'Exploited By Greedy Corporate Interests'

Immigration has been one of those rare issues where I agree with the New York Times editorial page -- and with Sergey Brin's mother and the Cato Institute. Today's Times immigration editorial gives me pause, however. It's right out of Karl Marx, describing the immigration problem in America as one in which "decent, honest, hard-working" illegal immigrants "are exploited by greedy corporate interests." I'm for sharply more immigration to America for a lot of reasons -- more talent, more taxpayers, more growth, better restaurants, the fact that it's how all of us who aren't of American Indian descent got here in the first place, to name just a few -- but "honest" isn't the first word that comes to mind to describe illegal immigrants who in some cases lie to employers about their legal status in America. Even worse, the Times' line about "exploited by greedy corporate interests" is just straight out of Karl Marx. A lot of these immigrants aren't working for "greedy corporate interests" but for middle-class American families as cleaning ladies or child-care providers, or for family farms as field hands, or for family-owned restaurants as busboys or dishwashers. If immigrants are so exploited by corporate America, why do they keep leaving their home countries to come here? What the Times calls "greedy corporate interests" are also known as American businesses, and without their advertisements in the newspaper, all those Times editorial writers would be unemployed.