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immigrating “legally,” but immigration Bringing Immigration Into in the 19th century was very different from what it is today. Back then, rapid industrial growth created a nearly insa- The 21st Century tiable need for manual labor and waves of “new immigrants” arrived in droves to fill that gap. It was merely an absence of By Michael Wildes need for reform is great and of increasing regulation that permitted our forebears to importance. immigrate legally — had they attempted new year carries with it the promise Fiscally speaking, legalizing undocu- to arrive today, most would have been of change and fresh beginnings. mented but otherwise law-abiding immi- forced to live clandestinely. AUnencumbered by broken resolu- grants is a smart idea. Doing so will not Until very recently, the tions, it presents the opportunity to push only permit them to be taxed and to par- enjoyed a sustained period of growth and aside disappointments of the past year and ticipate fully in the economy, but also will expansion that mirrored in certain ways the start anew. While the rest of us struggle to prevent employers from undercutting the rapid development of the mid- to late 19th uphold our resolutions to be more active value of American labor. Immigrants will century. The commercial and residential and eat healthier, we look to our leaders to be paid a fairer wage and gain purchasing real estate boom fed a thriving construc- institute positive changes in our nation’s power that will be reflected in consumer tion industry that in many cases attracted policies. markets. and benefited from undocumented labor. From an immigration standpoint, 2010 Americans are understandably frus- Because the current immigration quotas bears the promise of significant legislative trated about paying for public servic- strongly favor higher-educated profes- reform for the first time in nearly 25 years. es, which undocumented immigrants sionals, many foreign-born laborers were President is hardly the often access free of charge; however, unable to find means of legal immigration. first leader to emphasize the necessity of as Americans, we value our inalienable And yet, from 1997 to 2007, our economy immigration reform; every president since human rights and find it inhumane and boasted an average unemployment rate of has resolved, but subse- unjust to refuse to treat the sick and only 4.9 percent. It seems that the econo- quently failed, to implement meaningful injured. my was easily capable of simultaneously reform. As a result, hospitals often strain sustaining both native-born workers and Obama’s administration has commit- under the weight of undocumented immi- waves of new immigrants. ted to instituting immigration reform in grants seeking urgent care. Even if we One might speculate that some of early 2010 and doubtless it will be no easy endeavored to deport every undocumented that success was owed to undocumented task. Against the backdrop of the strug- alien living in the United States today, we labor. Due to their poor leverage in the gling economy and the contentious new have neither the manpower nor the hand- workplace, undocumented workers were health care plan, the current administra- cuffs needed to implement such an effort. often willing to accept wages lower than tion could find it tempting to delay immi- The expense would be prohibitive; it the legal minimum, work overtime with- gration reform until further notice. Yet the would cost about $2.6 trillion in lost gross out pay, and without union representa- domestic product over 10 years, accord- tion. That kind of cheap labor fuels rapid Wildes, a former federal prosecutor, ing to the Immigration Policy Center in expansion at the expense of the American is an immigration with Wildes & Washington, D.C. worker — yet to the benefit of American Weinberg in New York and Englewood. The United States was founded as business. Improving the path to legal He also is the former mayor of Englewood a nation of immigrants and remains so immigration will shift some of the wealth and a member of Gov. ’s Blue today. Much lip service has been paid to back to native-born labor by reducing Ribbon Panel on Immigrant Policy. our grandfathers and great-grandfathers the demand for undocumented workers.

Reprinted with permission from the FEBRUARY 15, 2010 edition of New Jersey Law Journal. © 2010 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. 2 NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, FEBRUARY 15, 2010 199 N.J.L.J. 439

At the same time, it will serve to reduce ket philosophy to immigration and let for- the best candidate for the job, regardless immigrant exploitation and foster a fairer eign labor in the technology sector inspire of national origin. workplace environment. us to improve math and science curricula Bringing the American immigration Now that times have changed and the in the U.S. Let’s create guest worker pro- system into the 21st century is a long unemployment rate is in double digits, it grams that discourage substandard wages overdue task that cannot be put off any is imperative that Washington forge ahead and keep American and foreign-born labor longer. Here’s hoping that this administra- on immigration reform and follow through the same price. In the spirit of traditional tion’s New Year’s resolution is one it can once and for all. Let’s extend the free mar- American values, let’s allow work to go to keep. ■