The Dangerous Defense of Illegal Aliens

How the Defense of Illegal Alien Labor Threatens All Americans

By guest author W.F. Palmer.

Recently, U.S. Senator from Illinois Richard Durbin called upon the Biden government to protect the millions of illegal aliens within this country from deportation. This ought to have been business as usual for the kleptocratic apparatchiks of the current ruling regime. Yet, when one thinks of Durbin more, this is a surprising position. For while it is the undeniable position of the ruling regime, Durbin is purportedly one of the most “pro-labor” members of the Democratic Party. And, as the mass-employment of illegal aliens is a measurable and undeniable harm to all workers, both native and even the same employed illegal aliens, Durbin’s position is more surprising.

Upon further examination, however, Durbin outs his pro-worker facade as nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Dick Durbin is a committed party-over-people kind of politician when it comes to voting. Durbin voted to squash the rightful attempt by rail workers to strike in 2022. Durbin voted to bail out the banks and big businesses whose greed caused so much harm with the 2008 crash. Durbin even voted to involve America in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he supported the accompanying Patriot Act that has harmed the common man’s liberties. These are but a select highlight of Durbin’s voting tendencies, yet the trend remains: Durbin will vote to support capital over labor at every opportunity.

So then, if Durbin is such an ardent friend of capital, why does he show his support for illegal aliens? After all, at first glimpse, the threat of deportation appears a quite hostile act to said population. Doubtless, the hostile side is that of capital, for is capital not always hostile? Yet it is not so, as while an undeniably hostile element exists within the pro-deportation camp, the side of capital is far more hostile. For in Durbin’s defense of illegal aliens, he does not defend them solely out of a misguided attempt to “do right” by the illegal aliens, for he also references the falsehood that removing the labor of illegal aliens would be a threat to America’s economy. For Durbin, as he is a friend of capital, this is doubtless the true motive behind his call to defend illegal aliens.

What difference, however, is there between the labor of a citizen worker and that of an illegal alien worker? Unless one stoops to petty and idiotic racialism, there is only one difference between citizen workers and illegal alien workers. They work under illegal conditions with unacceptably low wages, and with no workers’ rights. Therefore, when Durbin claims that the American economy is reliant on illegal alien workers, he is claiming that America requires a class of workers with fewer rights than normal workers. This is unacceptable. Every worker deserves a fair wage. Every worker deserves his rights. Every worker deserves the right to organize.

To think otherwise, to say that any fraction of American labor is not deserving of their full inalienable rights, is fundamentally anti-American. It is to deny the basic tenets of our nation, to deny the self-evident truth that all men are created equal. And while yes, Durbin is currently defending a class of people who are outside the law and thus not entitled to the legal protections accorded to citizens, this nevertheless represents the first exception. The first breach of that basic and most important tenet. And once the first exception is made and accepted, it is far easier to extend the exceptions to others. After all, if one finds that denying illegal alien workers a proper wage and workers’ rights in the name of improving corporate profits is acceptable, why not do the same to citizen workers? That too would doubtless also improve corporate profits. And since capital always seeks greater profits — for that is the fundamental mode of business — it will always eventually demand further concessions. It will not stop with “only” the original sin of denying illegal alien workers their fair shake as workers.

American history has, unfortunately, given us a near-perfect example of how destructive the increasing demands for profits can be. Slavery was only suffered by a small population of indentures when first introduced by the British. Yet it did not stop there, for in the pursuit of profit, slavery outright came into being and was then imposed upon other out-groups such as blacks and Indians. And the slave system was expanded to new territories in pursuit of more profit for the small class of planter-elites who controlled the slave economy. Yet even this was not enough in the end. By the 1850s, prominent figures within the planter-elite such as George Fitzhugh were calling for the enslavement of the entire population regardless of race or creed. Unchecked, the pursuit of profits by the planter-elite quite literally threatened to enslave the entire American people. Only the Civil War put a stop to such schemes.

It would be hyperbole to say that Durbin, or any of his fellow supporters of his policies, desire to go as far as Mr. Fitzhugh in pursuit of profit. Yet the story of slavery, with its escalation towards Fitzhugh’s ultimate extreme, should be a stark warning to those who seek to support the illegal alien labor economy. The pursuit of profit will only make further demands; it will not slacken. And while Durbin may disguise his true allegiance to capital by making claims that he is merely seeking the best treatment for illegal aliens, or is protecting the welfare of American citizens, Durbin has made it quite clear who his true master is.

Today, the people still have a chance to stand up and say, “Enough!” and reject stripping the rights of a single demographic in the name of profit. Reform remains a viable front when it comes to the illegal alien labor economy, and the people can deny capital its inroad to further profiteering. Recent history, however, suggests that the window for reform is shrinking. Increasingly America’s politicians are becoming ever more tightly controlled by the interests of capital and thus are less beholden to the people; Mr. Durbin is but an archetypal example of this worrying trend. And with the weakening of the people’s power, so too fades the possibility that future issues will also be resolved peacefully. The issues discussed today, such as illegal alien labor, might be contentious, and the individuals elected to serve the People’s Will might not be as honest as hoped; the system still works well enough that the remaining alternative is unnecessary.

But if matters continue to deteriorate, there will come a day when Americans might not be willing to resolve these issues by mere contentious discussion. They may respond to capital’s assaults by enacting a line from the song “Heckerlied,” greasing the guillotine with the fat of tyrants.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

W.F. Palmer