Working Class and Immigrants

Immigration Versus Class

Today, immigrants comprise a significant proportion of the population of the U.S. and other developed countries. Factors such as globalization and technological advancements have played a crucial role in accelerating this trend. For developed countries, immigration has historically made substantial contributions to economic growth and development -- right from the era of slavery to modern times. Nonetheless, immigration has led to class struggles, creating an ever-widening divide between citizens and immigrants.

According to Buruma (2014), grievances against immigrants have been on the rise over the years in most developed countries. For example, in 2014, Republicans in the U.S. showed immense displeasure with President Obama's offer to allow undocumented immigrants who had lived in the U.S. for several years to apply for citizenship. The discomfort with immigrants in the U.S. has gained further momentum in the wake of President Donald Trump's entry to the White House a few months ago. The new administration has strongly indicated its desire to keep immigrants away from the U.S. A similar trend has been observed in other countries. In the UK, the Independence Party contemplated banning permanent settlement in 2014. Even countries that were once notably receptive to immigrants such as Denmark and The Netherlands have increasingly voted for governments opposed to immigration or with little acknowledgement of immigrant communities (Buruma, 2014)., a further indication that most developed countries are ever more growing weary of immigrants.

Immigrant phobia is mainly driven by employment concerns. In a world of increased mobility, global networking, and multinational organisations, working class voters in most developed countries are often afraid of losing their jobs to low-paid foreigners (Buruma, 2014). In the U.S. and other developed economies, immigrant workers tend to be more open to lower wages compared to native-born citizens. Therefore, for employers, especially in industries such as agriculture and construction, immigrants are usually a valuable way of minimising labour costs. Immigrants are often willing to take on jobs much of the majority may perceive as menial -- and even at a much lower pay. For the "native" working class, this means reduced employment opportunities. This has been a major source of tension between the working-class Whites and immigrants.

Whereas natives resent foreigners for working at a lower pay, their real concern according to Buruma (2014) "is the relative success of ethnic minorities and immigrants." In other words, native-born populations are mainly upset by the prosperity of immigrants in the host country, not necessarily because immigrants take jobs away from them. Broadly speaking, natives do not want immigrants to succeed in a country that is not really theirs. When immigrants succeed, it means that they gain positions of power, their income and wealth rises, and their social wellbeing advances. With increased immigration, Whites will eventually be just another minority group. Most Whites evidently fear such a scenario. They cannot imagine immigrants taking the superiority (socially and economically) they have enjoyed for centuries.

Some studies have even confirmed these fears. In a recent survey jointly conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution, 62% of the White working population indicated that America's way of life and culture have changed for the worse since the 1950s (Galston, 2016). This group further indicated that safeguarding America's way of life from foreign influences is crucial. The findings of this survey substantiate the fact that Whites in the U.S. are ever more worried that increased immigration is disrupting social and class structures. This explains why sentiments like "We want our country back" have gained popularity in the recent past. Indeed, one of the major reasons for President's Trump victory in 2016 was his promise to "Make America Great Again" by, among other things, imposing more stringent restrictions on immigrants. Intolerance towards immigrants has further been compounded by the increasing threat of terrorism, with Muslim immigrants getting much of the blame for terrorist activities.