Big Mac Immigration - The Humanitarian Hypocrisy of US Immigration Policy

At once diminutive and globe spanning, few objects are more quintessentially American than the humble Big-Mac. It is at once real and artificial, mass produced and made to order, personal, global, inexpensive, and the foundation of an international economic empire. Millions of Americans eat daily at McDonald's and the myriad restaurants, drive-throughs, and drive-ins that compete for the privilege of serving up a burger, fries, and a drink for five bucks and change. It's fast, convenient, finger-lickin'-good, and just about as American as Mom or Apple Pie (available at select restaurants); but it makes hypocrites of us all.

Illegal immigration is the fuel that makes the American Discount Economy run. The 12 Million undocumented workers that toil in America's sweatshops, process its food, clean its hotels, and serve, slice, and sell the All American meal are the economic supports for the United State's orgy of consumption. It is by the sweat of their brows that the little luxuries that so permeate American life are provided; and from of their willingness to work hellish jobs for miserly wages that the Discount Economy draws strength.

Yet few in the United States are met with more scorn or hostility than illegal migrant workers. Though obsessed wit the "immigration issue," Americans are almost entirely unaware of the human component of the debate. Proposals addressing the immigration issue frequently sink to justifications for fortified walls along the border, increased deportations, and a "tougher" policy on illegal immigration. But the victims of these policies are neither vague nor impersonal; they are human beings, many seeking honest work in pursuit of the very work ethics and ideals that have been lauded as "American" for centuries. Theirs is the true American heritage and the true American way of life - making one's way and one's home in a strange land in search of a better life.