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Blacks split on support for illegal immigrants: Many are backers, but fight for jobs spurs foes(Chicago Tribune (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 23--When more than 100,000 protesters marched through the streets of Chicago to support illegal immigrants, Rev. Gregory Daniels and other African-American leaders took notice. Daniels is trying to mobilize his own community, matching workers with jobs that pay well. In his Englewood office, he has mounted poster boards with lists of workers he has connected to construction jobs at Donald Trump's new building and other sites. He's sympathetic to the marchers, but Daniels says illegal immigrants undercut Englewood residents by flooding the market with workers willing to take less money. "Let me tell you what the mind-set of the African-American is when they see those marches: 'They are here to replace us,'" Daniels said. "We've got to be careful because I don't want to see an eruption between the blacks and the browns over the immigration issue." As Mexicans and other immigrants around the U.S. mobilize for greater rights, increasingly employing the tone and tactics of the 1960s civil rights movement, African-Americans have profound disagreements about where they belong in the debate. In Chicago, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Nation of Islam and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which traditionally has targeted black neighborhoods, all have backed a May 1 march for legalization, saying the plight of any marginalized worker should concern the black community. In the editorial pages of black newspapers and in neighborhood conversations, however, a growing segment of African-Americans is raising doubts about supporting immigrants, especially lawbreakers, who are often competitors for low-wage jobs. Immigrants and lower wages Researchers have identified a link between increased immigration and unemployment and falling wages among some U.S.-born workers. The burden falls disproportionately on those with lower education levels, including many African-Americans and legal immigrants. Some think the solution is to reduce the number of illegal immigrants working here, but others believe that the route to better pay for all is to make more immigrants legal. The recent marches have raised the volume on the debate about the presence of foreign workers that started more than a century ago. In a famous address, Booker T. Washington urged employers "to cast down your bucket where you are" and hire newly freed slaves instead of "those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits." More recently, Hispanics and African-Americans have found some common ground. In 2003, immigrant activists formally incorporated a symbol of the civil rights movement when it staged "freedom rides," nationwide bus caravans for legalization. The relationship has soured, at times, such as when Mexico President Vicente Fox outraged U.S. civil rights groups when he said immigrants take jobs that "not even blacks want to do." Closer to home, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned about an influx of Mexican workers coming to rebuild his city. Rev. Anthony Williams, pastor at St. Stephens Evangelical Lutheran Church in Englewood, said he resents immigrants comparing themselves to black civil rights activists. Although he praises their courage and activism, Williams said the rhetoric and proposals of immigrants are misguided. '2 different issues' Williams said black protesters in the 1960s "got water hoses and dogs" so that other downtrodden people, including illegal immigrants, could march today. "It's two different issues," he said. "My thing is not to beat up on my Hispanic brothers and sisters. That's not the issue. The issue is nobody is above the law. Our country has laws in how you enter this country." Williams is so passionate that he is working informally with the Chicago Minuteman Project, an offshoot of a volunteer group that patrols the U.S.-Mexico border and advocates stricter immigration enforcement. It is the jobs issue that troubles African-Americans most. A Pew Hispanic Center poll released last month found that 41 percent of African-American respondents in Chicago said they had lost a job to an immigrant compared with 15 percent of white, non-Hispanic respondents. Labor experts say employers often prefer to hire illegal immigrants because they will accept lower wages, can get paid in cash and have little leverage to combat abuses. Although black lawmakers have charged that employers avoid African-Americans with criminal records, illegal immigrants are largely anonymous workers with apparently clean slates. Sandra Mallory, an African-American Englewood resident who buys and renovates homes, said Mexican workers give her fewer problems than others. Mallory, a former candidate for alderman, attended a Pilsen news conference Monday to lend support to the May 1 march. "Their word is good. They are professional. They aren't trying to flirt with you," Mallory said. Daniels pointed some of the blame at black workers, who recently rejected landscaping jobs because the jobs paid only $8 an hour. Of course, Daniels said, they might have taken the jobs if wages were higher. And the wages probably dropped because the contractor's all-Hispanic crew jumped on the offer, he said. Harvard University professor George Borjas released a report in 2004 that found that African-American wages fell 4.5 percent--a larger drop than among white workers--during an immigration boom between 1980 and 2000. He also found that the lower the education levels of workers, the more their wages declined. Josh Bernstein, federal policy director for the Los Angeles-based National Immigration Policy Center, which generally favors immigrant rights, said Borjas and other researchers are correct that increased immigration disproportionately harms minorities with lower educational levels. A 'win-win' for all workers But by removing a key reason that immigrants accept lower wages--their illegal status--employers will be forced to pay more, Bernstein said. That will increase wages across the board, he argues. "I'm not going to put rose-colored glasses on what immigration does. It does cause economic dislocation and, like all changes, the people who are on the lowest rungs are the ones hurt disproportionately. "But just because there is a disproportionate impact doesn't mean that you should follow the policy prescriptions of the anti-immigrant movement," he added. "I would argue that this makes the problem worse." That philosophy is why Ronald Kirk, who works in convention services at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, is backing the immigrant marches. Kirk, an African-American, said he has heard grumbling from some black co-workers and neighbors since the immigration marches started. But Kirk, a shop steward for the UNITE-HERE Local 1 union, said he thinks extending legal status will benefit all workers. "They are human beings," Kirk said softly. "Society let them break the law for years. Now that immigrants want to be recognized, they should be. It's a win-win scenario for all workers." Groups behind Chicago's immigrant marches have extended invitations to African-American community groups but, so far, no black activists are among the main organizers. Still, immigrant activists insist that African-American support, particularly from elected officials, will be critical in Congress. They already have won support from officials such as U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill), who introduced a bill that would grant legal status to 35 families facing separation because they include both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens. Last month, the NAACP released a set of principles for immigration reform, opposing a focus on enforcement, arguing that "we must move away from the politics of ostracizing immigrants." Those sentiments from civil rights leaders are often at odds with the mood of the community, said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, an author and political analyst who writes about immigration frequently for The Chicago Defender and other media. When Hutchinson convened three primarily black audiences in Los Angeles for discussions on immigration, black panelists were taken aback by the vitriol from the audience. Hutchinson himself received dozens of faxes and e-mails on the issue, none of which backed liberalizing immigration laws. "What hit me was the vehemence, the anger, the passion, the hostility," Hutchinson said. "In the mainstream civil rights leadership, [legalization] is seen as an issue of fairness, of economic justice, of anti-discrimination. The average black person doesn't see it that way." [email protected] |