Suman Raghunathan

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave - For Some, at Least

As the anniversary of our nation’s independence approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be an American, particularly as the immigration reform proposal breathed its last gasp last week.

(To be quite honest, I’m not mourning the immigration reform bill’s demise: it was fundamentally flawed, and would delay real reform for at least a decade for most undocumented immigrants (and the American middle class that depends on immigrants’ economic contributions).

I’ve been particularly troubled by what seems to be a two-tier application of our nation’s founding fathers’ key principles: namely “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

As our divisive and vitriolic national conversation on immigration continues to unfold (and stall), it’s becoming increasingly clear that these three core principles are being applied differently by elected officials and policymakers to two groups.

In one corner: native-born US citizens with greater than middle class incomes. In the other: immigrant workers (including naturalized citizens, green card holders, and the undocumented) along with middle-class Americans and those who hope to join the middle class.

As I said last week we need to realize progressive immigration reform is a critical step in the creation of a pro-worker agenda, and it’s critical to American workers that we get this piece right.

It’s fitting to consider applying the visionary spirit of the founding fathers (though they really meant white male Protestant landowners, but hey, who’s quibbling?) to this agenda.

I can’t think of a better day to do so than today, given its celebration of the US declaration of independence from Britain. This is an apt time to demand some independent thinking on immigration policy and its nexus with the interests of the American middle class-particularly in light of the status quo, which both sides of the debate agree is spectacularly dysfunctional.

So given today’s patriotic spirit, let’s go through these three inalienable rights, shall we?

1) Life: ok, seems like this one’s a no-brainer. Clearly everyone on earth is alive. But let’s probe this idea a little more: let’s talk about the quality of that life. For many middle class and immigrant workers, life means working long hours for not enough pay. As income inequality continues to grow in the US, both the American middle class and low-wage immigrant workers are feeling the brunt of skyrocketing costs of living, a weakened Social Security program, expensive health insurance premiums (for those who can afford them), and a public education system in crisis. (DMI has written extensively on the middle-class squeeze: click here for more information.

A pro-worker agenda that includes progressive immigration policy needs to address these pressing issues, which will determine the future not only of immigrant families (who, contrary to popular belief, use public services at a lower rate than many native-born folks) but the American middle class who often depend on government programs to meet their needs (Medicare, SSI, disability, Social Security, anyone?), and will continue to do so as more Baby Boomers approach retirement. What’s more, the very same Baby Boomers are, dare I say it, beholden to undocumented immigrants’ Social Security contributions(totaling $421 billion through 2003) and Medicare contributions ($1.5 billion annually), neither of which undocumented immigrants usually access.

2) Liberty: This marginally important concept (yes, I am being facetious) includes some of the issues discussed above. My main point here is just how little opportunity immigrants and the American middle class actually have to live the American dream, so to speak. Middle class families are increasingly unable to afford health care coverage, a home, even a decent college education for their children. I see echoes of the same strain among immigrant families, particularly those with members who are undocumented. The statistics are staggering. According to the Center for American Progress, nearly 44 percent of documented immigrants were uninsured in 2005, more than three times the uninsured rate for the native born.

And lastly, getting a college education. Around 60,000 undocumented high school graduates each year, (even those with scholarship offers from the nation’s top schools), can’t access those scholarships and attend college (which would power their ascent into the middle class) because they are ineligible for federal student loans, grants, and discounted in-state tuition rates at state universities.

In fact, most of these students, who have grown up in the US, often don’t even know they’re undocumented, and can’t legally work in the US. Unfortunately efforts to address this fundamentally unfair deal through the DREAM Act
have failed for the past six years.

The story gets even worse for undocumented workers, who have few opportunities for liberty. Due to their lack of immigration status, many undocumented workers are forced to work in an unregulated economy where they must accept low wages, employer harassment, and poor working conditions. And according to a 2003-2004 survey, one in five day laborers has suffered a work-related injury; less than half of those injured received medical care for their injuries.

Most undocumented workers also live in constant fear of government raids such as one in New Haven, CT last month, where federal agents rounded up 31 undocumented immigrants in their homes at dawn, then put them in deportation proceedings. None had criminal records, and only four had standing deportation orders against them.

That doesn’t sound like liberty to me.

3) The pursuit of happiness: Ah, the mother lode of all rights. To me, this amorphous concept translates into freedom to pursue your dreams, to think big, be ambitious, be inventive. I also think it follows from the first two rights being fulfilled. Point made.

As we celebrate our nation’s tradition of independent thinking, equality, liberty, and reverence for pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, I think it’s worth thinking today about the denial of these inalienable rights to immigrants, who are one in five low-wage workers and one in ten US residents.

Time for renewing our vows to those inalienable rights.

Suman Raghunathan: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 8:00 AM, Jul 04, 2007 in Immigration
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