Immigration choisie à l’américaine, par Benoît Bréville (Le Monde diplomatique)
Soon visa auctioned ?
Selective immigration to the U.S.
Currently under discussion in the Senate, the reform of U.S. immigration policy plans to pave the way for the regularization of eleven million undocumented. This measure, which focuses the attention of the media and political parties, another eclipse: the introduction of a new visa issuance system that would pride to the requirements of enterprises.
Benedict Breville, June 2013
For decades, two speeches on immigration cohabit within the American right. Thief job profiteer welfare or endanger public safety abroad is presented as a threat , Courageous workers who accept jobs that indigenous no longer want, relentless entrepreneur who arrived penniless, founded his company, it can also be adorned with all virtues. Burden for the nation ? Treasure for the economy ? Right hesitates, torn between conservatives who want to protect " values "U.S. and neoliberal which to stimulate economic growth, promote more open borders.
Inviting undocumented " self-deport "To their countries of origin - otherwise the police would do it - the Republican candidate in the presidential election of 2012, Willard Mitt Romney, chose the first option. This strategy has not attracted millions of Hispanic voters waiting to regularize their relatives: beaten on November 6 by the outgoing president, he received only 27 % Of the vote (against 71 % For Barack Obama) ( 1 ).
" It is very difficult to be heard by people on the problems of economic growth, tax rates or social security if they think you want to expel their grandmother , "Launched a few days after the election, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a rising star of the Tea Party. Assuming that hopes to win the presidential election - and not just laws, where the division into districts allows candidates to rely on a solid white voters - the Republican Party must store its anti-immigrant rhetoric.
" Keep the best "
Also, in recent months, the Conservatives tenors increasing public appearances to greet the economic balance of freedom of movement. " The United States is both the richest countries in the world and the most friendly foreign nation. This is not a coincidence, for example, says prominent activist Grover Norquist anti-tax. Those who want to make us less hospital would make us less brilliant, less prosperous, and certainly less American ( 2 ). "A few days later, Paul Ryan, representing Wisconsin and former candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States, is also showing signs of opening" We must ensure that our economy is rooted in the twenty-first century. And that means we need to keep the best and brightest here in America who want to contribute, work hard, respect the rules and climbing. Everyone in the country benefits. That is, immigration ( 3 ). "
Obama promised during his campaign, reform immigration policy comes in the context of ideological tilt. By December, a bipartisan group of eight senators (including Mr. Rubio) met to develop a bill. A few months later, in a spirit of consensus unpublished document of 844 pages is tabled in the Senate: the law of border security, economic opportunity and modernization of immigration (Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act ). That contains the text, which the Cato Institute (Libertarian) at the Center for American Progress (center left), the American Chamber of Commerce in the main trade union confederation (AFL-CIO), the Wall Street Journal (Conservative) chain MSNBC TV (pro-democracy), is supported by the main forces of the country ?
Long demanded by the associations of civil rights, the legalization of millions of illegal immigrants is the most spectacular and the most promising reform, but also the most controversial measure. Part of the right opposes indeed what it sees as a " amnesty "A reward offered to offenders. To give guarantees to the fringe of the Republican Party, whose parliamentary support is required, the " path to citizenship "Offered to undocumented wanted was long, expensive and uncertain.
Eleven million illegal aliens came to the United States before December 31, 2011 and can not get a " probationary status "For a period of ten years if they pay a fine, back taxes (if they worked in black) and fees amounting to several hundred dollars. At the end of this decade, during which they will have to pay taxes without the benefit of many federal services (Medicaid, Medicare, social security ...), they will receive a permanent residence permit (green card) which will allow them after three years, to claim U.S. citizenship. But they will not get it if they manage a battery of tests (language, citizenship ...), and if they have a criminal record: the slightest misdemeanor could ruin thirteen years of efforts. Older - who may die before completing the course - the poorest - who can not pay the price of American citizenship - and the latest entrants, arrived after the fateful date, are excluded from the reform.
As if these obstacles were not enough, the eight senators subject to obtaining permanent residence and citizenship a prerequisite: the strengthening of border controls. Federal authorities estimate block 40 % Of illegal crossings And it will reach 90 %. Unless a push militarization, such a goal seems unattainable: there are already ten guards for every mile border with Mexico ". Elected officials who concocted the immigration reform seem to have wanted to create a path to citizenship more discouraging it is accessible "Slice magazine radical leftist Counterpunch ( 4 ). And yet ... Although tortuous path that still seems too passable to a part of the right, which could steer.
