Immigration, exploitation, and democracies compared

Immigration

Journalist [ENA] The debate on immigration and low-cost labor is not limited to the United States; it is a universal phenomenon that affects every country, often in silence. In the U.S., former President Donald Trump made explicit what had remained behind a façade for decades: the exploitation of foreign labor, particularly Mexican workers, necessary but unwanted. For years, Mexicans represented a pool of underpaid,

often undocumented labor. Under Trump, many of them, including genuine asylum seekers, were sent back. At the same time, Mexico remained a reservoir of cheap labor, exploited “at a distance.” This policy did not originate with Trump, but he openly declared it, transforming it into the slogan “America First.” The phenomenon is not exclusively American. In Europe – and Italy in particular – Chinese labor has for years been employed under precarious conditions. Meanwhile, China used this presence as an opportunity to acquire knowledge and accelerate its transformation into a global power. Exploitation, therefore, is not just “someone else’s problem”: it is universal and also concerns the relationship between governments and their own citizens

when rights are compressed for economic needs. A different model emerges in Canada and Australia. Despite rigidity and flaws, these countries have initiated processes of reconciliation with indigenous populations – Canada has officially apologized, acknowledging historical wrongs – and have chosen to integrate foreign workers under clear rules: obligation to work, cultural adaptation, and respect for the law. These are nations that have set strict limits (for instance, on the burqa or veil in public places, or on alcohol consumption to curb social problems), but have done so within a framework of inclusion and responsibility.

In a world marked by conflicts and propaganda, this difference is crucial: security does not come from exclusion, but from the ability to integrate under shared rules. Exploitation is ancient and cross-cutting, but the strongest democracies demonstrate that it is possible to move forward without denying the past. Only by acknowledging mistakes and valuing human dignity can nations truly build a future that is both secure and just