http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14686244.htm

ARUBA
Immigration situation sounds eerily familiar

Aruba's need for cheap labor and proximity to countries with people who need jobs has inflated the number of undocumented migrants there -- at a level far exceeding that fueling the debate in the States.

BY JEN ROSS

Special to The Miami Herald

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - As the U.S. government argues over illegal immigration, this tiny island of 99,000 residents is grappling with an immigration onslaught of its own -- uncounted hundreds slipping in each year.

Aruba's turquoise waters, powder-white beaches and location outside the hurricane belt give it a booming tourism industry that needs cheap labor. The island also boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the region, $21,847 in 2004.

And then there's its proximity to countries with people in need of jobs -- 18 miles off the coast of Venezuela, and a few more from the coast of Colombia.

POPULATION DENSITY

Harold Fingall, director of Aruba's Immigration Department, says there are no precise figures but estimates put the number of undocumented migrants living here as high as 9,000. That's almost one in 10 residents. In the United States, an estimated 11 to 12 million undocumented migrants live among a population of 296 million, about one in 25.
Such numbers have caused concern over population density, which has almost doubled since 1980 on an island only 75 square miles, and some Arubans say migrants are putting a strain on their social security net.

Hispanics now make up almost a quarter of the population, so many Arubans also fear their language -- Papiamento is a type of Creole similar to Spanish -- is being affected by the influx of mostly Spanish-speaking workers.

''They say Aruba is getting poorer, and somehow they always manage to point the finger at us,'' says 33-year-old Freddy Hardy Orozco, a legal Colombian migrant married to an Aruban. He's been working at an island oil refinery for seven years.

Aruba is a semi-independent Dutch territory, so some migrants see it as a backdoor into Europe. Migrants who live and work here legally for five consecutive years are allowed to apply for Dutch citizenship -- and thereby gain entry to all of the European Union.

The Aruba government is making fresh efforts to stem the immigration wave.

The Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles, which patrols the waters around Aruba and the neighboring Dutch islands of Curac¸ao and Bonaire, has beefed up its fleet, buying specialized high-speed boats and stepping up the frequency of its patrols and training of its personnel. In September, it installed the island's first radar to detect incoming boats. It will start 24-hour work next month.

The government also is cracking down on the construction and hotel industries, which have long fueled Aruba's demand for cheap labor.

''Right now we are not concentrating as much on catching illegals,'' says Ricardo Kock, director of the government agency that tracks down undocumented migrants. ``If you can't get work here anymore, you won't come to the island. So we're fining all these people giving jobs to all these illegal people -- and the fine is very sharp.''
Kock said the fines -- which range from $2,000 to $60,000 -- are reducing the flow of illegal arrivals. He says some migrants have even showed up at government offices, asking to be deported because they can't find work.

ARGUING THE NUMBERS

Statistics confirm a sharp reduction in the number of undocumented migrants being detained and deported, falling from 5,563 in 2003 to 4,339 in 2004 and 3,026 last year.

But observers say it's hard to know whether that means fewer illegals are trying to get in, or whether its law enforcement agencies are simply not netting enough.

''They've reorganized many times, and with each time there are open doors,'' says Juby Naar, a reporter at Aruba's largest daily newspaper, Diario.

Yet another reorganization is in the works. Aruba is creating a sort of homeland security office -- to be up in July -- to coordinate its law enforcement agencies, immigration officials and coastal patrols.

The government is working with Venezuelan intelligence agencies. And by January it will have new computer technology and passport scanners to help the airport and harbor keep better track of everyone arriving and leaving.

But there are trade-offs to any security efforts. A pan-Caribbean measure requiring all visitors to use passports as of 2007 is expected to hurt the tourism industry, which accounts for some 70 percent of Aruba's revenues.

Gee, are they smarter than we are? How come no one stays home and works to improve their own countries?