Haymarket Books No One Is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Of course the one-star reviews never read the whole thing

6/6/2010

The title is deliberately meant to catch attention and does not really signify the message of the book. While this probably ups sales, it also makes the book a target for people hunting around for the purpose of finding things to complain about instead of giving accurate, logical reviews of entire works. This book gives a very comprehensive review of immigration-labor relations throughout the history of the US and contrary to what someoen who barely skimmed the intro would believe, it does not focus solely on modern-day issues or solely on Hispanics. It deals with issues that relate to every class of society.
Do the authors have an overarching purpose/message? Of course; you can't find a book in all of history taht doesn't. Should *your personal, current* preconceived notions about the subject immediately render the book useless garbage? Come on, now.

Mostly about unions rather than illegal immigration

1/18/2010

I am a long-time opponent of open borders. I want American immigration laws enforced and strengthened. However, I also believe it is important to respect those who disagree with me and understand their arguments. For that reason I read this book. The authors do make some good points in the book, such as the need for reducing the power of corporations in the U.S.

The authors argue that a complete open-borders policy would be best for the United States and for workers in general. Surprisingly, the book is mostly about the history of union organizing in the American Southwest rather than about illegal immigration as such. Indeed, the authors seem to be anxious to muddy the waters as much as possible. They talk a lot about long-ago jailed union organizers and long-dead victims of racist violence; they want to present deportation of illegal aliens as no different from past discredited violence. The authors argue that current opposition to illegal immigration is nothing more than racism. I don't find this convincing. If opposition to illegal immigration is racism, why is it that Mexico has its own problems with illegal immigrants from other Latin American countries?

The authors are clearly big supporters of unions and see unions as the solution to labor problems in the U.S. and around the world. I am a union member myself, and I simply cannot agree with them. Unions have their uses. In the end, however, no union can change the fact that labor conditions are ultimately determined by the supply of workers and the demand for specific skills. If plenty of workers are available who can do the work for less, working conditions will not improve. The authors are very concerned about not only illegal immigrants, but also the plight of all Hispanic workers. The authors don't seem to understand that Hispanics legally in the U.S. are the ones with the most to lose from illegal immigration. The illegals compete directly with them for jobs. If the authors really want to benefit Hispanic workers, they should be advocating the elimination of farm subsidies and other policies that favor big farms over small farms. Rather than paying union dues, they should pool their money to buy land.

The authors argue that immigration benefits the U.S. economy. There are two problems with this argument. First, whether or not immigration benefits the U.S. economy is a completely separate question from whether or not illegal immigration benefits the U.S. economy. The authors present no evidence at all that illegal immigration benefits the U.S. economy. Second, it is necessary to look at the whole question of how economic activity is measured. The most commonly used measure is the GDP, which essentially counts up dollars spent. GDP has been a controversial statistic since its beginning. At best, it can be considered as a rough estimate of business activity. Immigration does tend to increase GDP, at least slightly, because more people buy more housing, more food, etc. GDP is NOT a measure of prosperity of a nation, of sustainable development, or of quality of life, and in many ways is highly misleading. For more on this, see Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future and Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train: Errant Economists, Shameful Spenders, and a Plan to Stop them All. The U.S. simply does not have room to take everyone who would like to come here.

The authors argue that high immigration is necessary to the stability of the U.S. economy, including the Social Security program. This is incorrect. It is true that the present-day Social Security system essentially operates as a giant Ponzi scheme. However, bringing in more new workers can't fix this system. The U.S. economy is already having trouble finding jobs for all workers. If new workers can't find good-paying jobs, they can't pay for anyone else's retirement. And when the new workers eventually retire, who is going to pay for their retirement? Are we going to bring in yet another wave of new workers? Where are the jobs going to come from for them? The authors don't mention peak oil, but they should. The U.S. economy in the next few decades is likely to experience serious problems as we adjust to lower supplies of fossil fuels. The U.S. government is going to be plenty busy trying to take care of its own citizens. For more on this, see Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World.

One of the biggest changes in a post-peak oil society will be a much larger proportion of the U.S. population engaged in agriculture. Mexican-Americans have a historic opportunity here, because they have agricultural knowledge and experience in a time when that will be more precious than gold. So far they don't seem to realize that.

Vapid Marxist drivel exhorts reconquering America and forcing the 3rd world on it.

8/8/2008

Ok so I read most of this trash at the book store since I am saving my money to make a Minuteman donation as soon as possible. Basically, if you are a follower of extreme leftist views, an internationalist, hate the US, worship George Soros, this IS the book for you.

