Consider treatment for addiction to illegal labor

Arguments regarding ICE operations have tended to focus on humanitarian / moral grounds, law enforcement vs. due process or the economic necessity of illegal migrants to the economy. Here, I want to take a macro focus.

To be clear, when we say that illegal migrants do the jobs citizens won’t do, we are really saying, “at wages below what citizens would accept.” This is a form of indentured servitude and readers can judge for themselves if this is moral.

Capitalism uses competition to keep costs lower. Business efficiency reduces costs, permitting the company to undercut competitor prices. However, illegal labor undermines this mechanism, allowing employers to pay below market wages, to avoid benefits costs and shift those to other market segments like hospitals, contributing to bankruptcy for businesses that play by the rules.

Once it becomes necessary for many businesses to use illegal labor to survive, society has developed an addiction. The economic heroin is cheap illegal labor. The two political parties are taking an opposite approach to dealing with the addiction.

Republicans want to get society to go the treatment center route, to cure the addiction. Democrats want the equivalent of a Methadone clinic, to manage the addiction so as to remain a functional addict. In treating heroin addiction, doctors use both methods.

A characteristic of addiction is willingness to bend the rules, deceive oneself and others and a strong desire for the quick fix to satisfy the immediate need. Pondering these features when evaluating arguments may be beneficial.

Brian Van Dine

Glendale Heights