Documented Flaws: The fine print in the immigration bill that Democrats should be ashamed of

The New Republic’s John Judis has criticisms of the latest comprehensive immigration reform roposal. In “Documented laws: The fine print in the immigration bill that Democrats should be ashamed of,” Judis writes:

“To their credit, the Obama administration and the Senate negotiators have tried to fashion a bill that addresses the plight of 11 million undocumented workers while protecting native-born workers from undue competition. But the proposal still puts the onus of sacrifice primarily on undocumented immigrants and low-income citizens, while exempting business and the wealthy. The bill reaffirms political scientist E. E. Schattschneider’s adage that American pluralism invariably ‘sings with an upper-class accent.'”

Most problematically, the bill restricts immigrants’ access to the Affordable Care Act. Judis points out: “Lowskilled immigrants who work in physically strenuous and polluted settings will be denied preventive coverage and treatment for chronic diseases, and if they acquire serious illnesses—tuberculosis, cirrhosis of the liver, and several cancers are common among immigrant farm workers—they will have to go to sequester-squeezed emergency rooms.”

“Immigration reform could have been fairer: It could have been coupled with a dramatic increase in the minimum wage for all workers or could have required employers to provide health insurance. These measures would have raised the standard for wages and benefits for both new immigrants and citizens. Instead, the bill egregiously favors businesses and the wealthy. Businesses will be able to use a surplus of potential employees to keep their costs down, while America’s professionals will continue to get nannies and landscapers at a sharp discount.”

KJ