While sitting on a park bench in Lincoln, Mass., I recently watched a roofer fall two stories after the scaffolding under him gave way. He appeared to be an immigrant. And if he was here illegally, as about 15 percent of all construction industry workers are, he probably lacked worker's comp and health insurance.
That's precisely why many employers—in the construction industry and other sectors—hire immigrants. They don't demand decent wages or working conditions. When they get hurt, they can be shunted aside. Some firms have even turned injured workers over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency for deportation.
This should outrage my fellow Democrats. But at least for the elected officials in my party, it often doesn't. The party's tolerance for illegal immigration violates nearly every other core value we hold dear—from workers' rights to affordable housing. It's also a political albatross that threatens the party's chances in the upcoming election.
Polling shows that swing voters care enormously about immigration. When Democrats ignore illegal migration—or implement border policies that exacerbate it—Republicans win elections. And when Republicans win elections, they move the country in the wrong direction on income equality, education, affordable housing, women's rights, and virtually every other major issue.
Astonishingly, President Joe Biden and most elected Democrats still haven't internalized this. They're sleepwalking into disaster this November, even after having already experienced the four-year nightmare of a Donald Trump presidency.
Consider that in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania by just 78,000 votes combined. By abandoning working-class voters who reliably kept the Midwest blue for decades, Democrats fumbled what should have been an easy election and empowered a demagogue who threatens the very survival of our republic.
Unless he wants to repeat that nightmare, President Biden needs to demonstrate that he prioritizes the interests of American citizens over illegal migrants—who are crossing the border on an unprecedented scale under his watch. Cracking down on illegal immigration isn't just political necessity. It's also good policy on the merits. Up until recently, most Democrats understood that. Former President Bill Clinton even campaigned on it.
A flood of cheap labor undermines our values and claims to deplore income inequality. President Biden's recent executive order on asylum will not deter asylum fraud and it accepts more than 900,000 illegal border crossings a year—a disaster for the employment hopes of our low-skilled citizens. And it is riddled with loopholes.
Expanding the size of the low-wage workforce depresses earnings for blue-collar Americans by forcing them to compete directly with immigrants for jobs. That represents a complete betrayal of everything Democrats have stood for since organized labor became a cornerstone of our party.
Lax immigration policies also make housing unaffordable. Over the last four years, home prices and rents have soared by 39 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Unrestricted migration is undoubtedly a major contributor. Numerous studies have found a strong correlation between immigration and rising housing costs.
It's basic supply and demand. The United States currently faces a nationwide shortfall of up to 6.8 million homes. When more people chase after a scarce good, its price increases.
That's to say nothing of the devastating impact illegal immigration has on schools. Due to legal loopholes, border agents have to release most children they encounter into the United States. Last year alone, more than 145,000 accompanied and unaccompanied minors were encountered at the border. Enrolling those children in public schools will cost over $2 billion for just one year.
Eventually, the migrant crisis will push many public schools to the brink of failure. It's already happening in some big cities, such as Boston. One-third of Boston public school students require English-as-a-second-language classes—costing the district a staggering $129.7 million this fiscal year, or around 10 percent of its total budget. The city soon plans to shutter up to half of its public schools, citing crumbling infrastructure and inadequate facilities.
Democrats can't speak on both sides of our mouths about immigration. If we earnestly seek to improve education and housing affordability, we need to curb illegal border crossings. If we truly champion labor, we should support policies like E-Verify, which cracks down on businesses employing illegal migrants.
And if we can't bring ourselves to do it, we'll likely lose the upcoming presidential election.
Steve Kropper is co-chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform and has volunteered for every Democratic presidential campaign since 1976.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
