Thread: Illegal immigration stirs fervent debate

http://www.masslive.com

Illegal immigration stirs fervent debate
Monday, July 17, 2006
By NATALIA MUÑOZ
nmunoz@repub.com


Weeks before Gov. W. Mitt Romney said he wanted to deputize the state police to become immigration enforcement agents, immigrants who had crossed this country's borders illegally were already being targeted by Massachusetts law enforcement authorities.

In May, eight suspected undocumented immigrants were arrested on Route 57 in Agawam based on the fact that their vehicles bore Tennessee license plates. With few exceptions, such as if the vehicle owner is a student here, out-of-state licenses must be replaced by Massachusetts plates within 30 days of arrival.

In immigrant circles, certain states are known for the relative ease with which a person can obtain a license and vehicle plates, since proof of citizenship isn't required.

The men and women who were arrested in Agawam were believed to have come from Guatemala and Mexico to work illegally in any number of the fields along Interstate 91 from Franklin County to Connecticut.

At the time of their arrest, State Trooper Keith D. Armstrong said, "They're hardworking people, but they are here illegally, unfortunately."

As congressmen continue to wrangle over immigration reform, the once-federal domain of immigration enforcement is reaching down to the local level. From citizen patrols in border states such as Arizona and New Mexico to stepped up police scrutiny, non-U.S. citizens who live in the shadows here are on the radar screen.

And their presence stirs passionate debate.

Mark O'Connor lives with the agonizing belief that had one particular immigrant not crossed illegally into the states, his mother would be alive.

Rauol Puac, 27, of Guatemala, was driving drunk one day last year when he killed Nance O'Connor-Hildreth, 69, a Holyoke native and beloved mother of six and grandmother of 14.

Puac hit her with his van in front of Sacred Heart Church on Chestnut Street in Springfield and then fled the scene. He was arrested and sentenced to five years, after which time he will be deported to Guatemala.

"We just had to sit through a trial, witnessing an illegal immigrant's 'rights to a fair trial' and right to plea down a blatant hit-and-run drunken killing of a longtime, wonderful U.S. citizen," who was a huge loss to this community, said O'Connor in an e-mail. "Just sickening."

O'Connor said no immigrant should be allowed to stay in violation of the law and that enforcement should not be selective.

"We need to be consistent," said O'Connor, "which, in my book means let them enforce all laws on the books equally."

Although his views are heightened by his tragic loss, he is far from alone.

Agawam is not the only town where such immigrants are on the radar screen. Interstate 91 north and south are gauntlets of anxiety. On the one hand, businesses hire them, and on the other, law enforcement tail them, some immigrants say.

The state Registry of Motor Vehicles has a hotline to report people suspected of living here but who have vehicles registered in another state.

Romney said his proposal would send a signal that Massachusetts won't tolerate illegal immigration.

"It's one more thing you can do to make this a less attractive place for illegal aliens to come to work," Romney told The Boston Globe last month.

But from restaurants to warehouses and fields, many are working here, often for wages lower than U.S. citizens but still more than they could get at home.

While immigrants who lack visas or citizenship look over their shoulder, businesses continue to profit from their labor. In economic terms, illegal immigration in the state generates untold millions of dollars, according to Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, based in Boston.

"It's impossible to underestimate the impact of undocumented immigrants on our economy," he said. "They're working in sectors that are starving for employees. These are sectors that are the very foundation of the Massachusetts economy."

They are working in factories, fields, construction, landscaping, hazardous waste removal, restaurants and cleaning services. The Boston Globe revealed that the state police barracks were being cleaned by undocumented immigrants even as Romney ordered officers to round them up around the state.

Labor union leaders here last year pointed to scores of them on job sites, saying that the low wages businesses can pay them undercut prevailing wages for Americans.

Elvin Estrada, a founder of a recently formed immigrant advocacy group in the region, concurred with Noorani that the shadow workers do play a significant role in the economy. Because many have children who are U.S. citizens, he added that trying to force them out would tear families apart and "send a message that the state government carries out racist policies," by targeting people who look Latino.

Most immigrants are Latino, but also of other nationalities, such as Irish and Polish. While they live here in violation of immigration law, their status itself can become a form of imprisonment that limits their movements and ability to get ahead.

One Guatemalan woman despaired when her brother was arrested in Springfield recently as part of a fraud investigation. She could not find out where he had been taken. She does not speak English and the telephones at correctional institutions from here to Boston are very seldom answered by people who speak Spanish even though the state's inmate population has a high percentage of Latinos, who, like most other inmates, come from poor economic backgrounds.

Another Guatemalan woman looks at her children's American passports and is worlds away. She and her husband are here illegally, yet their children, born here, are American citizens. The children can fly in and out effortlessly while the parents would have to cross the Sonora Desert into Arizona to get back in the country.

"I'm afraid to go out even to the supermarket," she said.

As they are made the target of law enforcement, all kinds of businesses seek to reap millions from them.

Bank of America is among the national institutions that actively pursue Spanish-speaking customers in Spanish-language media. Different studies place the money immigrants send home in the hundreds of billions of dollars every year.

But some Americans wonder how history would have been different had local and state authorities been working in conjunction with federal immigration officials. They point to rapists and murderers who have gotten away despite their illegal status.

Possibly the most famous and incendiary example of the lack of coordination among state and federal officials is the case of Mohammed Atta, leader of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers. He had been ticketed for driving without a license in Florida in early 2001 at a time when his visa was expired. Nothing more came of the incident. Then the planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

Springfield Police Commissioner Edward A. Flynn said his police force cooperates with federal authorities on cases involving "criminal illegal aliens," but, "we're not going to engage in proactive" pursuit of an immigrant's legal status unless there are mitigating circumstances.

Regarding targeting vehicles with Tennessee license plates, Flynn said officers hear "alarm bells" go off when they see them, because in all probability, that means the vehicle is unregistered and uninsured.

"What we're targeting is illegal behavior," he said.

But adding immigration enforcement duties to those of city officers, he said, would discourage undocumented immigrants from reporting crimes either as witnesses or victims.

"That would certainly have a negative effect," he said.

A message left for state Rep. Cheryl Coakley Rivera, D-Springfield, co-chairwoman of the House Commission on Public Safety and Homeland Security, was not returned.

Meanwhile, the national debate over illegal immigration goes on. In the past month or so alone:

A rumor floated that immigration authorities entered Springfield's High School of Science and Technology, terrifying some parents. Repeated messages left for the school principal, Karen Lott, were not returned.

A California flower farmer publicly conceded that without the work of undocumented immigrants, he'd be out of business.

The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detained 2,100 immigrants suspected of being here illegally.

Romney said his proposal would send a signal that Massachusetts won't tolerate illegal immigration.

I take it Romney and Sen. Ted Kennedy don't see eye to eye on the issue of illegal immigrants.