There was a time in America, not that long ago, when populist Leftists insisted on secure borders. These pro-labor advocates recognized that restrained immigration protects the economic prerogatives of working-class American citizens. One such advocate was the famous labor movement leader, Cesar Chavez, liberal head of the United Farm Workers.
Back in 1979 at a speech at the National Press Club, Chavez observed that enforcing immigration laws cannot be “a political game.” Chavez further remarked that “it’s frustrating to be a citizen of this country and see that your government, because of some bureaucrats, is not living up to the law.”
In fact, Chavez took an exceedingly hard line against illegal workers who undermined the pay and bargaining position of his workers, using pejorative terms for the economic migrants and even directing the physical interdiction of illegal aliens.
But despite these clear facts, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and other politicians insist on lionizing Chavez while ignoring this huge policy contradiction for the open borders extremist Democrats of the 2020s. This past Easter Sunday marked the birthday of the late Chavez, and Biden commemorated the anniversary with a proclamation stating that Chavez championed “the dignity and rights of every worker.” To be accurate, Biden should have included the word “citizen” before “worker.”
Those of us on the political Right would disagree with Chavez about many aspects of his agenda. But then - and now - we find common ground on the foundational belief that a country has borders, and that national sovereignty must be carefully guarded. A country that allows porous borders jeopardizes the safety of its streets and imperils the prosperity of citizen laborers.
Chavez recognized these realities, and as far back as the 1960’s he bemoaned that “we have no enforcement from Border Patrol.” Chavez further explained that the illegals were “coming in with the consent of the immigration service” and represented a “vicious attack on the local workers.”
Sounds an awful lot like the present scenario under Biden, doesn’t it?
Except, of course, the scale of the border disaster today vastly outpaces anything Chavez ever experienced. If he could see the situation in his hometown of Yuma, Arizona, he would now witness the near collapse of border enforcement in 2024 America.
Speaking of Arizona, my populist laborers’ organization, the League of American Workers, just polled likely voters there. Using a sample that was evenly split between Trump and Biden 2020 voters, the numbers on immigration policy for Biden show massive disapproval.
When asked to assess the job performance of the federal government on managing the border, only 6% of Arizonans approved with a “very strong” rating, while a whopping 52% responded with “very weak.” Consistent with that massive rejection of Biden’s immigration chaos, only 8% of Hispanic voters in Arizona rated border control as “very strong.”
Those “bad hombre” American citizens of Hispanic heritage clearly see the dangers to Arizona and all of America from Biden’s open border. Much like Chavez acknowledged decades ago, they also recognize that American workers should never be forced into unjust and unlawful competition against illegal alien workers.
Joe Biden keeps a bust of Chavez in the Oval Office. As Mark Krikorian wrote about in 2021, perhaps that bust could “speak up” and inform Biden that open borders are terrible for workers!
I was fortunate enough to hear Cesar Chavez speak a couple of times. On both occasions he stressed his differences with other civil rights leaders, both in America and abroad ---he believed the highest form of protest was the hunger strike since it brought attention to a cause without injuring the interests, property or persons of innocent people. It's true he was involved in other forms of strikes ---but he repeatedly made plain his opposition to the concept of 'the ends justify the means': Violence, arson & murder were never on the table.
It would be nice if Biden & the DNC paid some real attention, rather than lip service, to Cesar's philosophy between now and November.