“REINVENTED SLAVERY,” ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ©

Today, as I listened to author and border expert Charles Bowden, I was mesmerized. His melodic tone did not capture my attention. His words were spoken almost without articulation. The breathy sound of his voice did not draw me in. However, one could only connect to that hum. It was what he said that affected me.

Mr. Bowden was speaking of the Undocumented War, the war against illegal immigration. In discussing the “economic forces that drive a seemingly endless migration,” Bowden mentioned the "biological unity" of all men. He noted the physical separation that man-made borders create. These boundaries divide us. Bowden offered that our Mexican American perimeter “is a war zone, only no one will admit to the war.” He suggested that we do not “even have the decency to count the causalities.”

Bowden reflects, “no one wants to talk about” what is; it is “the unspeakable problem.” He states that “we pretend” to offer possible solutions, and all the while avoid the real answers. We do not penalize employers at exorbitant rates for employing the undocumented. We do not monitor companies hiring practices well, nor do we endeavor to do so enthusiastically. Therefore, businesses continue to hire those that they need, at prices they are willing to pay. For, in the mind of entrepreneurs, these persons are disposable. They are liquid assets.

Charles Bowden speaks of Americans; he states that we willingly create a second class of citizens. These substandard beings are expected to work and yet not vote. They are not given the means to organize; nor are they allowed to complain. Employers “tolerate” the illegals, pretending not to know of their status. Business “can cheat” the Mexican migrants, “pay them miserable wages, and abuse them.”

Mr. Bowden declares that until we discuss the problems within Mexico, those that affect us all, globally, until we all work to create a strong economic base in Mexico, strong enough to support the people that reside there, we will continually “reinvent slavery.”

This conversation aired on National Pubic Radio, in a program sponsored by American Public Media. Appropriately enough, it can be heard on Marketplace. I thought it an excellent piece, thought provoking, and gripping. Please indulge, listen, and enjoy the reflection.