Sean Marquis
Aug 8, 2017 · 4 min read

A Racist, Classist Policy by Any Other Name Would Be…Well, the RAISE Act

Republican President Donald Trump, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Senator David Purdue (R-GA) announcing the RAISE Act, Aug 2, 2017

The Republican’s new immigration policy presented by Donald Trump brazenly panders to racism by outright stating that reducing immigration of non-English speaking peoples will translate into jobs for those Americans seeking one. The RAISE Act (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) never has to be enacted in order for it to do it’s job: if you’re an American and can’t find a job — blame an immigrant, because if “they” weren’t here or if there were fewer of “them”, you’d have a job. Classic right wing tactic — blame/target the “other” for whatever societal woes are convenient. Trump stated the new rules were needed because according to him the current system which allows low-skill, low wage workers into the country was not fair to minority citizens in the US. That is extremely racist — US minorities need or can only fill low wage jobs? Senator Tom Cotton (co-sponsor of the Bill) said the bill was to show Republican “commitment” to the American working class. Pitting groups of workers against one another, particularly so you (being someone in a position of power) don’t have to actually do anything FOR any of them, is classist.

During the roll-out press conference, Presidential Senior Adviser Stephen Miller’s feigned indignation at and verbal vomiting on CNN reporter Jim Acosta was both laughable and repugnant. Acosta had the audacity to question Miller on the implication that this new policy is an emphasis on promoting white “Western”, “English speaking” immigration and a targeted reduction in people of color not from Europe, Australia, etc. Rightly so. Miller’s combative, bilious response aside, according to
Trump himself the “system would prioritize English speakers, and those who can support themselves and their families financially and demonstrate skills that contribute to the US economy.” Ask any American and chances are high (whether they support the policy or not) that they understand this means less black and brown people from poorer, “non-white” countries will legally be allowed in to the united States.

The proposal’s language favors people who are English speaking, educated (doctorate is good), high skill and potentially high paid (300% of median income job) (note that even a Nobel Prize only gets you 25 out of 30 points needed). Surely there will be Indian engineers and Bahranian physicists in there, to be clear though, this is a bald-faced, “western”-centric/white preference policy. Therein also lies the classist bent of this proposed law. In order for the US to provide more job opportunities for its citizens, it will focus on bringing highly educated and skilled foreigners into the country, while simultaneously focusing on keeping less educated, lower skilled people out of the country. Need a job? Take the low pay, low skill crap that the uneducated, low skill immigrants will no longer be taking — but too bad for the good pay, high skill jobs: they are going to other immigrants, is also their logic.

Why not work on improving the educational system in the US and the education levels of it citizens so there would be no need to prioritize such people in immigration policy? Just asking.

The name RAISE Act implies, and Donald Trump states, that it will increase wages. How does immigration reform raise wages for US workers? Capitalist economists like to promote wishful thinking ideas like fewer workers competing for jobs equals increases in pay to lure workers into jobs. Again, this really is blaming and focusing discontent on the “other”. If you want a raise — get rid of immigrants and you will get better pay. Why not instead actually give the American workers a real raise and increase the Minimum Wage? Or support Universal Basic Income? Just asking.

The roll-out announcement for the bill came via an email blast from the White House titled “The Jobs are Coming”. Seven months into his presidency, this is the extent of Donald Trumps’ Jobs Plan, and seemingly Betsy Devos’ Education Plan rolled into one. Devos’s plan so far had been to commit to voucherizing school funding (which equals segregation by both race and wealth) so that anyone of financial means can take money from the public school system to send their own kids to private schools and those who still can’t afford private schools even with a voucher — mostly minorities and poor whites — will be left in schools that are even more underfunded than they are now. What Team Trump and the Republicans are saying to the American people is: “We will not improve your education or provide opportunities to gain skills, we won’t even actually work on creating new jobs or new industries, we will though, stop ‘them’ from coming and taking your jobs…in the ditches, McDonalds, and the sludge pits. Those are your jobs. Don’t look for better ones. We saved them for you.” Such is Republican “commitment” to the American working class.

Written by

Activist, Journalist, Dad; Former Editor for The Asheville Global Report; now writing on society, politics, climate and so much more…

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