The Puzzle of American Immigration Policies

[VetLegion]

Sorry if this is an obvious question, but I can't figure it out.

In Europe (say, Denmark) people get fed up with immigration, they vote for the appropriate party and they effectively put a stop to it.

But in USA, there seems to be a discrepancy between what people want (and from what I gather a majority wants a stop to immigration) and what the elites want. The motives of the elites are more or less understandable.

But how come people of USA can't get their wishes done?

[C0ckney]

it's not just in the USA...

[DinoDoc]

No one wants to stop legal immigration. Well at least no one worth being taken seriously. It's the illegal kind people are concerned with. There's just a conflict on the best way to do that.

[SlowwHand]

You'd have to live somewhere people actually want to go to, to understand.
Certainly 9/11 clamped it down even tighter.

[Spiffor]

The US is ruled by two catch-all parties that are full of contradictions.

The Republicans currently gather the pro-business types and the religious types. The religious types usually are lower on the social scale than the pro-business ones, and their economic interests can be at odds (and frequently are).
Immigration is good for business and bad for the average local worker, because it gives a pool of cheap and obedient labor to the businessmen, that directly competes against the more demanding red-blooded-American workforce.

Since the Repugs want to please their pro-business side, and continue to get generous donation $$$, they can't take a genuinely strong stance against immigration.


The Dems are closer to the Unions( which are generally hostile to NAFTA and to immigration), but they're also dependant of big business, and also have some humanitarian qualms about the immigrants. You can't avowedly let a foreigner starve in his hellhole when you're a liberal, after all*


*This is not true of southern democrats.

[SlowwHand]

NAFTA SUCKS!

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
NAFTA SUCKS!

You say that because you don't belong to big business.

Ask DanS what he thinks of NAFTA

[SlowwHand]

I don't work in a Mom and Pop, but I can see what it's helped do to manufacturing, on both sides of the Rio Grande.

Dan is a capitalist to the Nth. No slam, just saying.

[Wycoff]

Pretty much right on, Spiffor.

The Big Business right, the socially left, Big Labor, and assorted Libertarians generally favor as open an immigration policy as possible, favor guest worker programs, and favor some sort of amnesty.

Social conservatives and rank & file union members generally favor clamping down on illegal immigration, oppose amnesty, and generally oppose guest worker programs.

These opposed groups are split between the parties. The Republican party includes Big Business, Social Conservatives, along with some Libertarians and rank & file union members. The Democrats includes the Socially Left, Big Labor, and other rank & file union members.

[Wycoff]

Basically, Big Business / Laissez Faire Republicans and the "Liberal Elite" (most academics & intellectuals, labor leaders, Hollywood) are allied against small time populists and nationalists.

[DanS]

VL: It's a great contradiction. The country has a strong economy and needs a steady stream of immigrants. Meanwhile, that immigration is unpopular. The gov't is left with the task of squaring that circle.

[DanS]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
No one wants to stop legal immigration.

I don't believe that to be true. Or at least, they would wish the provisions for legal immigration to be very narrow.

[Timexwatch]

Labor unions are pretty divided on immigration. AFSCME, Hotel & Restaurant workers, etc. are more sympathetic to immigrants than some of the construction trades, professional trades and public sector unions. Some are even sitting on the fence.

And no matter what, we have a ****ty immigration policy all around. Skilled immigrants from friendly countries have to sweat it out waiting for a green card while we dink around with diversity lotteries and H-2 visas. No matter what, immigration policy doesn't radically change.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The OP premise is slightly off. We aren't oppose immigration. We are opposed to immigrants. Immigrants talk funny, smell funny, and sometimes worship funny gods with elephant trunks and such-like. Immigrants are different, and different is irritating and even scary. On the other hand, yard work is hard and caring for incontinent old people is even harder, so we've no problem letting in folks to do that yucky work. We just wish it were the folks from across the other border.

[Whoha]

Money and votes, what both parties get(or hope to get) from keeping immigration as is. Puzzle solved.

and as for what everyone else wants, they don't all want the same solution.