Date: Sat, 17 Feb 96 2:19:40 EST From: boddhisatva <kbevans-AT-panix.com> Subject: Re: Border Controls -Reply Mr. Rose, Legal immigrants can be protected by labor laws, unions, and the vote. Illegal immigrants are outside of the domain of civil society, and therefore have the potential to undermine (although certainly not by intent) social evolution in both their home countries and their resident countries. Illegal immigrants put themselves in a position of near-ultimate exploitability. In effect, they are the scabs of civil society (again, not that they should be held personally responsible for this). Unless they can become a force for revolution strong enough to overpower the relative ease with which they can be dismissed in the resident country, they can undermine wages and the struggle for economic justice. Unrestricted immigrants (under an open-border policy) have the potential to overwhelm the civil government mechanisms, and thus they would become de facto illegals. I hope it's completely clear that I sympathize with the plight of the illegal. Their misery is the cry of people abandoned by their more affluent comrades in the 1st world proletariat. Possibly, only we can save them. Certainly, we must immediately do what we can to energize their struggle, as globalization of capital threatens to make every worker an illegal in his own land. Probably, however, we will have to help them on their side of the border, just as we can only help scabs who are on our side of the picket line. peace, boddhisatva --- from list marxism-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- ------------------
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