Thread: Undocumented Immigrants Unite

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Undocumented immigrants unite
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
By NATALIA MUÑOZ
nmunoz@repub.com
HOLYOKE - Dread is deepening among illegal immigrants who said they feel as if members of Congress and border guard groups seek to hunt them down and deport them.

In response to the increasingly volatile debate on immigration, a few people have formed the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Its purpose is to help undocumented immigrants get accurate information on their legal rights and provide information on other subjects. The first meeting of the group was held yesterday at Holyoke Community College and attended by more than a dozen people.

Nationally, there are 12 million undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of them working in construction and the service industries, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Locally, agency representatives estimate that there are several thousand, and statewide many more.

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Illegal immigrants who have declined to give their names for fear of getting arrested have expressed their growing fears as members of Congress, the militia border group called the Minutemen and others target them.

Gov. W. Mitt Romney is looking into whether the state police can be deputized to verify the legal status of residents, a practice limited to the U.S. Border Patrol. U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., is proposing an increase in the number of Border Patrol staff and giving them broader authority to arrest illegal immigrants.

Ruth Trujillo, a social worker and member of the new coalition, said she understands the anxiety of the illegal immigrants.

Trujillo said she remembers well the hum of fear that was part of her day-to-day life even as she was allowed to enter the path to citizenship as part of the 1986 amnesty act. Nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants benefited from the law.

The current climate, she said, is reminiscent of the tyrannical countries many fled.

"You no longer go out, not even to the movies; you stay home," she said. "You don't know if you'll get home after work, if you'll make it home after grocery shopping. There's an environment of paranoia and fear."

Members of the coalition also said they have had reports of state police stopping motorists according to race and according to the license plate on the vehicle. Unlike Massachusetts, some states do not require proof of citizenship to issue a driver's license and illegal immigrants are more likely to register their cars in such states.

State Police Lt. Eric Anderson said troopers do not practice profiling and do not stop drivers over a suspicion of their legal status. "We're not pulling people over for any reason like that," he said

The current climate, she said, is reminiscent of the tyrannical countries many fled.

This is the disconnect I refer to: they honestly, deep down, don't get it that they are breaking the law. They want to be here, and that's good enough.

Originally Posted by steelerbabe

"You no longer go out, not even to the movies; you stay home," she said. "You don't know if you'll get home after work, if you'll make it home after grocery shopping. There's an environment of paranoia and fear."

Am I supposed to feel SORRY for them??!!! They SHOULD be living in an "environment of...fear," fear of being caught as they are BREAKING THE LAW!!

Do I hear Brian's tiny violin?

If they are afraid to go out..it's because THEY BROKE THE LAW!!!

They should go home and enjoy a walk out in the open!

Ruth Trujillo, a social worker and member of the new coalition, said she understands the anxiety of the illegal immigrants.

Trujillo said she remembers well the hum of fear that was part of her day-to-day life even as she was allowed to enter the path to citizenship as part of the 1986 amnesty act. Nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants benefited from the law.

1986 amnesties sponsoring illegals now.