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Melissa Harris-Perry: Illegal Immigration a Form of Modern Slavery

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During a discussion on Sunday about the new film “12 Years A Slave,” Loyola University professor Laura Murphy said that there is a direct link between modern illegal immigration practices and antebellum slavery. MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry agreed and noted that illegal immigration today is a form of slavery.

“I think that this particular version of the slave narrative,” Murphy said, “is particularly enlightening for understanding modern slavery today.”

“People are tricked the way he is, or convinced, coerced, into a life that is, in fact, slavery,” she continued. “People who are forced to work, held under threat of violence without the ability to escape for the benefit of other people’s financial stability, right?”

“So, we call it trafficking, but what it is is slavery,” Harris-Perry said.

“It’s slavery,” Murphy agreed. She said that many do not make this connection because illegal immigrants make the choice to cross the border illegally or serve as a sex worker. Murphy added that the film “12 Years A Slave” upends this notion.

“They choose a form of legitimate work ,” she concluded, “and they find themselves…”

“Enslaved,” Harris-Perry added.

Source: Mediaite

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