Thread: The Issue Of Immigration

The issue of Immigration
Posted: Saturday, May 23, 2009 - 08:30:34 pm PDT
Email this story Printer friendly version By ALECIA WARREN
Staff writer

Recent shooting death sparks debate over immigration policies in Idaho and Washington -- and nationwide

An unexpected issue has sprung up since the pre-dawn hours of May 19, when a driver pulled up beside Timothy Wolfe as he walked in downtown Coeur d'Alene, pointed a pistol at the 21-year-old's face and delivered a fatal shot.

The issue is the shooter, Juan Carlos Villanueva of Honduras, crossed into the country illegally through El Paso, Texas, in 2006 -- a fact determined by federal immigration agents last week.

To Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, the tragedy is the outcome of poor immigration policy, not just in Idaho but also Washington, where the Honduran obtained a driver's license because the state doesn't require proof of legal presence at the DMV.

"Immigration's OK -- illegal immigration is not," Jorgenson said this week. "The really sad part of this tragedy is this is one of the classic routes that illegals take to circumvent the law, on top of committing a crime like that (the shooting)."

Jorgenson has spent the last two years tallying $200 million a year Idaho spends on illegal immigrants, based on statistics from public agencies like Idaho Corrections, Idaho Health and Welfare, and various counties.

"It's a problem here, it's a problem nationwide," he said.

He believes the answer is changing the fact that Idaho currently has no laws penalizing illegal immigration, as confirmed by the Idaho attorney general's office.

"The federal government has pre-empted any state involvement (with illegal immigration) at this point," said spokeswoman Kriss Bivens Cloyd. "Some states have passed laws requiring employers to check the status of employees, but the state of Idaho hasn't done that at this point, because the status of the law is unclear."

Jorgenson doesn't buy it.

Next legislative session, he plans to make another stab at a bill requiring employers to check the legal status of every worker with E-Verify, a free Internet service run by federal agencies.

Companies intentionally hiring illegal immigrants would be subject to penalties of increasing severity, like having their businesses temporarily shuttered, and paying fines upward of $10,000.

"This idea of enforcement legislation is designed to first of all to protect Idahoans from profit-driven employers who hire cheap illegal helpers," Jorgenson said. "Why do we need foreign help for jobs like the timber industry when so many Idahoans are out of work? The only answer is because they could get them cheaper."

The issue has crossed the governor's desk, as well.

Spokesman Mark Warbis said Gov. Butch Otter is preparing to issue an executive order in upcoming weeks to ensure federal stimulus dollars don't trickle down to illegal residents.

The order will restrict state agencies from allotting funds to entities with illegal workers, he said.

"The governor wants to make sure that everything we do with those federal stimulus dollars reflects a high level of accountability to taxpayers," Warbis said. "This is not about punishing people. This is about helping employers and Idahoans who want to get back to work."

Monica Schurtman, associate professor of law at the University of Idaho and supervisor of the Immigration Law Clinic there, wasn't sure what to think about those ideas.

"I think it's a really, really complicated situation, and I don't think there's an easy answer," Schurtman said.

Just determining how many illegal immigrants are in Idaho is tricky, she pointed out.

"It's somewhat misleading to even say that somebody is unlawfully present, because the only person who can ultimately decide that is an immigration judge," she said.

Many immigrants who seek the Clinic's aid don't even know they are legal residents because of blood ties to American citizens, she said. Others don't know they're eligible for visas because they fall under special criteria.

"Particularly here in Idaho, there's really scarce access to immigration expertise, which is exacerbated by Idaho's rural nature," Schurtman said. "It's not like in a city like Miami, where there's both lots of legal access, and there are huge communities of immigrants who just know a lot about immigration law by word of mouth."

Those who do enter the country illegally do so because of desperate circumstances like persecution and extreme poverty, she said.

For some, obtaining visas is unrealistic.

This is especially common in countries issued a limited number of family-based visas per year from the U.S.

"Those visas are subject to years and years of backlog -- for example, in Mexico the wait is 15 years," she said.

Illegal immigrants and those with murky legal status don't necessarily drain the economy, she said.

She cited a current case at the Clinic -- a University of Idaho student seeking asylum in the U.S. after fleeing persecution in his home country.

"The student has attended the University of Idaho for a number of years, as did an older relative, and both paid their own way, thereby contributing to the state's economy," she said.

The Clinic has also seen cases where Idaho families are split apart when the bread winner is deported, she said, leaving legal family members to rely on public benefits.

"These are things a lot of people just don't think about," she said.

Domingo Altamirano, 43, was crusted with dirt Friday as he piled out of his truck with the rest of his tree-planting crew in front of Lake Drive Motel in Coeur d'Alene.

The 43-year-old admitted he came to the U.S. illegally from Veracruz, Mexico in 1992, running across the Texas border.

"It was pretty hard, I have to run by the border and there are people who would rob me and take all my money," he remembered, shaking his head.

Border patrol also nabbed him a few times and dropped him off back in Mexico, he added, but he kept trying until he was successful.

"I have no choice -- because my family is very poor," he said of the mother and siblings he mails money to back home. "I thank God to give me the chance to work in this country."

His English still a little rough, but functional now that he is married and safely settled here with a greencard.

