Thread: LOCAL REACTION: Activists say troops not answer

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 50386/1007

LOCAL REACTION: Activists say troops not answer
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

May 15, 2006


Concerned about immigration raids in metro Detroit, activists are planning to rally today in front of a federal immigration office in Detroit as the Bush administration considers the deployment of troops along the Mexican border to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants.

The arrests Friday of 17 immigrants in southwest Detroit suspected of living in the country illegally has unnerved the local Hispanic community and underscored tensions over what to do about the country's millions of undocumented immigrants.

At noon today, people protesting the raids plan to rally outside the federal building on Mt. Elliott Street, off Jefferson. Tonight, President George W. Bush may announce in a televised speech that he plans to ask the Pentagon to deploy National Guard troops along the U.S. border with Mexico.

But immigrants and their advocates in metro Detroit say that in addition to border security, Bush should announce plans to help undocumented immigrants become U.S. citizens.

"The country has a right to a safe border, but let's do it in a smart way," said Juan Escareno, an immigrant organizer with the Detroit-based coalition MOSES, or Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength. "If we focus only on border security and don't look at the whole picture, we're doomed to commit the same mistakes. ... Every time you increase border security, there is an increase in immigration because people are going to find a way here."

Escareno, who helped organize recent immigration rallies in Detroit, said Bush should help put "undocumented immigrants living here on a path to citizenship."

Bush's planned speech comes at time of anxiety for some Detroit immigrants. The raids Friday took place at homes in southwest Detroit, considered the center of the Mexican-American community in the region.

Agents with the fugitive operations team of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were looking for three immigrants who had ignored previous deportation orders, said Michael Keegan, a spokesman for the agency.

The agents found only one of the targeted immigrants, but ended up arresting 16 others who were suspected of living in the country without proper documentation, Keegan said.

Those arrested included children, said Elena Herrada, a Detroit activist.

"It's really scary," Herrada said. "They can just go in your home and take you away."

Herrada said the country needs an amnesty plan for the millions of undocumented immigrants to help them become citizens. Regarding Bush's possible call for deploying troops along the border, Herrada said the U.S. military is already overstretched with operations around the world.

"Where are they going to come from?" she asked.

Local legislators will be paying attention to what Bush says.

But one said more than troops are necessary to solve the problem.

"The notion that we're going to somehow police ourselves out of an immigration problem is a far-fetched promise," said state Rep. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit, whose district is made up of large numbers of immigrants from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

Moreover, he said he had some questions as to how such a policy would be implemented: How much would it cost? Would it be an imposition on the armed forces? Who would pay for it?

Bush should talk about comprehensive immigration reform and how immigrants can become U.S. citizens, he said.

"People who are working, contribute to the economy, particularly those who have established employment history, and have skills and education, we should figure out how to welcome those," Tobocman said.

Isabella Ramirez, a Detroit resident who often assists immigrants, said that Bush should address how to deal with the 100,000 to 150,000 undocumented immigrants living in Michigan. They're among the 11 million to 12 million such people in the United States, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

"I agree with him that there needs to be some sort of control, but we also need to figure out what to do" about the undocumented immigrants, Ramirez said.

"We just want immigrants to get a chance to get the American dream, just like everyone else," she said.

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bet you all wished you stayed in the shadows now

I am tired of hearing "How are we going to pay to secure the border and deport all these people". It is really quite simple. And please stop telling me they contribute to the economy. I am quite tired of hearing that one too.

If we secure the border and the tunnels and every other way they are getting into this country and then start prosecuting the employers of illegals and deporting illegals the ease on social programs will start. Just think the hospitals will be empty and as a bonus actually get their bills paid, the schools would empty out, our prisons would be alot roomier, the roads would be emptier with less accidents, people who cannot find jobs would actually be able to find work therefore reducing unemployment and people on welfare, no more bilingual anything. The advantages seem endless. I am such a dreamer.

And right there is the funding to deport all of these people.