4 ms·

Nearly one million people became citizens last year, and that doesn't count unregistered crossings. People are shooting the Darien Gap at a chance to get into t

Nearly one million people became citizens last year, and that doesn't count unregistered crossings. People are shooting the Darien Gap at a chance to get into the US. I am so tired of hearing about the US housing crisis with no mention of the firehose of new people coming into the country, every single one of whom needs housing, and is far more likely to go to an urban center, where the majority of available jobs are and the housing crunch is worst. This is on top of a rural-urban drain occurring all over the US, where younger people are abandoning rural areas to seek their fortunes in cities. A similar immigration crunch is occurring in the wealthier EU countries, and a similar rural-urban crunch is occurring in South Korea, China, and Japan. Somewhere between 20 and 40 million people have entered the US since 2000 with the intention to stay. The idea that this somehow hasn't exacerbated the housing shortage is absurd. I haven't heard a left-leaning person mention this source of new demand for housing a single time, and I read a lot of housing crisis news.

xkekjrktllss 3y ago
Marxist here. You're right, except there is no left wing to speak of in the US. Regardless, the reason for the mass immigration is plainly capitalism. Immigrants are profitable (exploitable) in so many ways that citizens are not, and the ruling class only stands to gain from mass immigration as their property prices rise.
- quacked 3y ago
  You nailed it. They've got the citizens here mostly hoodwinked, too. "We need immigrants to do jobs you don't want to do." No, they need immigrants so they don't have to pay me to do jobs that my grandparents and great-grandparents did, and so there's a larger base of consumers on which to grow share prices via increased sales and debt contracts. > except there is no left wing to speak of in the US. I'd say this is true if you're talking about people with real authority, but among the populace there's a sizeable group of people who would support a communist re-establishment of the government.
  - Blackstrat 3y ago
    No left wing? The US has essentially become socialist.
    - BetaDeltaAlpha 3y ago
      The parent commenter probably meant: There's no Marxian left wing composed of serious people in the US.
      - xkekjrktllss 3y ago
        That and the so-called "left" that we do have is opportunist performance; liberals washing each others' bloody hands in moralism and running out of ways to fool working people.
    - rho138 3y ago
      > No left wing? The US has essentially become socialist. We’re really drowning in socialism right now with our private healthcare that’s tied to a workplace only if the employee works >32 hours per week.
      - Blackstrat 3y ago
        And where should insurance come from?
        softjobs 3y ago
        Ah, the assumption we always need some rent-seeking middleman.
bsder 3y ago
Illegal immigration is incredibly easy to stop. You make it a felony directly to the CEO to employ any illegal immigrant or any business that employs illegal immigrants anywhere in the contracting/subcontracting chain. Employing illegal immigrants will come to a complete halt which will cause illegal immigration to come to a complete halt. The problem is that everybody likes slave labor from illegal immigrants. I believe it was Georgia(?) who cracked down on illegal immigrants and then couldn't get their crops harvested because nobody local would do the work even at minimum wage.
- quacked 3y ago
  I would love to make it a felony to employ illegal labor. I also would like a reckoning over farm labor. If it's possible to tear down the neo-serf system for agricultural work via a goods pricing war, that's fine with me. I would labor in the fields for a month or two out of the year. (I've done hard outdoor work before, I'm not just saying that.) I just don't want to lose my normal job, mortgage, or insurance because I'm out somewhere else for a bit.
  - FireBeyond 3y ago
    It is already a federal crime, just almost never enforced.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  These companies (that rely heavily on undocumented labor, like slaughterhouses) are also way too friendly with USCIS/ICE/DHS. There was a coordinated series of raids on I believe Tyson a few years. A few facilities in a couple of counties. Eight hundred, nine hundred undocumented workers. Many of them said that the company advised them on staying under the radar. Some even gave the arresting officers company paperwork that told them how to do certain things, like fill out their I-9s, etc. A curious journalist asked at the press conference where chests were being puffed about such things and the fact that the company was obviously not just aware, but assisting in the employment of these workers. "Are there any plans to investigate the company or issue fines or charges?" "We are not considering that at this time." Huh, color me surprised. With all the labor law issues that these places have, from OSHA to child labor, it wouldn't remotely surprise me that if the undocumented workers get a little too "uppity" about health and safety or worker's rights, someone from the company calls ICE and says "Hey, we'll help you find a whole bunch of undocumented workers at our facilities if you don't consider enforcement against us". It already IS a federal crime to hire undocumented workers, and an additional federal crime to harbor them at your place of employment (8 USC 1324). But almost never enforced, for some odd reason...

