So why the controversy? Well, the signs are directed at American tech workers and the organization believes that because tech companies see American workers as expensive and expendable, they hire non-U.S. workers instead, predominantly those from countries like Asia or Europe. It appears the group wants to put a stop to that practice, and they believe this campaign is the best way to drive the issue.
These specific ads were placed at Civic Center station and at Oakland's 12th St. and 19th St. stations. There are also smaller number of signs at other stations as well, though I have yet to see them there.
Now BART's spokesperson Alicia Trost has come out and said that BART does not endorse the ads, but due to First Amendment rights, they can't remove the ads, and I'm sure this will piss off more and more liberals down the road.
Trust went further to state, "This campaign complies with free speech laws that allow advertisers to express a point of view without regard to the viewpoint...BART must post these ads to comply with the aw. Court rulings reinforce the fact that we can't deny the ads."
The executive director of the Progressives for Immigration Reform, Kevin Lynn, told BuzzFeed on Friday that the campaign's objective is to "make immigration work for the citizens as a whole...I don't see where innovation necessarily comes from diversity. What it comes from is having an environment where you can hire your college graduates, put them into a good paying job, and allow them to innovate." In short, he believes that if American graduates are given the opportunity, it can allow them to innovate in the same way if foreigners are brought over.
Many riders on BART have already said that the campaign was disgusting. Here's what a BART rider said about the signs on Twitter:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Awful, anti-immigrant ads in the BART station today. Where can I donate to support the exact opposite of this? 😞 <a href="https://t.co/24x23OmV8S">pic.twitter.com/24x23OmV8S</a></p>— Don McCurdy (@donrmccurdy) <a href="https://twitter.com/donrmccurdy/status/974517710410285057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Clearly, he's pissed. He believes the signs are racist and anti-immigrants, though I'm not sure I fully agree with the position he's taking.
Here's the thing about free speech I think a lot of people, especially liberals, seem to not realize in this manner: It works for all sides, and we should not be fully on one side of the issue. That's why we have debates, so that we can come to a consensus about who's going down the right track.
Now, in terms of the ads, while they may seem anti-immigrant on the surface, let's think about this: We have a crisis in this country when it comes to companies who train and employ American workers. We're expensive people and we do fetch a lot when it comes to our jobs. And that's why we are thrown completely to the wolves, no matter what. People from across the seas are willing to do the same work as a fraction of the cost. That's why they're so valuable and they're important to a company. They're trying to make a profit, and a big one at that, and if they believe that hiring foreign workers is going to get them there, they'll take the risk. It doesn't mean I like it. In fact, it's just the opposite. And this group, whether you believe it's racist or not, makes a point here that the visa in question, the H-1B visa, has definitely affected how businesses operate and hire people, and probably not in a good way.
Look, the ad campaign may change things. It may not. I understand that many people in this country want tech companies to hire more American workers. Problem is, we're expensive and big people in the companies either can't afford to put the resources into training people in this country or they're thinking about the world view when it comes to its future. I would like to see more companies try to invest their time in training and hiring American workers, but I can also understand that when it comes to the issue of money, the less expensive the more it works out in the long run.
Instead of trying to bat down an ad campaign, how about rethinking ourselves as a culture? How do we best get into the work forces both here and overseas? A couple of answers come to mind: Being trained overseas, going to school overseas, perhaps working a couple jobs at a time. Those answers can work, if you put our mind and body to it. My mom worked a job and went to school and she has told me many times it was tough and it was a grind. She made it through and got a great job at IBM which she still has today. We need to think more like that. We need to take the jobs that no one else. We need to keep fighting every single day to not only understand those who are different, but also understand that we need to rise from the bottom. It may mean having to kiss peoples' butts, but that's the sad truth and that's how we grow. Nothing has changed in that regard.
So I blame those who feel this ad campaign is anti-immigrant. It's not. In my view, it was a long time coming and we should've been prepared for this. This is free speech that while, despite being sensitive on the surface, is just what it is. There's no problem with free speech and we are certainly starting to move further into our corners because of our sensitivity.
Congress has to fix a lot of this. The H-1B is not high on the list, though it is something I feel Congress needs to look at and figure out how best to make it work. But here's something we do need to understand: Issues are not always comfortable and if we don't do a better job at tackling issues that make us comfortable, then we can't move forward as a society to help our people, or to help others. That's the bottom line here.
I will not applaud either side in this, but I do know one thing from all this: You have your view, I have mine. I call the shots. You call yours. And in this case, this organization felt they needed to send a message to tech companies about their hiring practices. This is free speech. That's how it works. Maybe that's the lesson to learn from what has happened here.
