It is true the federal government has done an inadequate job in recognizing its responsibilities to create a functioning and humane immigration policy. Sweeney's proposed legislation exacerbates this inadequacy. Its implementation would pit workers against one another, scapegoat undocumented immigrants for a host of economic problems that are not directly tied to their presence, stoke the fires of anti-immigrant sentiment and lead to discriminatory treatment of all workers including U.S. citizens, lawful and undocumented immigrants.
It is understandable that a state senator would want the federal government to act. We all have high expectations of our federal officials. Resorting in frustration to the use of policies at the state level to instigate federal action, and doing so on the backs of businesses and immigrants, is unfair manipulation. The consequences might ultimately hurt New Jersey's economy if enough foreign-born residents decide they're tired of feeling unwelcome in the state.
The legislation proposed by Sweeney is duplicative of an ineffective law already in place at the federal level that sanctions employers who hire undocumented immigrants. Some say it is ineffective because it hasn't been tried; it is more likely ineffective because it encourages discrimination and violations of labor laws, pushes some immigrant workers into underground jobs where they have no access to labor protections and does not address the "push" factors that bring immigrants to the U.S.
Whether immigrants, and in particular undocumented immigrants, depress U.S. wages is hotly debated and it is easy to find arguments on both sides. What is clear is that immigrants come to the United State because they are unable to support themselves and provide for their families in their home countries. They will come out of sheer and desperate need to survive, in many cases without any legal means to do so.
Their undocumented status is not one of choice; it is the consequence of lack of political will to resolve gross economic disparities. Punitive legislation solves none of these issues, yet puts all New Jersey workers at risk.
Rather than drive employers out of business and workers further underground, let us protect the labor rights of all state residents, find legal means for workers to immigrate, and create state and local policies that welcome all immigrants.