Altamirano is grateful for companies like Alpha Services, the local forestry service he works for that recruits from Mexico and Guatemala and safely flies workers to the U.S. with work visas.

"All the money, every cent they send home to their families," he said of the somber young men beside him in ragged overalls and boots.

All of them have stories of pregnant wives and lots of little ones, he said.

They will see their offspring briefly when their visas run out and they return home, Altamirano said.

But they will reapply immediately and troop back to the U.S. in a matter of weeks and months.

"They are very hard-working people," he said, smiling at the crowd of sweat-streaked faces. "I've never seen American guys who work this hard."

Bringing immigrant workers into the U.S. legally isn't easy, said Juan Garcia, HR manager at Alpha Services.

After company recruiters select reliable applicants across the border, the company must prove to the U.S. government that there are no American citizens willing or able to perform the jobs.

Seldom do people answer the company's newspaper ads, Garcia said, despite the job crisis.

Those who do end up throwing in the towel after just a few days.

"I think in the last 10 to 15 years, people have come to find physical labor as kind of demeaning, so we really have a hard time finding anybody who wants to do it," Garcia said. "It's also very difficult work, very physical and demanding."

The immigrants have a different frame of mind, he said.

"They're just coming to America, they're making a big sacrifice leaving their families, and they're used to making a few dollars a day. They come here to work just as hard, and make a lot more, and support their families in that time."

It's worth the tedious five months of waiting for visa applications to process, he said, and the ample paperwork to prove the company drivers will transport the workers safely.

"Yeah, it's a pain," he admitted with a laugh. "But it's a job. Everybody's got to make a living."

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/0 ... news02.txt

This is a bunch of lies that the Idaho people won't take these jobs, especially with the Forest Service. I have never seen any jobs advertised for this. It's unacceptable that they import cheap, foreign labor to work in our forestry when we have so many out of work loggers in this state. Last week a Honduran forestry worker got killed when a tree fell on him. They bring these people here who neither speak nor understand the langauge, putting themselves and their co-workers in danger. It's a disgrace that even our Forest Service is now taking advantage of cheap, foreign labor.

I get a kick out of all the illegal's that come here and send money back to the families.
Aren't they seperated? Aren't they doing it themselves?
What's the difference then when we deport these lawbreakers?
Whining illegal's prompted by the ACLU and La Rasa types get my dander up.
I'm sick of paying for illegal's and them NOT even appreciating us or America. The hell with 'em......

"All the money, every cent they send home to their families," he said of the somber young men beside him in ragged overalls and boots.

Send every cent home and then live off the American taxpayer.

All of them have stories of pregnant wives and lots of little ones, he said.

Well, aparently the families aren't separated nearly enough.

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

From article: Snip...

"I think it's a really, really complicated situation, and I don't think there's an easy answer," Schurtman said.

Deportation.

Incarceration and fining of the employers.

Jailing those that aid and abet.



P.S. I thought about this some more and think that maybe these people that claim there is no easy solution is because they KNOW they own us some jail time.

"It's somewhat misleading to even say that somebody is unlawfully present, because the only person who can ultimately decide that is an immigration judge," she said.

BS! It dosnt take a rocket scientist to look at a persons id and determine if they are legal or not. With all the access agencies have to the internet it is easy to see if an id is stolen or being used fraudulently.

"They are very hard-working people," he said, smiling at the crowd of sweat-streaked faces. "I've never seen American guys who work this hard."

Unbelievable! The nerve of this guy to even open his mouth. Mabe he has never seen Americans working that hard because he is surrounded with illegal aliens like himself.

Quote:
"They are very hard-working people," he said, smiling at the crowd of sweat-streaked faces. "I've never seen American guys who work this hard."

Who in hell do they think built this country? It wasn't the illegals from south of the border, but people who came here legally from all over the world. They really need to get over themselves.

Check out the comments at the link. We're raising some hell with our sheriff who told my Senator that we don't have an illegal alien problem here in north Idaho.

Immigration Impact:
Idaho


State Population (2006 CB estimate)
1,466,465

State Population in 2000
1,299,811

Average Annual Change 2000-2006
2.1%

Foreign Born Population 20061/
78,460

Foreign Born Share 2006
5.4%

Foreign Born Population 2000
64,080

Foreign Born Share 2000
4.9%

Average Annual Change 2000-2006
3.6%

Population Projection 2010
1.5 million

Population Projection 2025
1.9 million

Population Projection 2050 (FAIR)
2.4 million


All numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau unless otherwise noted. Additional Census Bureau, INS, and other immigration-related data are available for Idaho.


Population Change
Idaho’s population increased by 42 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 12.8 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Idaho’s total population to approximately 1.47 million.

Approximately 8.6 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Idaho was directly attributed to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 34,000. This number is 78% above the U.S. government estimate of 19,000 in 2000, and 209% above the 1990 estimate of 11,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 25,000 to 45,000 illegal aliens living in Idaho.

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Idaho spent $65.5 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.
[/b]

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Idaho spent $65.5 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.

Now it's closer to $100 million a year.

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Idaho spent $65.5 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.

Now it's closer to $100 million a year.

Why don't taxpayers have more say over where our charity goes?
This is sickening and then they lie and say the illegal's don't cost anything because they contribute????'
Be serious!
Americans are waking up now.