Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Immigration system hurts democracy, professor says
By AMY TAXIN
http://www.ocregister.com/news/immigrat ... documented
The Orange County Register

Cruz Reynoso, who served on an immigration reform commission under President Reagan, says the weak link is employers.

Two decades ago, Cruz Reynoso saw the rising number of undocumented immigrants as a threat to democracy and that the U.S. needed to crack down on employers who hired them.

Today, the Brea native who served on the Select Commission of Immigration and Refugee Policy from 1979 to 1981 – which issued reports that formed the basis for President Ronald Reagan's immigration overhaul – says his "moderately strong feelings" on the issue haven't changed much.

What has changed is the climate surrounding the debate, which Reynoso feels is more hostile to immigrants.

Reynoso, who was the first Latino associate justice of the California Supreme Court, scaled back his teaching load this year at UC Davis' law school. He will be honored by the campus this month for his leadership in the law.

Amy Taxin: What is your perspective on the current debate over immigration reform?

Cruz Reynoso:We will always have a certain number of undocumented in the country. The issue is to keep it small enough so it doesn't weaken a democracy.

Our solution at that time (while serving on the 1979-81 commission) was to close down the ability of the employers to hire undocumented. If that law had been enforced we would not have the problems we have now. However the Chamber of Commerce-types, the manufacturer associations, individual employers -- they always had too much political clout and that became a law that was unenforceable.

We have since that time a de jure law that told undocumented 'Please don't come' and a de facto law that said 'Please come'. Once we encourage them to come and they have come and become a fabric of this country, it seems to me very unfair to then, in light of the current racism and hatred of immigrants, to change the rules on them and say now we're going to get rid of you.

A.T.: How does the debate today differ from the 1980s?

C.R.:The atmosphere was completely different. The atmosphere was – we have an issue; let's try to resolve it. Period. In those days, we still had the "fairness doctrine" in radio so we didn't have all those right-wing copycats of Rush Limbaugh who are drumming up the hatred and so on and none of the anti immigrant virulence you see now. It was simply recognized as being a serious problem for this country to have that many undocumented at that time.

A.T.: Do you think the country needs immigration reform now? If so, what kind?

C.R.:We need a reform to humanize the immigration policies. They are so draconian now. The immigration laws now are in my view an absolute disgrace to the spirit of this country. The most dramatic example is what I mention in the 1996 law (which expanded the list of crimes that could trigger deportation, retroactively)…someone did something 20 years before and now they're deportable. We really need to sit back and think hard what we want to do with our immigration policies. And I think we ought to be more realistic about who we want to come to this country and who wants to come to this country.

The issue of undocumented is never going to get better so long as we have an economic disparity between Central America and Mexico and the U.S. It seems to me we should have started a long time ago to cooperate with Mexico.

A.T.: You say employers were an obstacle to immigration law enforcement in the 1980s. What is the solution?

C.R.: Maybe one of the good things that may come out of all this hatred is people are recognizing the reality of the situation. Maybe the political climate has changed so the government will be able to enforce the laws. In other words when the law was changed after our commission reported, I didn't hear any criticism of employers. In fact, I had not heard any criticism of employers until the last six months or 12 months now that it's become a big political issue. I've heard right wing congresspeople and the radio talk show people - they're all saying employers are 'bad guys.' It is the first time that has happened politically speaking, so maybe the government will have the gumption and the power to enforce its own laws.

A.T.: You said having a large undocumented population was a problem for democracy. Can you elaborate?

C.R.:It is an underclass without rights and it can't be good for democracy based on the notion people should look out for their own best interest and have an interest in the government. To have a large number is actually a political danger to our society. But I must say our leaders have not been very imaginative, or had the gumption to do what is right in this regard.

714-796-7722 or ataxin@ocregister.com
http://immigration.freedomblogging.com