper grapples with two conflicting points: on the one hand, immigrants, including undocumented workers, have become an integral part of the U.S. economy. In the words of a recent New York Times article, they're working hard and paying taxes. On the other hand, because employers can always threaten to have them deported, they're vulnerable in the labor market and threaten to undercut the wages of workers aspiring to join the middle class. That suggests that while the middle class is right to feel threatened by the prevalence of illegal immigration, the House's get tough measure is not the right response. Instead, the American middle class would be best served by a policy that bolsters and recognizes immigrants' economic contribution while at the same time making sure they have sufficient rights in the workplace to get a fair deal in the labor market -- no longer threatening to drive down middle-class wages.

This nuanced position may not be what currently commands a majority of public opinion, but that's why DMI, as a public policy institute with a mission to challenge tired orthodoxies, is working to promote our analysis through the new Congressional scorecard and beyond.

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Posted at 5:30 PM, Jun 21, 2006 in Government Accountability | Immigration | Middle-class squeeze
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