Thread: Immigration debate heats up locally and nationally

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Immigration debate heats up locally and nationally
By Yolanda DeLong
ydelong@atlantalatino.com


02/23/2006

America’s immigration debate is getting red-hot amid an increase in anti-immigrant bills and news of demonstrations in various states.

The stakes are rising to define the future of immigrants in the country, particularly undocumented immigrants, according to Enrique Morones, coordinator of the “March for the Immigrant” taking place in Chicago and scheduled for 40 additional cities with the intent of informing the public on the stark realities of the border, the “caza emigrantes” (Minutemen) and HR 4437 (“Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005”) sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).

“We want to send a message to our community and tell them about the 465 deaths that took place on the border in 2005 alone,” Morones said. “We don’t want any more deaths, and we want them to respect us as human beings.”

Tisha Tallman, the Southeast regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, pointed out that the U.S. House of Representatives has already passed HR 4437, which establishes residence in the United States without documentation as a federal crime, accelerates the deportation process, cancels the visa lottery program, and mandates the construction of a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

At the “Entendiendo la inmigracion” (“Understanding Immigration”) seminar hosted by MALDEF last Friday in downtown Atlanta, Tallman also discussed bills making their way through the Senate that are in favor of legalizing undocumented immigrants and seek to implement the guest worker program proposed by President George W. Bush.

“There are approximately 15 bills that would negatively impact undocumented immigrants in Georgia, including those that seek to eliminate emergency medical services and education,” Tallman said. “Those most seriously affected would be undocumented children.”

However, other political leaders, like Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) who opposes the guest worker program, argue that federal legislation doesn’t address some of the needs of individual states when it comes to immigration, making it necessary for each state to consider strict security measures to control the inflow of undocumented workers to counteract illegal immigration.

A legislative package is being considered that would give police officers the power of immigration agents and even requires driver’s license applicants to know English.

In Virginia, for example, Sen. Emmett W. Hanger Jr. changed his mind by offering a lower, in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who are pursuing legal residency, who graduated from a Virginia high school and whose families have paid income taxes for at least three years.

Walter Tejada, a member of the school board of Arlington County, Virginia, is concerned that anti-immigrant sentiment may end up prevailing.

“We’re all better off when young people are educated and can contribute to our society, instead of looking for minimum-wage jobs after they graduate or, in some cases, heading down a road they shouldn’t follow,” he said.

But in Georgia, as in other states, those in favor of imposing more restrictions insist that immigrants, particularly Hispanic immigrants, are continually violating the law and are taking advantage of and abusing the system.

Tejada believes that the solution is to work toward tolerance and education. Immigrants, too, must make an effort to adapt to the system and understand the rules of where they are living so as to minimize confrontation. This would, perhaps, help to resolve the problem in a more constructive manner.

“We want to send a message to our community and tell them about the 465 deaths that took place on the border in 2005 alone,” Morones said. “We don’t want any more deaths, and we want them to respect us as human beings.”

Want to live? Don't cross our border illegally. Want respect? Respect our laws.