The Anatomy Of Migration

Absent from the seemingly endless analysis of the various aspects of the current migrant crisis is an awareness of the unfortunate history of many aspects of similar events involving large scale inflows of particular national and linguistic groupings. It is well known now that in the case of Italian immigration to the United States (mainly Sicilian and Southern Italian) in the late 19^th and beginning of the 20^th centuries, criminal elements transported from the “old country” maintained control over the new arrivals economically and politically. To be fair, the same control mechanism existed originally with other groupings, eg. Irish, Chinese, etc. Eventually, perhaps two generations later, these exploited people became blended in with the larger population and ultimately part of American political, economic and even judicial system. 

This is the same group structure of the Hispanic migrants of today. This time, however, the control began with the drug cartels of Central America and Mexico. These continue to exist, but now with offshoots reaching in economic terms to non-drug related activities and industries. The connective root is euphemistically named “protection service” and access to employment arranged through connected instruments. Unfortunately, this happy ending does not arrive until time and law enforcement catches up with the reality facing what is the preponderance of these exploited individuals. That is a long time away.   Meanwhile, thousands of migrants are driven by the deplorable conditions in their home countries and the unscrupulous maneuvers of special interests and crime syndicates to use every method possible to enter the United States, legally and illegally.

The situation doesn't end there. The fact is that these driven Hispanic individuals and families effectively become pawns of criminal interest without realizing what is occurring. As the crime cartels seek to “launder” their profits, they create business activities that offer legitimate services. Supplying low level workers to the American farm industry is a basic activity. The American farmers turn to these established suppliers to provide their much-needed field labor. In the same manner, small private businesses are established providing house cleaning and landscaping services. The business “representative' collects the payment and delivers a modest portion to the workers. The number of businesses operating in this manner increase on the basis of how many workers they can import – usually illegally.

This is nothing new. It's just far larger than it was ever before. At this point, the number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. is speculated by U.S. Government statistical agencies to be in the region of twenty million. That adds up to quite a profit margin for the cartel spinoffs. Meanwhile, these foreign cartels continue with their basic income source of illicit drug sales. For those first-generation illegal immigrants who have obtained work on their own – and they are a minority of that grouping – the “protection” racket offers a so-called insurance plan that supposedly protects the migrant from official countermeasures through providing the individual with false documentation. Of course, this is simply a confidence game, but the always-insecure Illegal has no alternative. For those who resist, there are always stronger methods of encouraging acceptance. The amount they pay is related to their income. It's a form of tithing that has existed in one form or another back in the “old country”. In that sense it, too, is nothing new.

Meanwhile, the workers themselves have a net income they accept as far better than they ever would have earned in their home country. A portion is sent back to their family left behind who also gain from the activity thereby. Thus, the community of immigrants grows, and the protection rackets grow with them. In turn, that income funds more and different types of criminal activity. Of course, a substantial portion is also funneled out to various overseas financial institutions further “cleansing “the profits.

This system of illegal immigration, front companies, protection rackets and drug sales roll on and well-meaning U.S. citizens unwittingly accept it in the form of their goodwill or desire for a good deal in non-drug related home, agricultural and industrial services. The migrants themselves are for the most part non-English speaking ordinary folk who accept tithing of their lives and work as an integral part of existence. Their dreams are the same as earlier waves of immigrants in spite of their difference in mode and legality of entry. Meanwhile the income from illicit transportation and trade in illicit drugs is transferred through cut-outs to overseas accounts or invested through cover activities in legitimate corporations who are unknowing of the actual source of the funds.

Protestations to the contrary by American and foreign business aside, these financial operations often assist in the profit margins of legitimate commercial activity. To what extent, cannot be accurately counted, but it's considerable. Of course, the first-generation immigrant population is left with little or nothing. In any case it is perceived to be more than they would have gained in their home countries. A minority of these people do return from whence they came and are rich in comparison to those who stayed behind. However, with an eye toward the Italian and other groups' experience, it is possible the Hispanic population of the United States in two or three generations will have accomplished the same assimilation and societal success as they.