Thread: Hundreds gather in opposition to federal immigration legisla

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Hundreds gather in opposition to federal immigration legislation
Sunday, February 19, 2006
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- Row after row, they filled the pews on a bitterly cold afternoon.

A woman named Gloria explained why she was drawn to this rally for the shadow world of West Michigan: The estimated 40,000 undocumented residents who live and work among us.

"I am still a human being," she said. "We come into this world and leave the same way as you do."

Like many of the estimated 500 people who jammed United Methodist Hispanic Church on Saturday, Gloria entered this country illegally.

The mother of three, who crossed the border at Tijuana, Mexico, at night 14 years ago, only wants the chance to make a better life for her and her family.

"We ask the same rights as every citizen," she said.

But the emotions on the other side are just as raw. Advocates of tough immigration measures say it is time to seal the borders and crack down on undocumented workers and companies who employ them.

With an estimated 10 million undocumented residents in the United States, growing fears about the borders and a national election this year, the debate seems likely to heat up.

A banner at the front of the sanctuary decried one of its flash points -- a get-tough House bill that passed in December, with the support of U.S. Reps. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, and Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland.

The issue is expected to land in the Senate next month, where a rival measure from John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., is drawing support from moderates in both parties.

The McCain-Kennedy bill would broaden rights of undocumented workers, allowing employers to hire foreigners under a temporary visa program if they can prove they are unable to hire American workers for the same job. Undocumented workers ultimately could apply for citizenship after paying a fine and back taxes.

President Bush has proposed a similar guest-worker measure but does not offer a road to citizenship to illegal residents.

The House bill is much harsher. It calls for criminalizing illegal migrants, compelling employers to verify whether an employee is here legally, raising penalties for noncompliant employers and build more fences along the Mexican border.

Hoekstra calls the issue "complicated."

But, as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he asserts it is time the nation gets serious about securing its borders.

Moreover, Hoekstra said it is time to hold undocumented immigrants and uncooperative companies accountable for their actions.

"It's a tough law, yes. But we have been negligent over the last number of years for not enforcing the law," he said. "We should not be rewarding people who come into this country illegally."

But Ehlers and Hoekstra say the House measure alone is not enough, since it does not address the need for a guest worker program.

"It was not a comprehensive bill," Ehlers said.

His misgivings hint at deeper divisions within the GOP on the issue. At


the meeting of the Conservative Political Action Committee this month in Washington, D.C., proponents of an immigration crackdown assailed everyone from Bush to the restaurant industry to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for taking what they consider a soft approach.

The Grand Rapids Area of Commerce has taken no formal position.

But Jared Rodriguez, vice president of government affairs for the chamber, noted the U.S. Chamber backs the McCain-Kennedy approach.

"What would be the mandates on business that would come from this?" he said measures like the House version. "What would it mean in dollars and cents to our members?"

Rodgriguez did not mention just how integral this community has become to West Michigan.

They work construction, put up drywall and do piecework in noisy factories. They pick the blueberries in Ottawa County, wash dishes in the back of restaurants and scrub toilets in hotels. Hundreds of their children go to schools across the region.

Their life here depends on their willingness to work. They cannot collect welfare or food stamps.

Gloria's son, Gonzalo, has vivid memories of the night they crossed the border 14 years ago. He was just 7.

"I remember hiding under a bush. There was a big helicopter shining a spotlight on us. I remember being picked up and thrown over the fence. I was literally thrown into America."

Now 21, he speaks impeccable English and is a graduate of Grand Rapids City High School. He supports his mother as a manager in a retail store, but would like to go to college someday.

But since he cannot get a student loan as an undocumented resident and cannot apply for citizenship, he has trouble believing it will come to pass.

"To me, the future is day-to-day. I can't set any long-term goals," he said.

"We ask the same rights as every citizen," she said.

This is what gets me! The illegals want the same rights as every citizen? Then, by gosh, they have the right to be arrested for breaking our immigration laws when they snuck across our border, just like we LEGAL CITIZENS get arrested when we break the laws in our country! The illegals want "the same rights as every citizen"? Then they need to become a citizen, the LEGAL way, and quit expecting special treatment from us when they have willingly and openly broken our laws. And as far as getting government loans for this lady's son to go to school, those loans and grants are there for LEGAL CITIZENS, not for people who broke our laws. With all of the American manufacturing jobs going overseas, the LEGAL CITIZENS need those grants and loans more than ever now so we will have the skills necessary to get a job in order to survive here in America now, especially since the jobs we used to have that did not get outsourced(like construction) are given away to ILLEGALS now! Why do these illegals not understand that there is NO EXCUSE for breaking our laws and they are not any better than anyone else and they should be punished for breaking our laws!