March 06, 2007

MyDD and/or Drum Major Institute delete criticism of immigration plans

[DMI didn't do it; see the update below.]

Yesterday, user "DMIer" - presumably an associate of the Drum Major Institute - posted the entry "How everyone can get smart on immigration & the middle class" at the site MyDD [1]. I decided to do my part, posting a long criticism of the post. My comment was deleted not long after that, presumably either by "DMIer" or by MyDD management. [2]

Either DMI or MyDD don't want their readers to hear negative comments about their plans, and that almost certainly means that they know they have a very weak argument and the only way to paper over its weaknesses is by silencing dissent.

Here's the comment in question:

1. What happens to new illegal aliens who are hired by unscrupulous employers? Will DMI wave its magic wand in that case as well, converting them into legal workers? In that case, won't that swamp our low-wage labor system? I mean, millions of prospective illegal aliens are going to see DMI's plan as amnesty, and they're going to come here. If DMI says they would support deporting future illegal aliens, well, pardon me if I don't believe them. Those who oppose deportations now will almost certainly oppose them in the future.

2. Won't this massive legalization give even more political power inside the U.S. to the Mexican government, leading to a loosening of DMI's rules? Mexico's former foreign minister even said he was going to use U.S. groups to push reforms, and several non-profits have links to that government. Isn't DMI's plan working against attempts to prevent Mexico from sending us even more of their excess population?

3. Most of our recent immigrants of all types are low-skill and low-wage. Since DMI promotes how much money we're supposedly making from illegal aliens, wouldn't we make even more money if we stopped immigration by low-skilled labor and concentrated on high-skilled? Aren't DMI's plans favoring importing even more massive amounts of low-skilled labor?

4. Can you list all the groups that profit from importing massive amounts of low-skilled labor? (Hint: one group is not obvious, but might be the most important).

[1] mydd.com/story/2007/3/5/111331/8112
[2] A copy of the same comment that I posted to TPMCafe is still there; note that "ElanaDMI" responded to my comment regarding the MyDD issue, but I have no idea if she's the same as "DMIer". In addition to content-free complimentary comments, the MyDD thread contains two comments - one from DMIer - refering to me. Yet, my comment is nowhere to be found. And, I note that a comment I posted on a Matt Stoller entry last year was deleted.

UPDATE: The DMI was kind enough to reply to my email request for more information, and informed me that they aren't able to delete comments left on their entries at MyDD. Thus, unless it was space radiation, my comment was deleted by a MyDD administrator.

Posted to Immigration2007a at March 6, 2007 10:11 PM