This is a silly non-distinction. I've worked with plenty of illegal immigrants. I've worked in immigration law. I'm aware that illegal workers are people - living and working here illegally.
> >Historically, illegal workers have been imported to oppress domestic
> >workers and that's what's happening now.
>
>
> I thought you just said the immigrant workers were the ones being oppressed.
Workers even more oppressed than American workers are imported here so that American capitalists can profit from the oppression of workers in other countries and undermine the gains that American workers have made.
> >Mexicans, for example, who are living here as an underclass could be
> >at home, changing Mexico.
>
>
> Who says they're not changing Mexico by coming here? And what does
> "home" mean anyway?
When you're a Mexican citizen, "home" means "Mexico" - where they have the rights of citizenship as opposed to America where they have, effectively, almost no rights. Of course Mexicans living and working here illegally send money home. But more of them have to go back and, with our help, push against the Mexican elite.
Look, I have worked with illegal immigrants. I have, privately, advised some to avoid the immigration system and do what they had to do. But I have come to the conclusion that they just have to face the fact that life in America as part of a legal underclass is not acceptable and home nations have to be changed. Of course I would not suggest to someone from Sierra Leone that they should go back. Sierra Leone is less a country than a running gun battle. But Mexico is different and Mexico can change and must change.
boddi