The debate on the (very conditional) mass regularization partly overshadowed another aspect of the reform, but equally critical and enlightening on the design of immigration which spreads in the United States: recasting the allocation system work visas. The subject has already stumble several bills. Latest, that of George W. Bush in 2007. Republican President had asked the AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce to agree on a common text. But the union, who feared an influx of migrant workers come depreciate wages of Americans, and the employers' body, which wished expand the pool of immigrant labor, failed to agree, and reform failed.
Since then, various pressure groups argue tirelessly to obtain an increase in the number of visas issued annually: the Association of Building Contractors and construction, gatherings of farmers, the chamber of commerce, think tanks (Cato Institute, the Brookings Institution, ImmigrationWorks USA ...), etc.. More recently, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and several of his counterparts in Silicon Valley have also founded a lobby to relax the conditions for granting visas for highly skilled workers.
All these efforts have paid off. In February, it is together the presidents of the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, MM. Thomas Donohue and Richard Trumka, unveiled the contents of a historic agreement, directly integrated into the proposed immigration reform. " We created a new model, a modern system of visas "Trumpeted Mr. Trumka, who sees the arrival of legal immigrants a way to grow the union ranks. Read the text, modernity is not only synonymous with union And it also means increased flexibility and submission to the requirements of enterprises, which, if the law was passed, could shape their convenience migration.
The number of engineers, scientists or mathematicians invited each year to work in the United States, currently limited to sixty-five thousand one hundred and ten miles to happen, and even 104-20000 for periods of strong growth, contributing to accentuate a costly brain drain to the country of departure. In addition, foreign scientists trained in American universities receive a permanent residence permit, against a one-year visa in the legislation. Behind by India and China, which occur each year five to ten times more engineers, the United States wants to regain its footing in the race for graduates.
A new visa, called the W-Visa should facilitate the arrival of unskilled workers and meet the needs of areas that lack labor ( 5 ): catering, hospitality, retail, services the particular person. Briefly, areas of underpaid and can not be relocated jobs, when hiring foreign workers guarantees low prices. " Through the work of unskilled migrants, the cost of food, home care and childcare dives, the standard of living increases, and more women can afford to work outside the home ( 6 ) "Says columnist David Brooks right center.
Gourmet Chamber of Commerce demanded four hundred thousand of these new visas , AFL-CIO wanted to do ten thousand. Their number was fixed at twenty thousand the first year, thirty-five the second mile, fifty-five miles the third and seventy-five miles fourth. After this date, number, limited to two hundred thousand, will be determined - and readjusted - by the Office of Research on Immigration and the market created for the occasion and meet the demands of businesses. This planning system lean assignments visa grant a casting vote in the private sector. " Market forces are better able to determine how much and what type of employers want to hire immigrants, says employers think tank American Enterprise Institute. Arbitrary quotas set by politicians or bureaucrats, do not answer enough rapidly to changes in the economy. "
Lottery green card removed
How to define a deficit of workforce ? How to assess its extent ? The text does not breathe a word. Employers have to treat them the same way immigrants and nationals may well play this blur to pull down wages, or at least prevent their increase, as explained in the former Minister of Labour Robert Reich, who now teaches economics at the University of Berkeley " As soon as a growth in demand will push up wages, employers will scream at a deficit of labor, allowing attract more migrant workers to keep wages at the same level ( 7 ) . "
This reflects a closely accountant vision of migration. It is accompanied by a restriction on the number of visas issued on the basis of family reunification would be excluded brothers and sisters, married more than 31 years of age. And, as chance would have no place in this universe guided by the laws of the market reform plans to eliminate the lottery green card, which allows each year to fifty-five thousand foreigners receive a permanent residence permit USA. A merit award system will replace, which take into account the original business of the applicant, his qualifications, his country, his mastery of the English language, etc.. Place a selective immigration, filtered, where the vagaries of fate are more likely to mix good economic and social grain chaff.
In a country where everything has a price, the immigrant is increasingly perceived as a " long-term investment "Dependent on a cost / benefit rational calculation. Some even suggest already state to auction work visas for businesses, according to a system where " trading permits would indicate the extent of the demand for migrant and guide adjustments in the number of visas issued each year ( 8 ) . "But no one even mentions the return to the time when slaves were traded on the public square ...
Benedict Breville
