[lbo-talk] Dean Baker on immigration

Marta Russell ap888 at lafn.org
Tue Apr 18 10:32:44 PDT 2006


On Apr 18, 2006, at 2:34 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:


> Marta wrote:
>
>> Let those able bodied
>> immigrants have the jobs cause they are a whole lot less trouble than
>> dealing with a deaf, blind or otherwise disabled employee????
>>
>
>
> If you accept the logic of capitalism, there is no denying that
> able-bodied immigrant workers are more attractive to employers than
> disabled American-born workers, even if immigrant workers didn't speak
> English at all and employers had to pay all the costs of translation.
> But if you didn't accept the logic of capitalism, what's the reason
> for prioritizing American-born workers over immigrant workers?

Because we live here and grew up here and have not had our civil rights enforced so that we may equally participate in the employment process. That should be self evident. Being condemned to live on inadequate disability benefits with little to no chance to improve one's financial status leads to a life of hopelessness and dire poverty. You try it.

During World War II when there were less able bodied men in the labor force, the disabled employment rate improved greatly. The reason for that was that there were fewer people in the country to take the jobs and so employers would hire disabled people. When soldiers returned home many disabled people lost their jobs to the able bodied once again. We have never regained that level of employment. So you see it isn't that disabled people cannot do the job it is the preference for the able bodied.

With tens of thousands of illegals flooding the country we don't stand a chance at getting our unemployment rate to improve. That is just reality. I am looking for justice for disabled people. It hasn't come.

Marta



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