Discussion Post:

Discussion Topic: Discussion Post: "Getting High Off the Migrant Supply"Discussion Post: "Getting High Off the Migrant Supply"

Discussion Prompt

In 1986 the United States government in an effort to "crack down" on employers who knowingly contributed to the employment of unauthorized migrants, developed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The IRCA made it unlawful for a person or company to knowingly hire a person who is unauthorized to work in the United States and/or to continue employing unauthorized workers once this status became known. These punitive actions came in the form of monetary sanctions. Depending on the occurrence, a person or company could be fined any where from $250.00 to $10K for each unauthorized worker. In 1996 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) developed criminal penalties that could be assessed for the known smuggling or harboring of at least 10 unauthorized workers. (https://cis(dot)org/Report/Hiring-Illegals-CrimeLinks to an external site.)



Since the passage of the IRCA in 1986, and the subsequent reforms a decade later, the country has seen the number of deportations increase. However, the number of unauthorized workers entering the U.S. has also increased - exponentially. The population of unauthorized immigrants in the US ballooned from 5 million the year IIRIRA was passed to 12 million by 2006. (https://www(dot)vox(dot)com/2016/4/28/11515132/iirira-clinton-immigration)Links to an external site.



Links to an external site.What accounts for the growth of the unauthorized migrant worker population, especially if individual employers and companies face steep penalties for recruiting, hiring, and maintaining the employment of unauthorized migrant workers? A few issues are likely impacting the outcome: (1) the Department of Justice (DOJ) rarely imposes criminal penalties. Plus, when they do impose monetary sanctions, businesses have accepted those fines as a "cost of doing business." (2) Since the late 80's there has been an increase in the development of more sophisticated falsified documentation (e.g. social security numbers) that immigrants to the country are able to access. This increases the challenge of establishing that employers "knowingly" hired unauthorized workers, which results in limited or no enforcement practices. (3) Even though immigrant workers are being exploited for their labor and working for low wages and in many instances in very dangerous conditions, those current conditions for work and lifestyle are still vastly superior to conditions they left in their countries of origin. As such, it is a calculated benefit to accept the exploitative conditions rather than face potential deportation to their country of origin.



Nearly half of the immigrants in the United States (45 percent) reside primarily in three states: California, Florida and Texas. In 2018, Mexico accounted for approximately 11.2 million immigrants into the United States, about 25 percent of all immigrant arrivals. (pewresearch.org/short-reads/findings-about-immigrationLinks to an external site.) While it is clear immigrants are entering the United States via the southern border, not all of these individuals are actually from Mexico. Migrants crossing the southern border originate from Haiti, the Philippines, India, Vietnam and a handful of other countries.



In 2019, The Pew Research Center estimated Links to an external site.that there were 7.5 million unauthorized workers in the United States concentrated in agriculture, construction and hospitality industries. While it is difficult to accurately estimate the profit margins companies make by employing unauthorized workers, we do know that the average undocumented worker makes approximately $16K less than the average U.S. employee. For large national corporations that employ undocumented workers at these low wages, those savings in wages generally result in profit margins in the billions of dollars that function to make the wealthiest 1% of the country even more wealthy. The incentive to reduce reliance on cheap unauthorized labor for these companies is likely low to non-existent.



Discussion Question

(1) Given the various aspects impacting the issue of immigration in the United States, who deserves the majority of the blame for what is now considered an "immigration problem?" Is it the U.S. government for failing to secure the southern border and properly enforce laws like the IRCA and the IIRIRA? Is it the employers who are in many instances, knowingly hiring unauthorized workers and exploiting their labor at a profit? Or is it the immigrant workers who circumvent the naturalization process, obtain falsified documents and accept low paying jobs? What information are you relying upon to support your position?



(2) Do you believe lawmakers truly want to "fix" our immigration policies? Is the country even capable of maintaining the current state of functionality if all unauthorized workers were deported? Why or Why not?







RESPONSE INDICATIONS & GRADING

Discussion response grades are based on the following areas:



(5pts) Structure - (1) Responses must be a minimum of 250 words, (2) includes proper citations as applicable (MLA format), (3) does not contain any use of AI, or plagiarized work from other authors (including other students). Any discovered use of AI or plagiarized work will result in a "0" for the assignment and referral to the Dean of Student Affairs.

(13pts) Analysis / Depth of Understanding - Demonstrated ability to discuss the topic, respond to the prompt questions, include analysis, reference applicable contemporary issues and demonstrate a depth of understanding regarding the intersection of the topic with concepts discussed in this unit or in class, reading, and gleaned from the students own understanding from outside content, current events, and/or additional reading materials

(7pts) Quality of Engagement - (1) student must respond to at least two other students in class, (2) response should expand upon a presented idea, challenge a position, and/or provide a inquiry into a position offered by their classmate; (3) responses that merely state "good job", "I like what you said...", "I agree" or any similar response, will be considered insufficient and be ineligible for the maximum possible points.