On Unions and Open Borders

CRC’s Michael Watson was interviewed on Labor Relations Radio about why unions are now supporting “open borders.”

As Watson explains, in 2000 the AFL-CIO executive council dramatically reversed past policy on immigration, calling “for an immediate amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and an end to sanctions on employers who hire them.” The reversal has had consequences far beyond simply confusing previous allies who cannot understand why organized labor rejected its historic labor-market-based analysis of the immigration issue. As a result, leftist organizing groups with ties to immigrant communities gained influence within and alongside Big Labor. In the broader context, Big Labor’s turn at the millennium on immigration is an important marker of the rise of social justice unionism.

See also:

• “The Turn at the Millennium: Why Big Labor Switched Sides on Immigration” by Michael Watson, March 2024