Thread: More pro-invasion hooey out of Long Island fish wrap

http://www.newsday.com/news/printeditio ... y02.column

Congress' inaction robs immigrants, economy
May 2, 2005

Controversy over immigrant {illegal alien} day laborers continues on Long Island. It even has reached tony Southampton. But we're not alone.

Legal and illegal immigration fosters passionate debate across much of the country. Indeed, a national response is needed to fix what's wrong on the immigration front but not the drastic crackdown sought by anti-immigration forces.

As Newsday reported recently, a number of immigrant Latino day laborers gather outside a 7-Eleven in Southampton looking for work. I tried to get a look early one recent morning but turned back because of the snail-like traffic on Route 27 tied to contractors heading east (a subject for another column). But the Southampton scene apparently differs little from what's occurred in Farmingville for years.

Talks in Farmingville and Southampton focus on building hiring sites. Proponents say this would be safer, getting those seeking work off the streets; opponents argue it would condone law-breaking for those who are undocumented.

Private charities and churches do excellent work in aiding new arrivals. If they see benefits from hiring sites, then those groups should raise the necessary funds privately, without hitting up taxpayers. But hiring sites don't deal with the overarching issue.

Most immigrants merely seek a better life. Those men at 7-Eleven are looking for economic opportunity, not handouts.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) speaks of immigrants' often making "the best Americans" because of the "spirit" needed to leave their homeland and "to move to our country to get ahead." King told me he recently witnessed the "American dream" at a Bangladeshi organization in Queens, and compared it to what people would have seen a century ago with Irish, Italian or Jewish immigrant groups. That reality needs to be kept in mind, as do the economic benefits of immigration.

I'm pretty sure there aren't many lifelong Southampton residents looking to do the work the day laborers at 7-Eleven seek. In addition, a March report from the Immigration Policy Center - "Essential Workers: Immigrants Are a Needed Supplement to the Native-Born Labor Force" by research fellow Rob Paral - looked at the impact of recently arrived immigrant workers based on the 2000 census. Among findings highlighting the economic importance of immigration, he noted: "Employment in about one-third of all U.S. job categories would have contracted during the 1990s in the absence of recently arrived, noncitizen immigrant workers, even if all unemployed U.S.- born workers with recent job experience in those categories had been re-employed."

So, immigrants aren't stealing jobs. Instead, they help us by filling labor demands, while also adding to the economy as consumers and often entrepreneurs.

Immigration reform should open up legalization for undocumented workers, increase legal immigration levels and make it easier for immigrants seeking work to enter the country. King was correct in observing: "My only concern is to make sure that we know who is coming in for the interest of national security."

Early in 2004, President George W. Bush put forth a reform proposal recognizing the economic, humanitarian and national security aspects of immigration. But nothing has happened. King remarked: "Congress is stalemated."

The economic and national security aspects of immigration need not be in conflict. In fact, they are complementary. By expanding legal channels for immigrants seeking economic opportunity, greater resources could be focused on stopping terrorists from entering the country.

Immigrant day laborers waiting for work outside Long Island convenience stores serve as signs of U.S. economic vitality. But Congress needs to break the stalemate on immigration reform so both new arrivals and the native-born can reap the full rewards of immigration.

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Contact this clown: rjknewsday@aol.com

excuse me...ahemexcuse me??Excuse me??

Most immigrants merely seek a better life. Those men at 7-Eleven are looking for economic opportunity, not handouts.

There are also fourteen MILLION AMERICANS looking for opportunity...not handouts.

RR