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Monday, December 19

America should welcome Hispanic immigrants
We need a fair guest worker program and respect for our neighbors' dignity.

Published: Monday, December 19, 2005 - 6:00 am

By Mark O'Rourke

Illegal immigration of Hispanics into the United States has become a hot topic. There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, with 45,000 to 75,000 in South Carolina. Many work in low-wage and hazardous industries, such as agriculture and construction.

Unfortunately, these illegal immigrants lack access to public assistance, health insurance coverage or the ability to fully integrate into the larger American society. They are often targets of employment exploitation that amounts to economic slavery. They are often victims of crime, but they fear asking the police for help. They often live in inadequate housing, go without health care, risk injury on the job and endure social, educational and civic deprivation.

The presence of illegal Hispanic immigrants in the United States has provoked many fears among U.S. citizens. These include a sense of inconsistent chaos in our immigration policy, higher unemployment among American citizens, public benefits going to noncitizens, loss of English as our national language and increased risk of terrorism.

Suggestions trumpeted on television, in newspaper columns and in political speeches include "rounding them up" and deporting them back to Mexico, building an impenetrable wall along the Mexican border, and stronger domestic laws to isolate illegal immigrants from the rest of society. "Amnesty" has become a dirty word, used to bash attempts to create a guest worker program, to oppose proposals to integrate illegal immigrants into the legal work force and to block efforts to assist the millions of illegal immigrants living in poverty and exploitation at the margins of our society.
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This state of affairs is an unfortunate tragedy. Our society should do better and we can do better in caring for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

First, we citizens of the United States need to acknowledge that the problem is not merely 11 million people breaking U.S. law who should be treated as criminals. Indeed, it is jobs in our economy and the hope of a better life that draw Hispanics from Mexico, Central and South America to the United States. We allow them to work in our hotels and restaurants, in our agricultural fields and on our construction crews, while we tolerate a pervasive "don't ask, don't tell" status quo and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Second, we citizens of the United States have a practical interest in having these 11 million people registered in guest worker programs that allow them to be healthy, safe and secure and to be productive members of our society. When we have a transparent, realistic policy that makes it more attractive to enter the United States legally through regular border crossings and be legally registered than it is to enter illegally and be undocumented, then we will be able to secure our borders and be able to deal with the employment, health care, education, auto insurance and many other problems that arise from the current situation.

Third, these illegal Hispanic immigrants in our midst are our neighbors. They are men, women and children with needs, hopes and dreams like ours. They are people with whom we share the North American continent. The United States is a welcoming nation with a long history of successful immigration. It respects human rights, offers educational and economic opportunity and cares about the weak and less fortunate. We will do well to preserve these values as we deal with today's immigration issues.

So what should South Carolina citizens do about the illegal immigration problem?

First, support and advocate a fair and just guest worker program. They need the work and we the workers. Both they and we need a legal, transparent and realistic guest worker program.

Second, tone down the rhetoric about a wall, U.S. troops or vigilantes to seal the Mexico border. It is neither practical nor possible to seal the border, and everyone knows it.

Third, send this message to our political leaders as individuals, as civic groups, as political party members, as churches, as businesses, as charities and as voting citizens. Our city and county elected officials, our state representatives and senators and our congressmen and senators all need to hear from large numbers of citizens that South Carolina and the United States urgently need:

1) a fair and just guest worker program, and

2) an approach to the illegal immigration program that respects the humanity and dignity of our Hispanic brothers and sisters.

Mark O'Rourke, M.D., a physician in Greenville and Seneca, specializes in hematology and oncology. He has taken a particular interest in indigent cancer care, has served on several medical advisory committees and currently is president of the Greenville County Medical Society. Readers may write to him at mark@orourkeplace.com.