Thread: Aliens in a Bergen border war

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Aliens in a Bergen border war
Sunday, June 4, 2006

By MIGUEL PEREZ
STAFF WRITER


The war on illegal immigration was fought at the border Saturday, but it was not the Mexican border. It was Bergen County's.

On the street that divides Dumont from Bergenfield, the aspirations of illegal immigrants seeking the American Dream and the frustrations of many Americans who seek to stop illegal immigration were vividly on display.

On the Bergenfield side of Columbus Avenue, about 30 immigrant day laborers waited for employers to pick them up. On the Dumont side, about 20 North Jersey residents held American flags and signs noting: "It's illegal to hire illegal aliens."

Although there have been demonstrations at the Dumont-Bergenfield border for five weeks, Saturday's protest was planned in conjunction with the nationwide "Hands Along the Border" campaign -- a series of demonstrations at the Mexican border, Mexican consulates in Manhattan and around the country, and various communities where illegal immigrants live.

The scene crystallizes the national debate over illegal immigration and recent efforts in Congress to reform the nation's broken immigration system.

The protesters support enforcement-only measures such as the bill passed in the House of Representatives. They oppose so-called amnesty and guest worker provisions such as those passed by the Senate. Illegal immigration can be stopped by sanctioning employers, they say, not "rewarding lawbreakers."

The protesters say the Mexican border has moved north.

"The border is here, on the Bergenfield-Dumont line, because the people who passed through the [Mexican] border illegally are now standing in our communities," said Ron Bass, founder of United Patriots of America, a Linden-based group that favors strict immigration laws and enforcement. "So to enforce the border means that we have to look at illegal aliens all across the country."

Holding an American flag and a sign encouraging drivers to "Honk if you support us," Gayle Kesselman of Carlstadt said she was protesting because she is concerned about border security.

"We have to have some kind of control over citizenship," said Kesselman, who co-chairs New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control. "I'm sure there are half a billion people in the world who are hardworking, good people who would like to come to the United States. But if they do, that's really the end of our country. We just can't have that kind of an influx and still preserve our national culture, our boundaries and our security. It just can't be done."

On the other side of the Dumont-Bergenfield border, laborers don't see themselves as lawbreakers. "We are not here to steal," said Juan Acosta, a Honduran illegal immigrant from West New York. "We are here to work and pay taxes. And if we were not here, if all of us were to go back home all of a sudden, the U.S. economy would collapse. It would be a disaster, but they just don't see it."

Certainly, Charles Nussman of Westwood doesn't see it that way. "I don't like to see the American economy being undermined by employers who use illegal day laborers," he said. "I believe American culture should stand. I believe that people should speak English. I don't believe we should be hearing Spanish on PA systems. I'm just here to defend my country."

He rejects the notion that his group is motivated by racism. "It's a word that's thrown around to stop arguments, because no one wants to be called a racist," he said. "But I think what we are doing is patriotic. I would call it nationalism."

But on the other side of Columbia Avenue, laborers said "racism" is the accurate word to describe the protesters' motivation.

"Just because we have dark skin, they assume that we are all illegal, and it's just not true," said Ricardo Rosas, a legal U.S. resident who came from Mexico and lives in Bergenfield. "Of course it's racism. If you are white with blue eyes, they have no problem with you."

Rosas said he understands that some Americans are concerned about illegal immigration because they are defending their country, "but you also have to have some compassion," he added.

The laborers, most of whom are illegal immigrants, said they are doing the kind of work most Americans, including the demonstrators, don't want to do.

"Instead of protesting, if they came and said to the employers, 'Hey, don't hire the immigrants, hire me instead,' I would understand," said Enrique Zavaleta a Mexican who lives in Englewood. "But no, what they do is scare employers away so they won't hire us -- even though they don't want the jobs that we do.

"They don't want to make us legal because we work harder than they do," Zavaleta added. "They fear that instead of the employees, we may become the employers."

The protesters said their goal is to prevent illegal immigrants from working. "If they can't be picked up by landscapers and such, they have no reason to be here," said Dan Stenchever of River Edge. "They'll go back home and tell their friends not to come, because they are being forced out."

But Wilfredo Vargas, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant who lives in West New York, said the immigrants won't go back.

"They are trying to intimidate the employers because they think this will make us go home," Vargas said. "But there are no jobs back home. We are here because this is where the jobs are, but not because we want to take anything away from them."

E-mail: perez@northjersey.com

They sure like themselves, don't they?

What would they do without the word "racists"?