Made in LA

This past week I attended the viewing of "Made in LA", the movie about the Los Angeles garment industry. The type of behavior and the terrible wages that the Mexican immigrants had to endure was ridiculous. These workers were treated like animals and told how worthless and replaceable they are. Their bosses would tell them to work 12 hours for 7 days a week or they're fired. Could this be right in any situation? I was thinking aren't the workers illegal and working in a country they technically don't belong in anyway? And why didn't their friends and family tell them that the U.S. isn't all that it is cracked up to be?

While it is true that the Mexican illegal aliens don't really belong in the U.S., as far as the government is concerned, there is still a moral responsibility to treat all workers with some level of workers rights. These immigrants have children and families back in Mexico which they are expected to support. 3 dollars an hour isn't enough for one person let alone a family.

The U.S. needs to decide on two things: First, what do we care about more, keeping the low skilled labor market strong or should we fight to end illegal immigration. As much as we love capitalism we should really consider what we are trying to stop when we stop immigration. People enjoy their cheap clothing prices but now they want to put an end to the source (immigrant labor). We have to step back and look at what it really is we are trying to stop, and we must do so in a humane manner.