All working people should reject the government's assault on asylum seekers, the latest in a series of moves aimed at scapegoating foreign-born workers for unemployment, low pay, and poor housing. The criminalization of immigrants on the pretext of alleged "aggressive begging" gives cover to a sharp assault on the democratic rights of all. This includes internment without trial, to which hundreds of foreign nationals are subjected upon arrival in this country, and ending the right to trial by jury for people accused of so-called "secondary" offenses.

The capitalist rulers seek to reinforce the second-class status of foreign-born workers to justify the low wages and poor working conditions they receive. The maintenance of such divisions among working people gives the bosses an opening to go after the living standards of all workers.

The real cause of declining living standards and social decay is the profit-driven capitalist system. The decision by BMW to sell off Rover, and that of Ford to impose massive redundancies, will throw tens of thousands of workers out of a job. This is caused by the capitalist auto industries where overcapacity is driving the bosses to attack the workforce to boost profits.

Neither Romanian immigrants nor any other workers are responsible for these attacks. Jobs and living standards can only be protected by defending the interests of the working class as a whole, irrespective of nationality.

In Romania itself living standards of the average worker have declined by 25 percent over the past 10 years. Depression conditions are driving workers and farmers to uproot themselves in the search for jobs and livelihoods. "Market reforms," demanded by the imperialists and implemented by governments since the popular overthrow of the Stalinist Ceaucescu regime, have deepened the already severe economic crisis in that country. Imperialism's criminal military assaults and economic sanctions against Iraq and Yugoslavia, Romania's major trading partners, have compounded the social devastation.

The crisis of the market system is universal. What is needed is a revolutionary struggle for a government of workers and farmers to overthrow capitalism and join in the worldwide fight for socialism. In mounting a militant fightback against attacks on jobs and living standards, the trade unions need to project a social program to unite all workers: Jobs for all! Equal rights for immigrants! Open the borders--end all immigration controls! Close the detention centers! A 30-hour working week with no loss of pay! A crash program of public works to build houses, schools, hospitals, and employ the jobless! Increase the national minimum wage!  
 
 
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