Local Immigrants Speak Out About Reform Bill

May 29, 2007 - 3:37pm

Darci Marchese, WTOP Radio
WASHINGTON - Sometimes lost in the immigration debate, is the people most affected by the reform. On Tuesday, those people got a chance to speak out at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Northwest.

Miguel Diaz, who currently lives in Baltimore, says current immigration laws create a society that divides families.

"They took away my wife from my home, from my family -- and now I have to face a different life with my two little ones. It's not easy."

Diaz is pleading with politicians to fix the broken system.

Azeb Jebessa is an illegal immigrant from Ethiopia. She says real reform would allow her to be more than a baby-sitter and give her a better life.

Fernando, a day laborer in Takoma Park who is from Nicaragua, says if it's a "crime to wish to have what a fellow North American has," then call him a criminal.

The bill being debated would give temporary legal status to millions of unlawful immigrants, provided they came forward, paid a fine and underwent criminal background checks. To apply for a green card, they would have to pay another fine, learn English, return to their home country and wait in line.

The plan also would create a guest worker program. It would allow foreign laborers to come to the U.S. for temporary stints, yet with no guarantee they can eventually gain citizenship.

The event Tuesday was to discuss the real life consequences of the immigration reform bill and to gather support for a mass mobilization on June 2 on the National Mall.

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP Radio. All Rights Reserved.)

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