Thread: Another stupid immigration article at the Express News

Very different immigration problems -- or are they?

Web Posted: 03/09/2007 05:48 PM CST

Hernan Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer

The dilemma over illegal immigration continues to expand its global reach, making an unlikely pair of government officials realize their countries have a lot to learn from one another regarding solutions.


advertisement



A mid-level administrator at the U.S. Homeland Security Department and a representative of the Canary Islands took part in a panel discussion Friday on illegal immigration at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Reciprocally nodding in agreement as each spoke, Alfonso Martínez-Fonts, an assistant secretary at Homeland Security, and Javier Morales Febles, foreign affairs commissioner for the seven-island archipelago belonging to Spain, concluded they faced similar situations.

The crux of the U.S. problem stems from its two lengthy land borders with Mexico and Canada, while Canary Islanders face an increasing influx of Africans reaching their shores on makeshift rafts.

Both have seen numbers of illegal entries increase over time, though their responses differ. While U.S. immigration law delineates in painstaking and often confusing detail the consequences for undocumented migrants, the Canary Islands don't have clearly outlined policies.

The Canaries must follow directions from Madrid, and Spain is part of the European Union — which is still drafting a uniform policy on immigration, Morales said.

The islands have become an increasingly popular entry point for emigrants from northern and western Africa who are willing to risk their lives on a 60-mile sea voyage as a good bet to enter Spain and then Europe.

Morales said his government has reached agreements with some African countries but the tide then picks up from nearby countries. At first, it was mostly Moroccans, then those from Mauritania and now also Sénégal and Guinea.

The count of detained migrants arriving on island shores skyrocketed from 4,000 in 2005 to 35,000 last year, Morales noted.

But unlike U.S. policy that calls for all who enter the country illegally to face deportation, migrants in the Canaries can only be detained for up to 40 days while their cases are reviewed. If action is not taken by then, migrants receive a pass into Spain, Morales said.

That's one policy his bosses aren't likely to adopt any time soon, but Martínez-Fonts said both countries could share notes as they simultaneously debate the creation of a national temporary worker program.

And the U.S. government may want to look further into the kinds of investments in infrastructure, health care and education the Canaries government is making in African countries.

“They're doing a lot of things that get at the root of the problem and that's what we're trying to do in the longer term,” Martínez-Fonts said after the conference.

Morales noted that not all his countrymen approve of their government helping improve their African neighbors. His argument is that it's a price worth paying if it'll allow people to stay home instead of taking to the seas.

“The best way to be selfish is to be generous,” he said.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/ ... 98e8b.html

My email to hrozemberg@express-news.net

From : >
Sent : Friday, March 9, 2007 8:42 PM
To : hrozemberg@express-news.net
Subject : Very different immigration problems article


So you are actually comparing the United States of America to the Canary Islands? What is the population of the Canary Islands? A brief google search showed 1.84 million. What number did we just hit.....300 million! Give me a freekin break! Apples to oranges? More like raisins to watermelons!

The Canary Islands doesn't have 12, 20 or 30 MILLION illegal immigrants in it's borders. Does it have hospitals going bankrupt? Do the African illegals march in the streets and tell the citizens to go back to Europe?

Your article is so ridiculous and naive in perspective. I think you should remove it and post an apology for wasting precious seconds of the lives of the three people that actually read it, myself included.

~Proud Texan