Thread: Guest worker plan assailed

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/monte ... l=monterey

GUEST WORKER PLAN ASSAILED
By PAUL CHAVEZ
Associated PressLOS ANGELES

Leaders of immigrant advocacy groups Wednesday denounced President Bush's brief mention of a guest worker program during his State of the Union address, saying it would separate families and is unrealistic.
Two former workers of the Bracero Program -- the U.S. guest worker system with Mexico from 1942 to 1964 -- also said no new program should be started until all former guest workers collect unpaid retirement funds.
Bush devoted less than 100 words to immigration out of a 50-minute speech Tuesday night, but it was enough to rankle immigrant advocates.
About a dozen advocates gathered to criticize Bush's proposal at La Placita, the oldest Roman Catholic church in the city, in front of a large mural of the Virgin de Guadalupe. The church has declared itself a sanctuary for all immigrants.
Of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, few would come forward to enroll in a temporary program that could lead to their deportation, said Angela Sanbrano, executive director of the Central American Resource Center.
"His program is not realistic and it does not reflect the values of the American people," Sanbrano said. "It would lead to the separation of families."
The advocates called for immigration reform that would provide permanent residency for immigrants already in the United States and a path for eventual U.S. citizenship.
The U.S. Senate is expected to take up immigration legislation in the coming weeks.
Felipe Aguirre, a city councilman in Maywood, said a guest worker program wouldn't address the issues faced by undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for years.
Many undocumented immigrants receive paychecks with Social Security and unemployment insurance withholdings, but cannot use those benefits, Aguirre said.
"We have to change the concept of being illegal," Aguirre said. "People are people and are here for a reason."
Aguirre said that 55 percent of residents in his city, located about five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, were born in a foreign country. Ninety-six percent of Maywood's 28,000 residents are Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data.
Joaquin Perez, 75, of Oaxaca, Mexico, said a new guest worker program shouldn't be started until all of the ex-guest workers, known as "braceros," receive their retirement funds.
About 10 percent of Bracero Program paychecks were withheld for savings and pension funds that were supposed to be paid in Mexico, as an incentive for migrants to return. The money disappeared and a Mexican government investigation found no trace of it.
Perez, who said he picked cotton in Texas and fruit in California in the 1950s under the program, has become a legal U.S. resident. He said the Mexican government's offer of a one-time payment of $3,500 was far short of the money deducted and he doesn't want to return to Mexico to collect it.
''If they don't solve this problem, we can't agree with another one,'' Perez said in Spanish. ''First they have to solve our problem.''

Since they have so many issues with what they 'don't get'...perhaps they've learned a lesson about entering a country illegally?

Benefits are for citizens...

RR

Oh so the reason why the illegals hate Bush's plan isn't because it's bad for Americans and they shouldn't be entitled to jack squat, but because it doesn't go far enough for them. Gee I really didn't see this one coming. Yet the braindead moron in the White House still panders to them despite the fact he can't ever be voted back into the White House again. Why?

It really wouldn't surprise me if this idiot just burned the constitution into ash and then declared himself Emperor of the world.

Perez, who said he picked cotton in Texas and fruit in California in the 1950s under the program, has become a legal U.S. resident. He said the Mexican government's offer of a one-time payment of $3,500 was far short of the money deducted and he doesn't want to return to Mexico to collect it.
''If they don't solve this problem, we can't agree with another one,'' Perez said in Spanish.

The guy's been here since the fifties and still doesn't speak english? So much for becoming an American. It's all about the money.