National Border Control Day Reminds us Why Big Labor Should Oppose Illegal Immigration
Published on March 29th, 2022
Our friends at Center for Immigration Studies designated March 31st as National Border Control Day in honor of civil rights icon César Chávez who founded the United Farm Workers union and was a fierce opponent of illegal immigration and supporter of tight border controls.
According to their website, www.nationalbordercontrolday.com:
Chavez’s core insight was based on the law of supply and demand: Flooding the labor market with people from abroad undermines American workers trying to improve their lot in life.
This is why it is only fitting that March 31 should be recognized each year as National Border Control Day. Happy birthday, Cesar Chavez!
As CAPS has documented, Cesar Chavez was a staunch opponent of illegal immigration. Chavez knew that illegal immigration grows the labor pool and results in more competition for American workers his union was representing.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in 1979, Chavez demanded that the federal government take seriously its constitutional duty to keep illegal immigrants out of the fields and out of the country. He boldly stated that if “my mother was breaking the strike and if she were illegal, I’d ask the same thing.” The reason, Chavez explained, is that picket lines and unions are about wage levels and employment opportunities. Combating illegal immigration is about economic issues: “it’s not a political game.” Chavez added that: “People are being hurt and being destroyed with the complicity of the federal government.”
Join us in recognizing National Border Control Day in honor of César Chávez on March 31, 2022!