I recall how striking it was that the issue of immigration barely registered during the 2008 presidential campaign. No one really wanted to talk about it. So, this is interesting news:

The nation’s two major labor federations have agreed for the first time to join forces to support an overhaul of the immigration system, leaders of both organizations said on Monday. The accord could give President Obama significant support among unions as he revisits the stormy issue in the midst of the recession.

John Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O, and Joe T. Hansen, a leader of the rival Change To Win federation, will present the outlines of their new position on Tuesday in Washington. In 2007, when Congress last considered comprehensive immigration legislation, the two groups could not agree on a common approach. That legislation failed.

The accord endorses legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the United States and opposes any large new program for employers to bring in temporary immigrant workers, officials of both federations said.

“The labor movement will work together to make sure that the White House as well as Congress understand that we speak about immigration reform with one voice,” Mr. Sweeney said in a statement to The New York Times.

   And:

In the new accord, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and Change to Win have called for managing future immigration of workers through a national commission. The commission would determine how many permanent and temporary foreign workers should be admitted each year based on demand in American labor markets. Union officials are confident that the result would reduce worker immigration during times of high unemployment like the present.

   I’m a bit skeptical about a national commission but let’s see the details. But, this seems to smooth over the differences between the two federations on the main point of contention in the past: guest worker programs. The AFL-CIO opposed it, Change To Win did not.

   Unstated, though perhaps it will be included in the full statement, is the issue that I find at the crux of the matter–immigration cannot be divorced from the economic policies being imposed, largely with the leadership of the U.S. on other countries. If you insist on continuing to ram so-called "free trade" deals down the throats of countries whose workers, then, suffer from the consequences, then, of course people will have to pick up and move to find work that pays something slightly better than what they can’t find at home. I used Mexico and NAFTA as an example in the past.

   So, it has always seemed to me that the various immigration "solutions" only deal with the symptoms, not the root cause that forces people to become economic refugees.

   Also, I organized a discussion a while back on the topic. You can see some of it here.