Expert: Why Neither Punitive Nor Guest Worker Plans Will Slow Illegal Immigration

Newswise — TOPIC: Why Neither Punitive Nor Guest Worker Plans Will Slow Illegal Immigration

SOURCE: K. Dean Hubbard, B.A., J.D., Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy at Sarah Lawrence College and director of the College's Institute for Policy Alternatives

The issue of day-laborers is very controversial and emotionally charged " a pending suit in Federal Court in New York involving day-laborers in Mamaroneck, N.Y. may set a national precedent.

"Transnational migration by desperately poor people searching for work is largely a result of policies championed by this and previous Washington administrations in cooperation with transnational corporations and institutions," says Dean Hubbard, Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy at Sarah Lawrence College. "Closed borders, criminalization and guest worker plans will not resolve this side of the global migration equation, as the immigration status quo is fundamental to the growth strategy of powerful corporate entities."

According to Hubbard, "The public can play a role by join the growing movement supporting community efforts to establish well-run workers' centers for immigrant job seekers, support legislative proposals for a true amnesty law and demand strict labor law enforcement," says Hubbard. "Most importantly, they can direct their resentment away from impoverished migrant workers and towards policymakers who do the bidding of corporate giants who profit from the suffering of immigrants and the disruption of local communities."

Hubbard is available to comment on:

- U.S. labor and employment discrimination law - Labor and community responses to contingent work arrangements - Capital mobility - Transnational labor solidarity

An activist attorney for working people and their unions, Dean Hubbard is the Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville/Yonkers, N.Y., and director of the College's Institute for Policy Alternatives. He is the author of numerous articles on economic human rights, labor relations and U.S. labor and employment law.