Thread: Immigration debate continues in Spokane

Posted: Feb 23, 2015 6:59 PM PST Updated: Feb 23, 2015 6:59 PM PST
by Caitlin Rearden, KHQ Local News Weekend Anchor

SPOKANE, Wash. -

Immigration reform is a topic that is constantly making headlines from the Executive Branch of government all the way down to local jurisdictions.

The issue currently remains halted at the national level after the Obama administration's actions for immigration reform were blocked by a U.S. District Court Judge's order. The order prevents the President from granting quasi-legal status and work permits to millions of undocumented immigrants.

Here in Spokane, a citizen initiative regarding immigration status is in the signature gathering phase. Jackie Murray is the sponsor of that initiative which aims to repeal a municipal code change that made a decade old police policy law. That policy prevents officers from asking about immigration status when a person is pulled over for something else.

Murray says the law has made Spokane a "sanctuary city", meaning it is a safe haven for undocumented immigrants.

Although she is behind the initiative, Murray tells KHQ that she is not against immigrants as a whole. Murray's father was a Jamaican immigrant but became a citizen through legal channels.

"It's the ones that aren't coming through the system that I object to," says Murray. "We don't know who they are and what they're up to. I just think everyone should have to jump through the same hoops."

Those who want more options for people trying to become U.S. citizens say it's not that simple.

"When advocates for immigration are very adamant about immigration reform and meaningful immigration reform, it's because there is no legal way," says Gloria Ochoa, Chair of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

Ochoa says there are two ways for immigrants to become citizens. The first is labor based, meaning you can come to the country if you can demonstrate a shortage of jobs, particularly in the fields of science and medicine. According to Ochoa there is no category for unskilled laborers to come to the U.S. for jobs.

The second process is family based, and Ochoa tells us there is a cap on the number of immigrants allowed in. From Mexico, where we see a large number of immigrants, those numbers are very limited.

"In Mexico the last time I checked it was 5,000," says Ochoa. "Obviously that's hugely not adequate."

That leaves millions without another option.

"You have to find whatever makes sense for your family," says Remedios Escalera who came to the U.S. from Mexico with her parents when she was just 4 years old.

She grew up in Lake Chelan, Washington. Her parents worked and she was able to attend Eastern Washington University. In 2009 she got married and became a legal citizen, but spent most of her life in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant.

"I can't say I disagree with what my parents have done because I'm very thankful for what they have done for me and my brothers," says Escalera. "If they wouldn't have come here, I don't know what my life would've been."

There are millions more with similar stories.

"We need to be a more welcoming city and base everything we do on love not hate and fear," says Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart.

Jackie Murray, who had previously lived in Salinas, California, says that it's not hate or intolerance that drives her petition. "It's about law and order, it's about protecting our citizens, it's about not rewarding lawlessness."

Immigration policy is made and enforced on a federal level. In Washington state the cost of holding someone for immigration purposes is about $130 a day. Other jurisdictions with larger budgets, like King County have passed ordinances saying they won't bear the cost of holding people for purposes of immigration because those costs aren't reimbursed by the federal government.

"It's actually impacting in the millions of dollars for cost savings," says Ochoa. "In King County there hasn't been an influx of immigrants coming in from other countries just because they have a policy to save on criminal justice budgets."

Ochoa strongly encourages advocates and opponents of immigration to pressure legislators and Congress to pass meaningful immigration reform.

"We're talking about human beings," says Ochoa. "Until it's fixed no one is going to be happy."

Murray's citizen initiative needs 2,477 valid signatures by July to go on the November ballot.

http://www.khq.com/story/28182080/im...ues-in-spokane

Okay, first of all, all the best to Jackie Murray and the people working on the petition to stop Spokane's "sanctuary city". This is good, wise and necessary. And thank you so much for your efforts to stop this madness.

Second of all, to Gloria Ochoa, the reason there's no legal plan for a bunch of unskilled aliens to come here, is because we don't need them, we don't want them, and they have no business here. All they do is steal jobs from unskilled Americans and suck on welfare. 71% of all illegal aliens are on welfare and 90% of illegal aliens from Mexico are on welfare.

Third, we need a 10 year Moratorium on all new immigration so we can grind it all to a halt. That prevents excess legal immigration which it all is at this point given the dire status of our economy. It also prevents any and all "shadow" systems, executive branch amnesty/ deferred actions, and phony and unwarranted asylum requests.

This will relieve the burden on our welfare systems and the budgets and debt that pays for it. This will open up jobs for the people actually entitled to them, US citizens and legal immigrants already here. It will give blacks the first chance they've had in decades to start reducing their poverty and unemployment rates.

It will raise wages for all Americans but at the same time especially raise them for our lower income workers, which at the present time is largely black workers. It will create a lower surplus of labor which will encourage better hours and benefits along with improved pay schedules for our workers.

This will not only improve the economy, it will re-establish equality for black Americans, reduce government spending due to decreased poverty rates, and make a major contribution to narrowing the income gap that concerns so many, and rightly so.

And, of course, it will dramatically improve our national security on all levels and encourage our industries and employers to develop more technologies that reduce their need for unskilled low wage poverty level workers and generate more skilled higher paying jobs.

Ochoa says there are two ways for immigrants to become citizens. The first is labor based, meaning you can come to the country if you can demonstrate a shortage of jobs, particularly in the fields of science and medicine. According to Ochoa there is no category for unskilled laborers to come to the U.S. for jobs.

The second process is family based, and Ochoa tells us there is a cap on the number of immigrants allowed in. From Mexico, where we see a large number of immigrants, those numbers are very limited.

"In Mexico the last time I checked it was 5,000," says Ochoa. "Obviously that's hugely not adequate."

That leaves millions without another option.

Hmm, another one of those folks that believe everyone that wants to come here should be able to do so. That kind of thinking just isn't logical because if it were allowed the U.S. would soon become just the same or worse than the place they left.