Labor Must Defend Immigrant Rights!

(Letters)

[Received 15 May 2017]

Comrades,

I was reading your article in WV no. 1109 7 April on page 8 on a Union protesting on behalf of a fellow worker who was facing deportation. Unions coming forward to help their brothers & sisters is definitely the right thing to do. I wanted to mention some points on the subject of undocumented immigrants if I may.

The issue over undocumented immigrants is at the least a red herring by the capitalists to take the working class’s attention away from themselves. The same goes to the union misleaders. There are many lies that they tell which do not stand up to the facts.

For example they say that the undocumented are “stealing our jobs.” This is of course untrue, as the undocumented are often stuck doing the worst of the jobs, such as in horrific sweat shops under unsafe conditions.

Another lie is that the undocumented are “draining our resources and programs.” The truth that old money bags doesn’t want the working class to know is that every year undocumented workers pay several billion dollars into Social Security alone. Add in Federal and State taxes and the number is more than doubled. Consider also that most use forged papers so they can never benefit from what they pay in. The truth is that the undocumented are a vital part of the working class.

Often in the Workers Vanguard and other material from the ICL-(FI) I see written, “Full Citizenship Rights to All Immigrants.” This is much more than a slogan; it’s a major communist principle. In the early days of the Soviet Republic it was the law which was written as:

“In consequence of the solidarity of the workers of all nations, the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic grants all political rights of Russian citizens to foreigners who live in the territory of the Russian Republic and are engaged in work and who belong to the working class. The Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic also recognizes the right of local soviets to grant citizenship to such foreigners without complicated formality.”

—1918 Constitution of the RSFSR

This was in the Soviet constitution under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky.

Comradely,
Alan Nicholoplus