U.S. leftists have a choice to make: protect the working class, or allow mass immigration to gut it. In the early 20th century, there was a surge of immigration from the less affluent Southern and Eastern European countries, such as Italy and Imperial Russia. Their immigration completely changed the demographics of major cities like New York and Chicago. Many of these immigrants were fleeing poverty and starvation in their home countries, bringing few belongings and little cash with them. Consequently, the surplus of immigrant laborers in entry-level, low-skilled professions forced heritage Americans into an increasingly competitive labor market. To remedy rising unemployment and falling wages as a result of this oversupply, labor unions backed the Immigration Quotas of 1924 and minimum wage laws to resume wage growth and protect the bargaining power of American workers. Nevertheless, today — with leading progressives backing organized labor, advocating for relaxed immigration law enforcement and even expanding foreign worker programs — it appears that they have abandoned the very people they formed to serve a century ago.