Thread: Immigrants get promise of reforms

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... slocal-hed

Immigrants get promise of reforms
Bill will pass, Emanuel tells rally
Published April 15, 2007

A reform bill to legalize millions of immigrants will pass Congress this year, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) promised more than 1,500 cheering people at a Saturday rally in his Chicago district.

"The Democratic leadership is committed to this," Emanuel said. "This will be the year we get this done."

Activists and immigrants, including a Mexican factory worker caught in a February raid and a Polish small-business owner whose wife faces deportation, joined the latest call for reform that picked up on the momentum generated by several large marches in Chicago last year.

Support was strong for a House bill filed in March by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) that would allow most immigrants to stay in the country. He and Emanuel listened to the stories of several who have suffered under current law and promised to share them with other members of Congress.

It's part of putting a face on the struggles of an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

"I came here this afternoon to fill my heart and soul with more energy," Gutierrez said. "I wanted Rahm to hear these stories because every time I hear them, it transforms me."

Gutierrez is traveling across the country to drum up support for the bill, which would allow immigrants who arrived before June of last year to stay in the country if they pay a $500 fine, pass background checks and prove employment. After six years, immigrants could become permanent residents if they pay $1,500, learn English and have not committed a crime. The bill also would allow as many as 400,000 guest workers to enter the job market.

The two congressmen also talked strategy at the rally at the Copernicus Foundation in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said he planned to court votes from Republicans.

"My goal is 218 votes, and not just Democrats," Emanuel said. "We've got to make this a big tent."

The bigger the better, he said, given that immigration reform has proved difficult for Congress. Conservatives have pushed for stricter border enforcement and have been reluctant to allow illegal immigrants to stay in the country, while liberals and some moderates insist on a pathway to citizenship.

The rally was organized by about a dozen community and faith groups, including the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Albany Park Neighborhood Council and the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform. Also signaling their support were members of the labor and business communities, including Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of Service Employees International Union.

"We are in this fight with you," Medina said. "The time for justice for immigrants is now."

Many in the audience were brought to tears as several shared their experiences.

Maria del Carmen Santana, 46, was arrested with 16 others in February during a raid at the Cano Packaging facility in Arlington Heights. The mother of two who moved to Chicago from Mexico City in 2001 was in jail for two weeks before her family raised $7,000 from the community to post bail.

"This is what happens without reform," Santana said in Spanish. "The word [of the raid] spread fast. Many people I know live in fear."

Tony Wasilewsi, 38, became a U.S. citizen four months ago after living in Chicago for 18 years, he said. He and his wife, both Polish immigrants, have a 6-year-old son and own a small cleaning company with more than a dozen employees.

But now his wife is scheduled to be deported in May.

"How should I explain to my son that his country doesn't want his mother?" he said. "We have done nothing wrong. We need to fix this broken law."

Ok folks, it's time to roll up our collective sleeves and flood these offices.

This is what happens without reform," Santana said in Spanish. "The word [of the raid] spread fast. Many people I know live in fear."

And so, what should we do - declare all our laws to be unimportant and let anyone and everyone break them with impunity? I don't think so.
We have enough lawlessness already. I want the criminals in my country to live in fear.

Yes, Mr. Emanuel - we know about the Democratic leadership on this issue. This is what the Democratic leadership has given us in the past:

"This amnesty will give citizenship to only 1.1-1.3 million illegal aliens.
We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward
another Amnesty Bill like this."
-Ted Kennedy, 1986

Don't let them forget it.

"The time for justice for immigrants is now."

It's always a time for justice for immigrants, Medina, but it's time for illegal aliens to start packing their bags.

Time to back their bags is right. Come legally or don't come at all.

Every law breaker has a sad story, even bank robbers, tax dodgers, car thiefs etc. but we are tired of hearing it!!