Mass Immigration Threatens Middle Class America
Marie Cocco of the Washington Post Writers Group recently penned an article entitled, “The End of the Middle Class as We Know It.” In the article she noted various forces which are making it harder for middle class Americans to stay in the middle class and harder for lower income Americans to enter it. Conspicuous by its absence was mention of immigration.
At its current massive levels, immigration cuts middle incomes and lower incomes alike. As an example of the former, recall the claim of “free traders” back in the early nineties that new “high tech” jobs would sustain middle class employment, even as we lost industries as a consequence to free trade. But what happened was that high tech companies, in pursuit of cheap labor, decided to import foreign workers in place of Americans. Job opportunities for Americans declined as well as high tech wages.
One who supported this trend was immigration cheerleader Alan Greenspan, formerly the head of the Federal Reserve. When in that position he once stated that immigration was a good thing for the economy by lowering the wages of American professionals. At the same time, there was no record of Greenspan offering to lead by example by accepting a lower salary to head the Fed.
As the author of the easy credit polices that helped to push the economy into the debacle it’s in now, one would think that the former Federal Reserve honcho would have enough shame not to show himself in public. No such luck. Just the other day he testified as a friendly witness at Sen. Arlen Spector’s kangaroo hearing to promote an amnesty (legal status with the pathway to citizenship) for the millions of illegal aliens now residing in the U.S.
Evidently Greenspan wants to promote for lower wage American workers what he promoted for higher-income citizens. Each time in the past when we have granted amnesty, we have had more illegal immigration. Should it be any surprise that you get more of a behavior when you reward it?
As documented by Harvard economist George Borjas, this continuing flow of illegal immigration (as well as legal immigration) has cut the wages and opportunities of our less skilled and educated citizens. What we are moving toward is a classic Third World situation, with a small elite at the top and masses of poor at the bottom.
Immigration enthusiasts often claim that immigration is what America is all about. To the contrary, through our history, our middle class society has been our great distinction and accomplishment. If we lose it, Specter, Greenspan and the rest of their ilk will feel no loss. They’re sure to keep their wealth and privileges.