Estimates of how many Mexicans die every year attempting to cross into the US for work vary; Border Patrol counts of annual deaths range from 400-500. On the other hand, Baylor University scientists have singlehandedly identified the remains of “some 1,000 cadavers of border-crossers [for] families in Mexico and elsewhere” since 2002, and currently have a backlog of hundreds of bodies they have been unable to identify. [link] Extra-governmental estimates of deaths are sometimes significantly higher.

For this couple, though, the loss isn’t only about statistics. It is their son-in-law who vanished a year ago with six other migrants from a small town in Oaxaca, and after hundreds of phone calls and writing letters to the president of Mexico, they still know nothing of his whereabouts.

This news is deeply sad to me, on every possible level. It speaks of human loss and tragedy and of the violence of the systems we have created and perpetuated, systems in which people are caught and crushed.

In the rest of the world, remittances are rising, up as much as 10 percent a year, according to Donald Terry of the Inter-American Development Bank. Last year, migrant workers worldwide sent more than $300 billion to developing countries — almost twice the amount of foreign direct investment. (IHT)

Two interesting developments as a result of this new environment for migrant workers are noted briefly: migrants in the US are saving more money for emergencies, and their families at home are engaging in more microenterprise, especially related to agriculture, as the flow of money from the North dries up.

International Herald Tribune article

One of the most striking points she makes, at least from my born-in-1978 viewpoint, is the following:

…[W]e could allocate green cards to countries based on the relative size of their population and emigration demand; their ties to American citizens and institutions; and their supply of low- and high-skilled labor that we need. In other words, if we acknowledge that immigration is driven by supply and demand and take into account the needs of the United States and other countries, we might have a system that is more realistic and fair.

…[B]efore 1965 there were no numerical restrictions on immigration from countries of the Western Hemisphere, in keeping with the tradition of Pan-Americanism. When we imposed quotas on Mexico and the rest of the Americas after 1965, we got illegal immigration. (8)

I agree with her point that the quotas are in need of review. However, on the issue of supply and demand, I don’t think that the US market’s insatiable appetite for cheap labor needs to be encouraged. NAFTA and globalization have only increased the flood of undocumented workers into the US, and the trends don’t seem to be improving. Meanwhile, families are separated, villages are dying out, and cultures are undergoing violent and rapid change–for what? To meet the “needs of the United States.”

Senate Filibuster Kills Comprehensive Immigration Bill
- Congress Should Pass AgJOBS Now -

Fewer than 60 Senators voted for “cloture” and therefore the comprehensive immigration reform is dead for now in the Senate. The House is unlikely to take up comprehensive immigration reform in the absence of a Senate bill. As the Presidential election campaign intensifies, the likelihood of Congress considering comprehensive immigration reform is very, very small.

We thank all those who have been helping to press for passage of AgJOB, the farmworker immigration legislation.

We are disappointed that the United States Senate has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would address our broken immigration system. The immigration bill that failed included the important AgJOBS farmworker immigration bill that would serve farmworkers and growers. We call on the Senate to pass AgJOBS on its own. We are not giving up. We will help the United Farm Workers and many others advocate for the bipartisan, labor-management AgJOBS compromise.

During the AgJOBS negotiations, farmworkers had to accept several changes that were unfavorable to workers. Similarly, agribusiness groups had to compromise in certain areas. We still believe that the AgJOBS is a necessary and workable solution that benefits the nation. It is a balanced approach that is tough but acceptable.

More than 50% of farmworkers in America are undocumented. In some areas and crops, the entire workforce lacks authorized immigration status. Fear of detection is rampant. Wages and working conditions are inadequate to raise a family.

AgJOBS would help provide America with a stable, legal workforce to put food on our tables. Many undocumented farm workers will be able to come out of the shadows to obtain a temporary legal status and then earn a green card. Earned legal immigration status will help them improve working conditions.

We now urge Senators to consider AgJOBS as a stand alone measure and on its own merits. We are confident that this much-needed provision has support in the Senate. It is long past time for Congress to pass this bipartisan compromise to strengthen American agriculture.

We will keep you informed of developments. Information about AgJOBS, including summaries in English and Spanish, is available on our website at http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/Immigration_Labor/AgJOBS.htm

Farmworker Justice is a 26-year old national advocacy and litigation organization that represents farmworkers and has expertise in guestworker programs.

Oregon’s senators were split, with Ron Wyden voting in favor of cloture, or ending the debate, and Gordon Smith voting against.

US Senate fails to move immigration overhaul

• The nation’s 34 million immigrants collectively pay more in taxes than they consume in public services and benefits, according to a National Research Council study. Washington Post, April 15, 2006
• Undocumented immigrants annually pay an estimated $7 billion more than they take out into Social Security, and $1.5 billion more into Medicare. (New York Times, April 15, 2005.) A study by the National Academy of Sciences also found that tax payments generated by immigrants outweighed any costs associated with services used by immigrants.
• All consumers, including the undocumented, pay state sales and consumption taxes when making purchases. Additionally, whether they own their own home or taxes are passed through to rents, everyone pays the same real estate taxes. The majority of state and local costs of schooling and other services are funded by these taxes.
• The Social Security Administration has estimated that three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay payroll taxes, and they annually contribute $8.5 billion in Social Security funds that they will be unable to claim.
• The Internal Revenue Service issues ‘Taxpayer Identification Numbers’ (ITIN) to allow undocumented workers to pay income taxes. Since 1996, 9.2 million of these numbers have been assigned. In 2005 alone, 1.2 million people paid taxes using this number. (Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2006.) At congressional hearings in July 2006, the commissioner of the IRS testified that between 1996 and 2003, undocumented immigrants paid almost $50 billion in federal taxes.
• According to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, ITINs and conventional mortgages taken out by undocumented workers could be worth as much as $60 billion over the next five years; that is, immigrants also pay property taxes. Business Week, July 13, 2005

Food for thought.

Last summer, during a public health outreach in migrant worker camps around Mt. Angel, several undocumented workers expressed their frustration with being unable to obtain insurance in Oregon because of prohibitive costs and also indicated their lack of familiarity with state laws. Like most of us, they don’t want to be ticketed, but for illegal immigrants, an additional concern is that they may be deported if picked up on any infraction. It is in the public’s interest to have educated, safe drivers on the road, you’d think. But that is not what our august lawmakers are interested in.

Proponents’ defense of the bill focused not on making the roads safe but on anti-terrorism. What if terrorists were able to obtain driver’s licenses? Just think of all the damage!

Seriously.

Obviously, terrorism is a threat to the wonderful US. However, terrorism accounts for a mere fraction of deaths that drunk driving does. In 2003 alone, over 17,000 people died in alcohol-related accidents. 17,000. [See CDC information here] In the interests of national security, driving should be banned completely. If terrorists found out how much more effective drinking and driving is at killing people than flying airplanes into buildings, imagine the destruction! We can’t let them do that.

Driving obviously presents a clear and present danger to the US. No one should be given licenses; that will make us safe by keeping everyone who could potentially cause an accident off the street.