U.S. needs immigrant workers because we disable our troops and underfund education

Savvy people have been recognizing that the U.S. economy really needs immigrant workers. We do not have enough native-born workers for many jobs. And I don’t mean only working on farms and in restaurants. The U.S. imports a great many skilled workers: nurses, doctors, computer programmers, and so forth.

For many decades the U.S. has been sending our troops to fight totally unnecessary wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Only recently has the government been admitting that many troops become disabled through PTSD and other physical and mental disabilities. Actually, the numbers are much, much higher than the government admits.

Young adults are of the primate age for attending college and starting careers. However, many of the troops returning from war have been disabled physically and/or mentally in ways that seriously interfere with education and employment.

Also, the U.S. has been seriously underfunding education at K-12, college, and professional levels. Other nations highly value education and adequately fund it. The U.S. knowingly does not produce enough doctors, nurses, computer programmers, and other professionals to meet our needs. Instead, we import a great many immigrants to meet our needs.

The U.S.’s heavy reliance on immigrant labor has roots in the U.S.’s excessive militarism and also in the U.S.’s refusal to adequately fund education. Why is not this part of our national discussion about immigration?
People who blame immigrants are barking up the wrong tree. They should be blaming U.S. militarism and the politicians and other folks who underfund education.
About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org