HispanicVista Columnists
The Immigration Exchange: Our Retired for Their Workers
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By
Sal Osio - From the Publisher's Corner
- April 14, 2006
In this publication we have proposed solutions to the immigration issue which confronts us. Simplistic and practical, the solution is an exchange of immigrants.
Affordable labor is essential to our agricultural and service industries. This is the critical need fulfilled by the undocumented migrant workers, two-thirds of whom are from Mexico. On the other hand, our retired, over 50 million Americans drawing social security and Medicare benefits, are bankrupting our reserves due to the high cost of benefits in the U.S. The retired are high pressed to maintain a standard of living commensurate to their status: Upon retirement they are ‘moving down’ to a sustenance level of living.
In the agricultural sector, row crops, such as tomatoes, onions and strawberries, are hand picked through strenuous labor intensive back breaking ‘stoop down’ labor. Machinery and equipment are not capable of substituting this kind of human effort. Furthermore, in the absence of child labor and the exploitation of women, the American male physical development, as to size and weight, renders him incapable of stoop labor for prolonged periods of time without developing chronic back pains and other physical structural disabilities. In short, even if we were to pay a ‘living wage,’ say $20 an hour instead of the average $7 per hour paid to immigrant laborers, our real cost for American labor, including benefits and disability pay, would be prohibitive. Imagine the workman’s compensation premium that agriculture enterprises would have to pay. In short, the only alternative for this agricultural sector would be to relocate to Mexico or go out of business, at a cost to us in the billions of dollars. For this reason, in the agricultural sector, it is not an option; it is a necessity for economic survival to have access to immigrant labor.
In our service industries, the alternatives are more favorable. If we were to pay living wages for labor intensive activities, such as our janitors, restaurant workers, housekeepers and construction workers, our cost to the consumer would escalate. Some of our industries, such as food and beverage, lodging, tourism, domestic help and construction, would be less affordable. However, these industries, in their majority, would survive. The real loser would be the consumer, the two household income earning families and the single head of household. This is an acceptable alternative, albeit expensive, in my view.
Approximately one half of the undocumented immigrant labor is employed in our agricultural sector – an estimated 6 million workers – according to the Pew Hispanic Research Center. This is the critical mass that we cannot afford to compromise. Accordingly, a guest worker program is indispensable to assure ourselves of this labor source. In years past we had the bracero program, in the 1940’s through the 1960’s, wherein we contracted for agricultural workers from Mexico. This program was infested with abuses wherein the laborers were abused and treated at a sub-human level. In addition to being paid ‘slave wages’ they were housed in sub-standard housing under deplorable conditions and were subjected to physical and psychological abuse. However, from an economic standpoint, the system worked. After the discontinuation of the program, beginning in the mid 1960’s, agricultural workers from Mexico migrated to the U.S., without documentation, and filled the vacancy created. There was little concern for their illegal presence since they were able to cross our border with little difficulty. This ‘revolving’ door enabled them to return to Mexico and their families with regularity. Accordingly, they did not have to bring their families, or start new household in the U.S. since there was no major impediment to their cross-border re-entry and visitation to their homeland.
However, we tightened our borders in the late 70’s and, thereafter, with the result that it became expensive and dangerous for the undocumented to return to their homeland and back to our country. And so they staid. They brought their family members with them and started new household in America – a much too human trait. This dynamic gave rise to the barrio – Spanish language communities and a sub-culture within our cities. But worse yet, we were now burdened with the health, housing and educational needs of the undocumented families. And this is where the backlash started. The Federal government neglected its responsibility to reimburse our communities for these services on whom the economic burden fell. The consequences of the above have evolved into the social backlash, laced with bigotry and demagoguery, exploited by the right wing media that dominates our political landscape.
A lasting solution must include the regularization of the migrant labor movement, the securing of our borders and the reimbursement by our central government to the communities that host the illegal communities and provide the essential humans services that they need while residing in our country, albeit illegally. The regularization process includes the essential requirement to impose substantial sanctions to employers of the undocumented. An effective method of enforcing these sanctions is to offer the undocumented worker a ‘whistle blower reward’ for turning in the law breaker. By way of example, if we offered the undocumented worker as a ‘reward’ an amount equal to twice the gross pay he received during his illicit employment, to be collected upon the return to his homeland, effectively we would discourage the illicit employment of undocumented workers. Of course, there are other solutions to this illicit practice. The key is enforcement.
On the home front we have a major problem: Our seniors cannot afford medical care and retirement living on social security benefits. However, if we extended Medicare benefits to our retired while living in Mexico, which we can do through a network of affiliations between qualified U.S. and Mexican health providers, we would allow our retired to ‘move up’ their standard of living while enjoying the favorable climate of Mexico and the amigo lifestyle afforded by our neighbor. The purchasing power of the dollar is an average of twice that in the U.S. The cost of medical care is one-half. Our retired would be able to benefit from Medicare in Mexico, afford better housing, at a lower cost of living, and improve their quality of life. Already an estimated 1 million Americans live in Mexico, according to our U.S. Embassy.
So what is holding us back? First, Medicare is not available in Mexico. Our Congress can resolve that. Next, Mexico must liberalize its immigration laws so as to admit all of our Social Security and Medicare recipients without any other requirements as to their economic resources. The Mexican Congress can resolve this issue. And, if this was to happen, and our seniors properly informed, American and Mexican adult community developers would build dozens of such communities for our retired. There would be an exodus to Mexico.
The cross migration of our old for their young would be mutually beneficial. Our Medicare program would avoid bankruptcy, and, our elderly would enjoy a higher standard of living in their silver years. Mexico would benefit economically since each retirement household would support a minimum of two local workers. And, if both countries would agree to the exchange, allowing a Mexican worker to gain guest worker resident status in our country, with preference for agricultural workers, we will have resolved, once and for all, the divisive immigration conundrum.
All human problems have solutions. And more often than not, the solution is right in front of us.
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- Sal Osio is the Publisher of HispanicVista (www.hispanicvista.com) Contact at: sposio@aol.com