"Unequal (trade) agreements don't stop the flow of migrants, they produce it... Our immigration policy does not stop people from coming to the United States, and it is not intended to. Our immigration policy is intended to determine the status of people, once they're here. The basic rule is that workers should come when they're wanted, and they should disappear when they're not wanted, and they should work for cheap."Author David Bacon is in Portland this weekend to talk about how immigration and trade policies are creating criminals out of workers, and produces inequality. He addressed the history of immigration policy in the United States, pointing out that waves of migrant workers -- from the Chinese and Filipinos, to Japanese and Mexican farmworkers -- historically have been brought over to do work, but denied the opportunity to be on equal footing with the rest of society.
Some excerpts from Mr. Bacon's talk:
"The basic rule is that workers should come when they're wanted, and they should disappear when they're not wanted, and they should work for cheap."
"Violations of human rights ... undermine the legal protections we have fought for a long time."
"We are creating a bureacracy" that provides incentives for inequality: