A reader writes:
Missing in all this debate about Arizona's new law is the sheer degree to which capitalism is driving this. On one side of the border we have desperately poor people who have nothing to offer but their labor and are willing to risk moving to a foreign country, illegally, to take up low-paid, often dangerous work under conditions most Americans would find abominable. On the other, we have business firms doing what they always do - trying to make a profit. And, as always, we have consumers driving this shift to low wage, illegal labor because they don't like paying extra for fresh vegetables, slaughtered meat, new houses, or lawn care.
The only difference between the US and China economic relationship and the US and Mexico relationship is that whereas the factories moved to China and left people here, economic production is staying in the US and the people are coming here. Unless anti-immigration folks are honest about the market dynamics at work here - e.g. BLAME CAPITALISM for doing what it is doing - then no one should listen to them. Don't like brown faces, Hispanic names, and the Spanish language? Then fucking fork over more for the crap you buy everyday. Pay more for housework, childcare, and tidy lawns. Otherwise... Shut. The. Hell. Up.