xkekjrktllss 3y ago

Marxist here. You're right, except there is no left wing to speak of in the US. Regardless, the reason for the mass immigration is plainly capitalism. Immigrants are profitable (exploitable) in so many ways that citizens are not, and the ruling class only stands to gain from mass immigration as their property prices rise.

quacked 3y ago
You nailed it. They've got the citizens here mostly hoodwinked, too. "We need immigrants to do jobs you don't want to do." No, they need immigrants so they don't have to pay me to do jobs that my grandparents and great-grandparents did, and so there's a larger base of consumers on which to grow share prices via increased sales and debt contracts. > except there is no left wing to speak of in the US. I'd say this is true if you're talking about people with real authority, but among the populace there's a sizeable group of people who would support a communist re-establishment of the government.
- Blackstrat 3y ago
  No left wing? The US has essentially become socialist.
  - BetaDeltaAlpha 3y ago
    The parent commenter probably meant: There's no Marxian left wing composed of serious people in the US.
    - xkekjrktllss 3y ago
      That and the so-called "left" that we do have is opportunist performance; liberals washing each others' bloody hands in moralism and running out of ways to fool working people.
  - rho138 3y ago
    > No left wing? The US has essentially become socialist. We’re really drowning in socialism right now with our private healthcare that’s tied to a workplace only if the employee works >32 hours per week.
    - Blackstrat 3y ago
      And where should insurance come from?
      - softjobs 3y ago
        Ah, the assumption we always need some rent-seeking middleman.

bsder 3y ago

Illegal immigration is incredibly easy to stop. You make it a felony directly to the CEO to employ any illegal immigrant or any business that employs illegal immigrants anywhere in the contracting/subcontracting chain. Employing illegal immigrants will come to a complete halt which will cause illegal immigration to come to a complete halt. The problem is that everybody likes slave labor from illegal immigrants. I believe it was Georgia(?) who cracked down on illegal immigrants and then couldn't get their crops harvested because nobody local would do the work even at minimum wage.

quacked 3y ago
I would love to make it a felony to employ illegal labor. I also would like a reckoning over farm labor. If it's possible to tear down the neo-serf system for agricultural work via a goods pricing war, that's fine with me. I would labor in the fields for a month or two out of the year. (I've done hard outdoor work before, I'm not just saying that.) I just don't want to lose my normal job, mortgage, or insurance because I'm out somewhere else for a bit.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  It is already a federal crime, just almost never enforced.
FireBeyond 3y ago
These companies (that rely heavily on undocumented labor, like slaughterhouses) are also way too friendly with USCIS/ICE/DHS. There was a coordinated series of raids on I believe Tyson a few years. A few facilities in a couple of counties. Eight hundred, nine hundred undocumented workers. Many of them said that the company advised them on staying under the radar. Some even gave the arresting officers company paperwork that told them how to do certain things, like fill out their I-9s, etc. A curious journalist asked at the press conference where chests were being puffed about such things and the fact that the company was obviously not just aware, but assisting in the employment of these workers. "Are there any plans to investigate the company or issue fines or charges?" "We are not considering that at this time." Huh, color me surprised. With all the labor law issues that these places have, from OSHA to child labor, it wouldn't remotely surprise me that if the undocumented workers get a little too "uppity" about health and safety or worker's rights, someone from the company calls ICE and says "Hey, we'll help you find a whole bunch of undocumented workers at our facilities if you don't consider enforcement against us". It already IS a federal crime to hire undocumented workers, and an additional federal crime to harbor them at your place of employment (8 USC 1324). But almost never enforced, for some odd reason...