Thread: Illegal immigrants raising concerns in Latin America

Illegal immigrants raising concerns in Latin America
BY TYLER BRIDGES
tbridges@MiamiHerald.com

LIMA -- Efforts to stem illegal immigrants from neighboring countries are increasing in parts of Latin America because of concerns, similar to those in the United States, that they drive down salaries and bring crime and violence with them.

Ecuador, Chile and Venezuela are discussing whether to restrict illegal migrants while Costa Rica recently tightened barriers. Peru is studying whether to tighten its southern border with Bolivia.

Driving the changes are concerns echoed in the current U.S. immigration debate: that undocumented workers take jobs from locals, raise the crime rate and drain tax dollars through their use of public school and health systems.

In the same vein, business groups in the region have been opposing new laws that might limit uneducated, low-cost laborers from migrating to countries that need them -- just as in the United States.

Governments throughout the region report almost three million immigrants, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. A majority is believed to lack proper documentation.

In Ecuador, a presidential candidate in last year's campaign made concern about illegal aliens there a staple of her campaign, said Gioconda Herrera, a researcher at FLACSO, a Latin American think tank with an office in Ecuador. She added that she couldn't remember another presidential candidate making it such a major issue.

The concern there is with Colombians who have fled the war in their country and moved to northern Ecuador, to sell knickknacks in the street and work on sugar and banana farms, Herrera said.

''The public wants more control so more undocumented workers don't enter,'' Herrera said by telephone from Quito, adding that the concern ``has reached xenophobic levels.''

Smaller numbers of illegal Peruvians in southern Ecuador have not provoked much public unease, she added. Ecuador and Peru signed an agreement in December to give the Peruvians temporary legal papers to work in Ecuador, but few have bothered to sign up.

Undocumented Colombians in Venezuela have prompted concern there, said Raquel Alvarez, an immigration specialist at the University of the Andes in San Cristobal, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

''There's little anxiety that Colombians are taking the jobs of Venezuelans. They take jobs in sectors where there aren't enough Venezuelans, such as textiles or on farms,'' Alvarez said by telephone. ``The concern is that violent elements are crossing into Venezuela to commit killings and kidnappings.''

The government has beefed up its border posts as a result, Alvarez added.

Chile's strong economy during the past 20 years has been a magnet for illegal immigrants from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and especially Peru.

''It's a brand new issue for us,'' Jorge Muñoz, a project coordinator at the International Organization for Migration, said from the group's Santiago office.

The Chilean Congress is discussing whether to begin penalizing people who are paid to smuggle in illegal aliens. President Michelle Bachelet's government also is drafting a proposal that would allow illegal migrants to gain temporary legal status to work and perhaps eventually gain citizenship.

Argentina approved a measure in 2003 to give illegal migrants the right to public schools and health clinics and to pave the way for temporary work status, said Jorge Gurrieri, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires who specializes in immigration issues.

Gurrieri said 380,000 illegal immigrants have applied for papers since the application window opened a year ago. The country has long attracted poor workers from neighboring countries because of its better economic opportunities.

''The problem of illegal aliens has lost its political force with the new law,'' Gurrieri said by telephone from Buenos Aires.

Nicaraguans illegally living in Costa Rica have prompted greater concern there since they represent about 6 percent of Costa Rica's population, said Guillermo Acuna, a researcher with FLACSO's Costa Rica office.

Costa Rica's Congress approved a measure in 2005 that created a vehicle for Nicaraguans to apply for Costa Rican citizenship, but the measure also imposed penalties on businesses that hire undocumented workers.

''There are sectors within Costa Rica that are uncomfortable with the Nicaraguans,'' Acuna said by telephone from San José. ``Unions, in particular, feel like the Nicaraguans cost them jobs and force down wages.''

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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:38 am Post subject: Illegal immigrants raising concerns in Latin America

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Illegal immigrants raising concerns in Latin America
BY TYLER BRIDGES
tbridges@MiamiHerald.com

LIMA -- Efforts to stem illegal immigrants from neighboring countries are increasing in parts of Latin America because of concerns, similar to those in the United States, that they drive down salaries and bring crime and violence with them.

]Ecuador, Chile and Venezuela are discussing whether to restrict illegal migrants while Costa Rica recently tightened barriers. Peru is studying whether to tighten its southern border with Bolivia.

Driving the changes are concerns echoed in the current U.S. immigration debate: that undocumented workers take jobs from locals, raise the crime rate and drain tax dollars through their use of public school and health systems.

In the same vein, business groups in the region have been opposing new laws that might limit uneducated, low-cost laborers from migrating to countries that need them -- just as in the United States.

Driving down wages? Naw that can't be Big Teddy says illegals are good for the US economy, so that positive goodness must have global effect.

Gee what happened to that Laraza Unity: "Everything for the Race" they're all of hispanic descent what's the big deal with supporting a few gazillion of their own? Yet they criticize us for not welcoming them with open arms.

I'll bet those countries will get the problem under control much faster than we will. They'll probably ENFORCE their country's laws with inpunity and swiftly!!