Trump, immigrants and the workforce

Posted 8/21/12

The question of immigrants, undocumented and otherwise, reaches into a great many communities in the United States, including some in Sullivan County. There are several large businesses and a larger …

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Trump, immigrants and the workforce

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The question of immigrants, undocumented and otherwise, reaches into a great many communities in the United States, including some in Sullivan County. There are several large businesses and a larger number of small ones in the county that employ primarily immigrants, and some portion of those employees is almost certainly undocumented.

It’s not clear how many immigrants live in the county, but according to a 2007 article in the rural, on-line publication the Daily Yonder, “Sullivan County between 1990 and 2000 showed the third-highest gain in new immigrants (those coming to the U.S. after 1965) of all non-metro counties in the Northeast (after Nantucket and Dukes counties, Massachusetts).”

Nationally, according to the Immigration Policy Institute, in 2013 there were about 41 million immigrants in the United States and about 11 million were undocumented. In 2016 the estimates are the same, and 60% of undocumented immigrants have been in the country more than a decade.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump jumped to the front of the Republican presidential pack by proposing, among many other unlikely things, that the country should deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants, and build a wall along our border with Mexico, and somehow (through threat of invasion?) convince the Mexican government to pay for the wall.

The deportation part of the solution would spread a great deal of pain among immigrant families, including more than a few in Sullivan County. Beyond that, however, think tanks on both sides of the political spectrum say it would be very expensive and detrimental to the economy.

In a study that was updated in August 2015, (tinyurl.com/hewrcfx) the liberal Center for America wrote, “A mass deportation strategy would cost an average of $10,070 per person, for a total of $114 billion to remove 11.3 million people.”

The conservative American Action Forum (AAF) puts the cost even higher (tinyurl.com/npdh29t): roughly $400 to $600 billion to deport the undocumented and to “prevent future unlawful entry into the United States.” The report further says that over 20 years, the total gross domestic product of the U.S. would decrease by $1.6 million, and economic growth would be diminished by 5.7%.

It’s impossible to know how deeply committed Trump is to a program of mass deportation in the future, but it’s clear that he has been very much in favor of bringing foreign-born workers into the country to help with his own business when it has suited him.

The New York Times published a story on February 25 reporting that Trump has been hiring foreign-born workers through guest worker visas to work at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, FL during the high season.

The Times wrote, “Foreign workers prepare meals and serve them at the beachfront bistro or the main dining room, and deliver cocktails at wedding receptions in the elegant White & Gold Ballroom or the more recently built Donald J. Trump Ballroom. From October to May, tourism’s high season in Palm Beach, Mr. Trump can often be found at the club on weekends.”

At a debate after the story ran, another Republican presidential contender, Marco Rubio, called Trump out on it. Rubio said, “Even today, we saw a report in one of the newspapers that Donald, you’ve hired a significant number of people from other countries to take jobs that Americans could have filled.”

Trump responded sharply, saying that he hired those employees during prime season because it was hard to find Americans willing to work seasonal part-time jobs during that time of year.

But the foreign-born workers are barred from working for another employer. The Times published this quote: “‘You almost have them as indentured servants,’ said Danny Fontenot, the director of the hospitality program at Palm Beach State College. ‘And they affect everyone else’s wages. You can make a lot of money by never having to give your employees raises.’”

Greg Schell, a Palm Beach lawyer who has helped foreign workers, added, “I have seen no demonstrated need to import guest workers for the hospitality industry. Employers who want to find American workers find them.”

It seems the Republican frontrunner has no real objection to immigrant labor, as long as the workers can be tightly controlled and sent back to their own countries when the work is done.

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