By Michael Harpold

I have spent most of my adult life on the front lines of immigration, including serving as a United States Border Patrol officer in California’s San Joaquin Valley during the early years of the Grape Strike led by Cesar Chavez.

That’s why I believe I’m able to spot the flaws in immigration policy proposals coming from both sides of the political aisle.

There’s plenty of advocacy for increased numbers of immigrants and new guest worker programs, but not much discussion about the consequences.

For instance, both houses of Congress have passed legislation creating new programs that will guarantee growers a huge pool of new, low-skilled workers, but will do nothing to improve the lives of those already in the states working on farms. Growers will not have to pay into Social Security and unemployment for guest workers.

Despite immigration reform, domestic farmworkers will continue to live as an impoverished underclass. If we want to help immigrant and U.S. citizen farmworkers, we can’t bring a new flood of low-skilled workers into the country who will compete for their jobs.

Here’s where I see political ideology going wrong on the immigration issue:

1. Illegal immigrant farmworkers are not self-entitled freeloaders: More than half of workers employed on farms, and a huge portion of those hired in food processing and meatpacking, are not U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. Many were driven off their farms in Mexico because they couldn’t compete with American corn exports. Out of necessity, more than 50 percent of farm families in Mexico have one or more family members working illegally in the U.S. Tacitly invited by unscrupulous U.S. employers seeking cheap labor, the vast majority slipped across land borders or were smuggled, facing incredible danger and hardships.

2. A relaxed border policy is a bad idea: Our immigration laws have been refined over decades to reunify families, provide needed workers to U.S. business and provide a haven for political refugees. To that end, more than 1.2 million new immigrants are brought into the U.S. each year in addition to more than 40 million visitors.

Liberals say the system is broken and the law is being violated because not enough visas are being granted, but there will always come a point when the country needs to say no. No system can be fair if the regulations governing it are not enforced, as has occurred throughout the past 2 1/2 decades. Relaxing our immigration standards, as some liberals support, allows for a constant stream of new immigrants, grinding wages to the floor and guaranteeing a state of perpetual poverty for farmworkers.

3. Immigrants face the same problems as U.S. citizens: The fact that manufacturing jobs have moved overseas has been a significant blow to the American workforce. Earlier immigrants from Europe had next-level jobs and industries to climb their way out of entry-level jobs, but those next-level jobs are no longer there for immigrant farmworkers. Wages for meatpackers and construction workers have fallen as those occupations have become overloaded with job-hunting, low-skilled workers.

The way out for most farmworkers means standing on a street corner near a Home Depot hoping to be hired for day labor.

Progressives need to remember that it’s not fair to invite immigrants here, only to have them discover the American dream is on hold indefinitely. Conservatives need to accept that many of the estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are already deeply integrated into our economy and society.

Until relatively recently, illegal immigrant farmworkers were simply integrated into the system after a period of time. Congress should enact a law allowing them to remain legally and work until they can qualify for a green card — something that’s been done in previous immigration policy.

Read more: Cleveland Daily Banner - Viewpoint Both sides are wrong on immigration debate 

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Escrito de Gracias a: Azafatas en girona 
Ketchikan, AK (PRWEB) 07 de enero 2014 En su nuevo libro, Jumping the Line, Michael G. Harpold, un veterano del Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización (INS) de 35 años, arroja luz sobre la importancia factores en la conversación nacional la reforma de inmigración.
experiencia

Harpolds incluye servir como un oficial de la Patrulla Fronteriza de EE.UU. en Californias Valle de San Joaquín, durante los primeros años de la Huelga de Uva encabezados por César Chávez. Su perspectiva de base que, dice, que le permite señalar posibles consecuencias no deseadas en las propuestas de reforma de inmigración procedentes de ambos lados del pasillo.

políticos de todas las tendencias pueden tener buenas intenciones con respecto a la reforma migratoria, pero eso no es suficiente, dice. El proyecto de ley de trabajadores agrícolas invitados propuesto, por ejemplo, podría causar graves daños a los trabajadores agrícolas ya existentes.

