Thread: Debate Rages, Immigrant's Fears Rise

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/ ... 1464c.html

debate rages, immigrants' fears rise

By Emily Bazar -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, May 7, 2005

In a farmworker's world, bad weather equals a bad paycheck.
Thursday's rain kept 200 mostly Mexican and Central American laborers who work for Salvador Gonzalez Labor Contractor at home.

The company's Galt office was quiet as a result, and talk among the Gonzalez family and staff turned to immigration.
Everyone agreed that recent weeks have been hard for immigrants, particularly the roughly 10 million who are in the country illegally.

"Why are they so angry?" asked Teresa Gonzalez, 57, a Mexican immigrant and naturalized citizen.

"They," according to Gonzalez, include a variety of individuals and groups:

• Last month, volunteers calling themselves Minutemen descended on the Arizona border to deter illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States, and a Southern California organization announced plans to do the same near San Diego this summer.

• Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the work of the Minutemen, saying, "They've done a terrific job."

• Earlier this week, Southern California Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, submitted a proposed initiative that would establish a state police force to enforce immigration laws.

• And the U.S. Senate is poised to approve a measure that would, among other things, discourage states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Gonzalez fears these elements are combustible and could spark violence.

She also knows there's no simple answer to her question.

Paul Rosenzweig is a senior legal research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "There's a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the current (immigration) system," he said.

Though the Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank, Rosenzweig said liberal immigration advocates agree that change is needed.

"I don't think there's any consensus on what the right answer is," he said.

It seems everyone has jumped into the immigration debate, from President Bush - who has advocated a guest worker program - to California's GOP governor.

One popular theory is that Schwarzenegger's comments were a politically motivated attempt to boost his sagging poll numbers.

But activists on all sides offer a variety of reasons for recent immigration-related debates, border patrols and proposals.

Jack Pealer of Citrus Heights cites the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as his wake-up call.

Pealer, 76, considered traveling to Washington D.C., last month to complain about what he views as a porous southern border.

"The possibility of a nuclear device, even in nothing more than a suitcase, could be brought across and exploded in California," said Pealer, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Postal Service.

"I think people are getting fed up," he added.

Carole Blalock, chairwoman of the Northern California Coalition for Immigration Reform, agrees that security concerns are stoking passions.

Her beliefs also have been shaped by personal experiences.

Blalock's daughter lives in Kansas, which is among the several Midwestern and Southeastern states with a growing illegal immigrant population.

Migrants increasingly are heading for places other than California and Texas, which have long been favored destinations.

"Now, the other states are having the same problems as the few states here, and people are saying, 'Wait a minute, what's going on?' " Blalock said.

Blalock said her daughter has reported hard economic times and local job losses, which she blames on the new immigrant population.

"We're seeing the pot boiling over," Blalock said.

On the opposite end of the philosophical spectrum, Ilene Jacobs, director of litigation, advocacy and training for California Rural Legal Assistance, agreed that money woes can spur anti-immigrant sentiments.

Immigrants contribute to the economy, she said, while becoming scapegoats for Americans' financial frustrations.

"Whenever we have problems in the economy, whenever we have people priced out of the housing market, like we have in California, the instinct is to blame the victim," Jacobs said.

"They try to blame the people who have not caused the problem."

This anti-immigrant sentiment has had a profound effect on immigrants, said Luis Magana, who works with farmworkers in Stockton.

"People feel vulnerable, like they're targets," he said. "People are thinking, 'Now what?' "

Gema Ruiz, 28, works in the Gonzalez contracting office in Galt.

She said she's increasingly frightened of deportation and believes strangers have been eyeing her oddly in the grocery store.

She and other immigrants are venturing out less often, she said.

"There's always been a little fear," said Ruiz, who came to the United States six years ago from Jalisco, Mexico. Until about two years ago, she worked in the fields.

"Now it's getting a little worse, because what's happening at the border might come up here," she said.

That sentiment was echoed Friday morning on a south Sacramento street corner, where hundreds of day laborers gather each morning to search for work.

Herman Gonzalez, 30, came to the United States about a year ago. He waits on the street corner every day, rushing pickup trucks that pull over to hire workers for construction, landscaping or painting.

Gonzalez said he's paid about $8 to $10 an hour for his work.

He believes the current immigration wars aren't necessary, because he and other migrants fulfill a need.

"They think we're here to take their jobs," he said. "We do the jobs that Americans don't want to do."


