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Why Liberals and Conservatives are Both Wrong about Immigration
Longtime INS Employee Says Proposals from Both Sides of the Aisle Will be Bad for Legalized Farmworkers
Michael G. Harpold has spent most of his 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 he's able to spot the flaws in immigration policy proposals coming from both sides of the aisle.
"There's plenty of advocacy for increased numbers of immigrants and new guest worker programs, but not much discussion about the consequences," says Harpold, a 35-year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and author of the new book Jumping the Line (www.jumpingtheline.com), which gives readers a realistic glimpse into the lives of two farmworker families.
For instance, he says, 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," Harpold says. "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."
Why Liberals and Conservatives are Both Wrong about Immigration
Longtime INS Employee Says Proposals from Both Sides of the Aisle Will be Bad for Legalized Farmworkers
Michael G. Harpold has spent most of his 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 he's able to spot the flaws in immigration policy proposals coming from both sides of the aisle.
"There's plenty of advocacy for increased numbers of immigrants and new guest worker programs, but not much discussion about the consequences," says Harpold, a 35-year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and author of the new book Jumping the Line (www.jumpingtheline.com), which gives readers a realistic glimpse into the lives of two farmworker families.
For instance, he says, 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," Harpold says. "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."
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