El proyecto de ley de trabajadores agrícolas invitados propuesto atraer a más inmigrantes dispuestos a trabajar por salarios aún más bajos, lo cual sería desastroso para los trabajadores del campo ya está aquí, dice. Los progresistas necesitan recordar que no es justo para invitar a los inmigrantes cuando el sueño americano está en espera de manera indefinida debido a que el flujo constante de nuevos inmigrantes mantiene los salarios bajos, dice.

conservadores tienen que aceptar que muchos de los aproximadamente 11,5 millones de inmigrantes ilegales en los EE.UU. ya están profundamente integrados en nuestra economía y sociedad.

Hasta hace relativamente poco, los trabajadores agrícolas indocumentados fueron simplemente asimilados después de un período de tiempo, dice. El Congreso debería aprobar una ley que les permite permanecer legalmente y trabajar hasta que puedan calificar para thats algo se ha hecho en la política de inmigración anterior una tarjeta verde, dice.

Las capturas de cuentos y mantiene la atención de los lectores con un desgarrador relato a menudo de la lucha contra mans fuerzas económicas y sociales que son mucho más grande que cualquier personas sueños y deseos, escribe revisor Amazon Lori Ortiz, quien dio el libro de cinco estrellas . Es una lectura que hace que el lector se detiene y piensa en la ética, la justicia y las dificultades de establecer una política justa y viable de inmigración en los Estados Unidos.

pesar de la reforma de inmigración, los trabajadores agrícolas nacionales pueden continuar viviendo como una subclase empobrecida, dice Harpold.

Acerca de Michael G. Harpold

Michael G. Harpold comenzó su carrera de 35 años en el Servicio de Inmigración y Naturalización de los EE.UU. (INS) cuando una patrulla inspector fronterizo en la frontera mexicana. Más adelante en su carrera, mientras estacionado en Bakersfield, California, conoció a C? Sar Ch? Chávez. Sus caminos se cruzaron porque Chávez cree que cruzan la frontera ilegales eran una amenaza para sus esfuerzos por construir un sindicato para los trabajadores agrícolas. Harpold sirvió dos años en Vietnam con la Agencia de EE.UU. para el Desarrollo Internacional y, después de regresar al INS, se convirtió en un oficial del sindicato de empleados, lo que hace frecuentes apariciones ante comités del Congreso que declaren a la legislación de inmigración propuesto y el presupuesto del INS. Harpold sirvió cinco años en el Ejército de EE.UU. y ganó un nombramiento competitivo a West Point. Obtuvo una licenciatura de la Universidad Estatal de California en Fresno y asistió a la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad Golden Gate en San Francisco.

Written by Ginny Grimsley, see the press release here. 

Former Border Patrol Officer Michael G. Harpold debunks bad ideas driving immigration reform discussion.

In his new book, “Jumping the Line,” Michael G. Harpold, a 35-year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), sheds light on important factors in the national immigration reform conversation.

Harpold’s experience includes serving as a U.S. Border Patrol officer in California’s San Joaquin Valley during the early years of the Grape Strike led by Cesar Chavez. It’s that grassroots perspective, he says, that allows him to point out potential unintended consequences in immigration reform proposals coming from both sides of the aisle.

Politicians of all stripes may have good intentions regarding immigration reform, but that’s not enough, he says. The proposed guest farmworker bill, for instance, could do serious harm to existing farmworkers.

“The proposed guest farmworker bill would bring in more immigrants willing to work for even lower wages, which would be disastrous for the farmworkers already here,” he says. “Progressives need to remember that it’s not fair to invite immigrants when the American dream is on hold indefinitely because the constant stream of new immigrants keeps wages low,” he says.

“Conservatives need to accept that many of the estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are already deeply integrated into our economy and society.”

Until relatively recently, undocumented farmworkers were simply assimilated after a period of time, he says. Congress should enact a law allowing them to remain legally and work until they can qualify for a green card – something that’s been done in previous immigration policy, he says.

“…The tale captures and holds the reader’s attention with an often gut-wrenching tale of man’s struggle against economic and social forces that are much bigger than any one person’s dreams and desires,” writes Amazon reviewer Lori Ortiz, who gave the book five stars. “…It’s a read that makes the reader stop and think about ethics, justice and the difficulties of establishing a just and workable immigration policy in the United States.”

Despite immigration reform, domestic farmworkers may continue to live as an impoverished underclass, Harpold says.