I'm a Flip-Flopper
If you had mentioned to me two years ago the idea of a guest worker program in the US, I would have pointed you at Germany and said "Doesn't work."
In the post war era German Republic there was an enormous demand for labor. So great was the demand that it far outstripped anything that Germany, or nearby war scarred countries, could supply. With cash on hand (Marshal Plan) the talks began to import such labor via a guest worker program. Guest workers would come to Germany, work for a year or two, and return back to Turkey. No problem, right?
That was 50 years ago. Today, Germany has an extremely large Turkish population, relatively speaking. Many of the Turks living there are 3rd and 4th generation…but are not citizens. They are not German, do not ascribe to German culture, do not speak German as their native tongue (some not at all). They don't vote or have a say in government and have arisen as a completely separate culture to "mainstream" German society. The unemployment rate among this demographic is roughly twice the already extremely high rate in Germany (20-30% as opposed to 10-15%). These factors, and many others, have in the past had Germans speaking of "the Turkish Problem" in hushed tones.
This was, in my opinion at the time, all the evidence that I needed to know that a guest worker program would be disastrous for the US.
But I no longer see it this way. While there are many things that we can learn from this experience, we are not comparing apples-and-apples when it comes to that guest worker program and one that is needed in the US.
We have two real problems regarding immigration (possibly three but your splitting hairs on me).
1. Illegals that are already here.
2. Illegals that will be coming in the future.
In a previous post I outlined a somewhat comprehensive plan for dealing with the first problem. Any real plan to "fix" the overall situation must include dealing with the second; otherwise we'll obviously have both problems again!
In an upcoming post I'll outline how I believe a guest worker program can, and must, work within a comprehensive approach to border security/illegal immigration control/labor needs within the US. So stay tuned!
In the post war era German Republic there was an enormous demand for labor. So great was the demand that it far outstripped anything that Germany, or nearby war scarred countries, could supply. With cash on hand (Marshal Plan) the talks began to import such labor via a guest worker program. Guest workers would come to Germany, work for a year or two, and return back to Turkey. No problem, right?
That was 50 years ago. Today, Germany has an extremely large Turkish population, relatively speaking. Many of the Turks living there are 3rd and 4th generation…but are not citizens. They are not German, do not ascribe to German culture, do not speak German as their native tongue (some not at all). They don't vote or have a say in government and have arisen as a completely separate culture to "mainstream" German society. The unemployment rate among this demographic is roughly twice the already extremely high rate in Germany (20-30% as opposed to 10-15%). These factors, and many others, have in the past had Germans speaking of "the Turkish Problem" in hushed tones.
This was, in my opinion at the time, all the evidence that I needed to know that a guest worker program would be disastrous for the US.
But I no longer see it this way. While there are many things that we can learn from this experience, we are not comparing apples-and-apples when it comes to that guest worker program and one that is needed in the US.
We have two real problems regarding immigration (possibly three but your splitting hairs on me).
1. Illegals that are already here.
2. Illegals that will be coming in the future.
In a previous post I outlined a somewhat comprehensive plan for dealing with the first problem. Any real plan to "fix" the overall situation must include dealing with the second; otherwise we'll obviously have both problems again!
In an upcoming post I'll outline how I believe a guest worker program can, and must, work within a comprehensive approach to border security/illegal immigration control/labor needs within the US. So stay tuned!
posted by Cogito at 11:05 AM
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