About the writer:
The Bee's Emily Bazar can be reached at (916) 321-1016 or ebazar@sacbee.com.

• And the U.S. Senate is poised to approve a measure that would, among other things, discourage states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

NOTE: the word DISCOURAGE!! here's the loophole

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

• And the U.S. Senate is poised to approve a measure that would, among other things, discourage states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

NOTE: the word DISCOURAGE!! here's the loophole

The possibility of a nuclear device, even in nothing more than a suitcase, could be brought across and exploded in California," said Pealer, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Postal Service.

And THIS will be one of the reasons why WE MUST ACCEPT CAFTA ......
a SPECIAL ALL INCLUSIVE *NORTH AMERICAN BORDER* ANTI-TERRORISM PLAN. You can read all about it in their well thought out plans ie:Trade Agreements {has been posted}

This article contains many illegal alien myths. Paramount among them is, "...We do the jobs that Americans don't want to do...." What's horrible here is the reference to 'Americans" as different from them. If they aren't Americans, they should become Americans or go home because that's the spirit of the immigration code. What's missing from this phrase is, "...at substandard wages." These scofflaws don't pay income taxes, medical insurance, auto insurance and all the rest. Real Americans cannot afford to work at artificially depressed rates because they have to pay their own way. I believe immigration laws should REQUIRE immigrants to pay income taxes, procure auto and medical insurance, pay tuition for public school attendance and be forbidden from using entitlements like earned income tax credit, welfare and food stamps. If legal immigrants violate any of those requirements, they should be deported forthwith.

And regarding illegal aliens, they should be afraid because many of us are reporting them whenever we learn of them. We know INS won't follow up on our reports but we keep reporting anyway. When 100 million Americans report what they see to INS and any other government authority, perhaps some action will be taken. How many of you have asked your lawn service if they use illegal aliens? I have not done that yet but plan to do it next week. Long journey, small steps.

Tom2,
Have you ever called to report illegals. First of all, no one seems to know what to say, so you keep getting transfered all over the place.
When you are lucky enough to get a live person on the phone to report illegal immigration, they act so damn APATHETIC, like you are wasting their precious time. No wonder the public doesn't report illegal aliens more often. It's a pain in the rear to get anyone at that GOVERNMENT AGENCY to do their job and take the report.

This article has been added to the ALIPAC homepage.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... le&sid=392

The illegal immigrants and their apologists quoted in this article seem confused. Which is sad. Because I can easily clear up their confusion: 1.) "Why are they so angry?" BECAUSE YOU'RE RUINING OUR COUNTRY. 2.) "I don't think there's any consensus on what the right answer is." YES THERE IS. ABOUT 80% OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WANTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO GET OUT AND STAY OUT. 3.) "They try to blame the people who have not caused the problem." ODDLY, YOU'RE WRONG: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE IN FACT TO BLAME FOR THE PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. 4.) "People feel vulnerable like they're targets." NOT "LIKE" TARGETS; WE ARE TARGETING YOU. 5.) "People are thinking, 'Now what?'" THIS DOESN'T TAKE MUCH THINKING WHATSOEVER: GO BACK TO YOUR OWN DAMN COUNTRY AND LIVE THERE.

It's not just the folks IN the article, it's the AUTHOR!

I sent an email to emily at the Sacramento Bee asking her to be honest in her reporting.

She didn't state whether Gema is a legal or illegal immigrant. If Gema is here legally, why does she fear deportation? The answer is pretty obvious.

And Teresa, the 'contractor'--A naturalized citizen who doesn't understand why we're all so angry.

I wonder if Salvador and Teresa provide health care for the folks they contract. Or if they just let the 'health care fairy' (that would be us) pick up the tab for such services.

I'd like to say I'm flabbergasted by the article. But, I'm not.

She said she's increasingly frightened of deportation and believes strangers have been eyeing her oddly in the grocery store.

She and other immigrants are venturing out less often, she said

First of all, I think that HUSKER was the one in that grocery store

and

BE AFRAID, VERY, VERY AFRAID---Deportation could be right around the corner Kind of interesting with the shoe on the other foot, eh?

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

She said she's increasingly frightened of deportation and believes strangers have been eyeing her oddly in the grocery store.
She and other immigrants are venturing out less often, she said

First of all, I think that HUSKER was the one in that grocery store

and

BE AFRAID, VERY, VERY AFRAID---Deportation could be right around the corner Kind of interesting with the shoe on the other foot, eh?

2nd, sooo funny!