A Guy’s View: Illegal immigration

Last Wednesday, Donald Trump visited Mexico and met with that country’s President. Commentators are still trying to figure out why Mexico’s President extended an invitation to Donald Trump to meet with him.

Trump has said many negative things about Mexicans. He is the most hated human being in Mexico, but to his credit, Trump seems to believe that he is promoting America’s interest by calling for the removal of all persons who are in that country illegally. This number includes millions of Mexicans who cross the long border between the two countries.

In his strong speeches, Trump disregards the fact that America would grind to a halt if the estimated eleven million persons who are there other than by legitimate means were to be removed. If only the illegal Mexicans were removed, there would still be major problems for the American way of life in some states.

Produce farmers are the latest to express concern about Trump’s plan. According to them, it is the undocumented Mexicans who harvest their crops. If these Mexicans go, so to would the fresh produce many Americans enjoy.

We in Barbados are familiar with the North American farm labour programme. For many years, Barbadians have been travelling to Florida in the USA and Canada to harvest crops in those countries. Why are these workers needed in those countries? Simply because Americans and Canadians have no interest in working on their farms in the capacity in which our citizens do.

The farms that benefit from Caribbean labour have to house these workers and incur other expenses. If, however, the same workers that the North American farmers import from the Caribbean were to make their own way up north, stay in those countries illegally and find work on the farms that are willing to employ them, the American and Canadian farmers would benefit from the same labour, but without the overheads. Illegal Mexicans provide this great gift to American farmers.

Illegal immigration is a low hanging fruit that is easy to pick. Nationalism is inspired by these discussions. A little thought might paint a different picture, however. This source of labour is often of great benefit to the host country.

A few years ago, Barbadians were complaining about the large number of foreigners who were making this country their home. At one point, a sizeable number was encouraged to leave our shores. 

This may have been seen as a solution to our unemployment situation. It is a straight forward argument to make that if there are fewer competitors for jobs, more Barbadians would be employed. It was not factored into the equation that some Barbadians would be happier being unemployed than doing certain jobs.

In the 1970s, while sugar was still king, Barbadian plantation owners thought it economically feasible to import labour from St. Lucia and St. Vincent. Our population was not nearly as bourgeois as it is now, but farm labour had to be imported.

St. Lucians and Vincentians are of the same racial stock as the majority of Barbadians, so there was no racial discrimination at work with their presence. Also, although there were cultural differences, those differences were not significant. In fact, they had more in common with Barbadians than differences, so they fitted into our community with ease. The ease with which they assimilated may be evidenced by the number of Barbadian children that called them father. In America, there are different considerations and this provides fertile ground for Trump. 

Family planning has ravished our natural population. If we did not import people, our population would decline drastically. We have been persuaded to place selfish short term interests above a longer vision for our descendants. 

The Bible tells us that children are a blessing. Family planning tells us that children are a burden. We turned our backs on the Bible and followed the Barbados Family Planning Association. God is no longer an important part of our plans, so there is no turning back now.

The idea that 300 000 is too large a population for Barbados is an unfortunate way of thinking. We fail to see that a large population provides a more important market for our goods and services. Singapore is only 278 square miles, but has a population of 5.5 million people, and that country is one of the better places in the world to live. It has an AAA rating from all the rating agencies.

There are many ingenious Barbadians, but their efforts come to naught because there is not a sufficiently large market to consume what they produce. A mediocre inventor may produce an item in America and become a millionaire if half of one per cent of the population in his state use his invention, simply because of the vast size of the market. In Barbados, unless there is widespread use of a good or service across the entire population, one will reap little success. 

Our small population demands that our people export what they produce, but we have no authority to determine how other people relate to our goods and services. When our products are too good and threaten similar items in the countries to which we export, barriers may be erected to limit the entry of our produce into those markets.

And still we have a problem with immigration. And a legitimate one at that. The freedom of movement of which Caribbean leaders speak is impractical among countries that are all underdeveloped and have large segments of their populations that eke out an existence. The country that does a little better than another would instantly have its advantages obliterated by an influx of additional strugglers. 

Countries that cannot provide for their people are happy to export them, knowing that if they do better overseas, they will not forget home and send remittances. Receiving countries must know what they need for their development and plan their path forward. 

Maybe it is time for Barbados to open its doors more widely, but to the right applicants. We must recognize that our population is too small and seek to make life here attractive to others who can contribute to our development. Those who offer nothing and the countries that are willing to send them will complain. Let them.