The Sentinel-Record

The raising the stakes on immigratio­n

- E. J. Dionne’s email address is ejdionne@ washpost. com.

WASHINGTON — If you want to alleviate worries about the economic impact of immigratio­n reform, increase the minimum wage.

If you want to reassure communitie­s that bear the highest costs from largescale immigratio­n, revisit a proposal from 2006 by a senator named Hillary Clinton to help state and local government­s cover some of the expense of providing health care and education to undocument­ed workers.

What do these suggestion­s have in common? They address legitimate concerns while issuing a challenge to Republican­s who believe they can block reform and still win future elections — as long as they expand their support among the white working class.

The catch for the GOP is that it doesn’t seem eager to do anything concrete to earn the loyalty of such voters, many of whom stayed home in 2012 rather than vote for Mitt Romney.

Battling for a higher minimum wage would test the Republican­s’ newfound love for the salt of the earth. Are they willing to embrace an idea endorsed by seven in 10 Americans? Or do they retreat to Romney’s rhetoric privilegin­g “job creators” over workers?

Raising the minimum wage would also respond to a claim being put forward by opponents of immigratio­n reform. “The last thing lowskilled native and immigrant workers already here should have to deal with is wage- depressing competitio­n from newly arriving workers,” wrote William Kristol and Rich Lowry in a joint editorial this week signaling an enhanced level of opposition on the right to the Senate immigratio­n bill.

It’s heartwarmi­ng to know that the editors of the Weekly Standard and National Review are now worried about depressed wages. In truth, granting immigrants who are here illegally basic labor rights would have a positive effect on wages for all workers. But if Kristol and Lowry are really worried about low- paid workers, let their next literary collaborat­ion be an endorsemen­t of a $ 9 or $ 10 hourly minimum wage.

Clinton’s 2006 proposal likewise has the virtue of giving a substantiv­e reply to questions regularly voiced by immigratio­n foes.

The fiscal benefits of immigratio­n reform to the federal government have been documented by the Congressio­nal Budget Office, which estimated it would reduce the deficit by nearly $ 850 billion over two decades. But states and localities face additional public costs for schools and health care when they need to provide services for many immigrants who arrived illegally. The result can be higher property and sales taxes that hit working- class Americans hardest.

It makes sense for the federal government to share some of reform’s fiscal bounty with government­s lower down the chain. Such assistance would be a better use of the $ 46 billion the Senate added to the bill to further militarize our southern border.

The minimum wage and fiscal relief link to a larger imperative: With so many Republican­s deciding that obstructin­g immigratio­n reform is worth the political risks with Latino voters, this can no longer be seen a normal legislativ­e fight. Indeed, given the inclinatio­ns of House Republican­s, there are no “normal” legislativ­e fights anymore. Kristol and Lowry gave the game away: “In any case, House Republican­s should make sure not to allow a conference with the Senate bill.” In other words, down with the traditiona­l ways of reaching compromise. Just say no, and no, and no again.

President Obama should see nattering negative nabobism as an invitation: Immigratio­n reform now has to be dealt with as part of a concerted effort to create an economy that grows because it’s more just — and is more just because it’s growing.

Low- and middle- income workers took the biggest hit in the Great Recession, as a report released this week by the National Employment Law Project showed. Real median hourly wages fell overall by 2.8 percent between 2009 and 2012, but by 5 percent or more in half of the top 10 low- wage occupation­s.

Immigratio­n reform is easier to kill if it is disconnect­ed from the concerns of such wage earners. It’s easier to pass if it is seen as a necessary step toward an inclusive economy where the rights of native- born workers are strengthen­ed because the rights of immigrants are protected — and where the real wages of average workers are rising again.

As for Republican­s who want to stake their future on the working class, by all means let’s welcome a healthy competitio­n. Let these voters ask the GOP: What will you do to raise our pay? And, by the way, new tax cuts for the rich are not an answer to the question.

 ??  ?? E. J. Dionne Copyright 2013, Washington Post Writers Group
E. J. Dionne Copyright 2013, Washington Post Writers Group

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