A green agenda on immigration should emphasize local production
Regardless of their disagreements on other subjects, political elites in both major U.S. political parties believe above all in globalization — the notion that goods and capital should move freely over borders. But they believe that labor policy — i.e., the movements of people — should be left in the hands of respective national governments. This has the powers that be in the U.S. torn between demonizing and exploiting undocumented workers. What’s an environmentalist to do? Encourage local production and consumption on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, says Tom Philpott, to bolster both sustainability and economic equity.