The author thinks his historically-based arguments somehow create an excuse to disregard American laws today, and that to enforce our borders is akin to the SS storm troopers kicking in doors to drag to Jews to the camps. Unfortunately, his rhetoric falls far short of the goal to tug at MY heart strings. All the border-enforcement supporters want is that the economy draining dregs from the 3rd world go back to whence they came. Sure they want a better life, but how about working on their own country rather than breaking in, and having the nerve to DEMAND that tax money go to educate, heal, and imprison them, as well as have the right to pop out anchor-babies at a frightening rate so that they're nice and safe here, all the while sending BILLIONS to Mexico et al.

Racism? Hmmmm how does the obligatory race card change the secured-borders argument? The drain on the economy argument? The cultural decline argument? Failure to assimilate argument? So all you starry-eyed multiculturalists, all-loving and full of-goodness, self-loathing full of white guilt, just remember MOST of this country agrees with me. It will be a fact that THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ILLEGAL ALIENS, and deported they will continue to be. If I could deport this book... Europe this country will never be.

No Burglar Is A Criminal

2/10/2008

When I saw this book, I looked around at what else was on the shelf. Maybe it's part of a series, I thought. But no, the surrounding books were not "No Burglar is a Criminal", "No Man is a Rapist", and "No Woman is a Nag".

So what, I thought, is the meaning of this fantasy title? I took it home. By the end of the preface I understood. It's not that the authors believe the 10 or 20 million foreigners whose immigration status is unauthorized, the group commonly called "illegals", doesn't exist. Nor do they think the laws making them illegal don't exist. They WISH the laws didn't exist.

Jumping from "We Wish No One Were Illegal" to "No One Is Illegal" is just the first of many breathtaking acts of wishful thinking in the book. I recommend reading with a yellow highlighter, marking the other instances of wishful thinking. Have a spare highlighter on hand.

Author Chacon writes on page 8 "I ... hope [this book] provokes a wider discussion and debate about what kind of world we want and need as working people, un peublo mundial sin forteras." In other words, he wants a world without borders. Sorry, Mr. Chacon, the borders and the countries they define are here. The people who cross those borders without permission are illegals.

Aside from serious confusion between "what is" and "what one would like to be", this book suffers from a second major flaw. It's not written in standard English. Only those steeped in Marxist jargon are going to make sense of "In true mass character, ... " (p. 7) and many other strange constructions. Because of this, the book is not suitable for a general audience.

Most readers will be better off with a mainstream book.

Fair trade, working class solidarity, compassion, etc.

6/13/2007

This book dismantles the narratives we hear from the establishment media regarding undocumented workers. It covers the history of oppression migrant workers have faced, including beatings from the KKK and the Order of Caucasians, among other vigilantes organized by agribusiness interests.
It also covers the devastating impacts of NAFTA on Mexico's economy. Page 121 points out, "Over 1.3 million small farmers in Mexico were pushed into bankruptcy by cheap American grain imports between 1994 and 2004. Luis Tellez, former undersecretary for planning in Mexico's Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources, estimates that as many as 15 million peasants will leave agriculture in the next few decades, many seeing migration north as the only option. . . Meanwhile, the deindustrialization of Mexico continues unabated. Mexico lost an unprecedented 515,000 jobs in the first three months of 2005 alone."
What industry there is, is now found in the sites of hyper-exploitation known as maquiladoras.

One negative review calls the book "Marxist." Well, the book is mostly just an honest analysis of the situation. Something that demagogues like Tom Tancredo avoid. Tancredo likes to whip up hysteria. His congressional district (one of the wealthiest in the country) has a large Lockheed Martin plant. Lockheed will be making a fortune on the further militarization of the border.
Anyway, the book does include one quotation from Karl Marx, and I think it's worth repeating. Justin Akers Chacon writes: "Marx illustrated the self-sabotaging nature of the conflict between 'native-born' workers and immigrant workers in his analysis of the relationship between the English and Irish working classes when he wrote, 'The ordinary English worker hates the Irish worker as a competitor who lowers his standard of life. In relation to the Irish worker, he feels himself a member of the ruling nation and so turns himself into a tool of the aristocrats and capitalists of his country against Ireland, thus stengthening their domination over himself. He cherishes religious, social and national prejudices against the Irish worker. This antagonism is the secret of the impotence of the English working class, despite its organization. It is the secret by which the capitalist class maintains its power. And that class is fully aware of it.'
Inter-ethnic and international class solidarity, or lack thereof, has been a determinant of the progression, inertia, or regression of the American labor movement. When nationalist or chauvinist sentiments are strong, the working class is weak, demonstrating the deep penetration of ruling-class ideology into working-class consciousness."

This book also covers the conquest of Mexico, and the opportunities for organizing immigrants.
It's a sensational book that I have been quoting over various message boards. I'll be buying several copies of it.

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