Thread: TX: Hopes for immigration reform high

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Hopes for immigration reform high
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 11/09/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

EL PASO -- Dolores Barreno, a Mexican immigrant in the Borderland who has lived in the shadows for more than 10 years, is among the millions of undocumented immigrants who are looking to the new administration to lead the way for immigration reform.

"I have friends and relatives, some who have legalized their status, and others who remain in a precarious (immigration) status," Barreno said. "We are all hoping the new president, Barack Obama, will take us into account."

Barreno learned through news reports that Obama has a relative who is an undocumented immigrant. "It brings home the issue," she said. "I hope it also serves to raise the consciousness of the public and the president about the need to address our dire situation. I feel especially feel bad for the students who finish high school and cannot go on to college because they are considered illegals."

Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango (Obama's father's half-sister), was ordered to leave the country in 2004 by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from Kenya. She now lives in the United States as an undocumented immigrant, according to the Associated Press.
Katherine Vargas, spokeswoman for the National Immigration Forum in Washington, said the big turnout by Hispanic voters in Tuesday's election makes immigration reform "a mandate for the new president.

"About 10.5 million Latinos voted, and this creates a political space and momentum to push for immigration reform," Vargas said. "The president-elect acknowledged that the system is broken. We saw an example of this in the raids in Iowa in May that (netted) 183 immigrants and cost taxpayers $6 million."

She said the forum, which advocates for policies that are welcoming to all immigrants, also expects changes at law enforcement agencies like the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Center for Immigration Studies in Washington has spent years researching and testifying on the downside of immigration. It estimates one in eight people in the United States is an immigrant, and one in three of those are undocumented immigrants.

The center's executive director, Mark Krikorian, argues against further immigration in his book "The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal."

He has written opinion articles against amnesty and supports reducing illegal immigration through stepped-up enforcement. "Modern America has simply outgrown immigration, and we must end it before it cripples," the center says in its online book description at www.cis.org.

Although immigration was absent from the English-language presidential candidate debates, the two major candidates spent money on Spanish-language media to reach out to Hispanics during the campaigns, according to immigration analysts.

Clarissa Martinez, immigration director for the National Council of La Raza in Washington, said small but vocal anti-immigrant groups mobilized a strong lobby against immigration reform by Congress.

Last year, federal lawmakers came close to passing a bipartisan immigration reform bill, but failed to get it past a bloc in the Senate. "But, we've gone through three electoral cycles, and these groups have shown they can't deliver at the election booth," she said. "In the previous election, Latinos went with the Republicans, and this time, they sided with Democrats because of the immigration issue. They can't be taken for granted, because the Latinos can swing the other way again."

In the El Paso sector, Border Patrol apprehensions over the past four years fell by 75 percent, prompting critics to say the border fence under construction is not needed. The section of the fence in El Paso is supposed to be finished by the end of the year.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10938284?source=rss

Clarissa Martinez, immigration director for the National Council of La Raza in Washington, said small but vocal anti-immigrant groups mobilized a strong lobby against immigration reform by Congress.

"Small"? I wouldn't consider us small by any means, we are the majority and we want the enforcement that's been promised us for over 30 years! Amesty and immigration "reform" have been tried and failed each and every time. Enforcement works and we DEMAND it continue. NO amnesty, not now, not ever again.

"I have friends and relatives, some who have legalized their status, and others who remain in a precarious (immigration) status," Barreno said. "We are all hoping the new president, Barack Obama, will take us into account."

But wait, didn't Barreno hear that Obama thinks matter like this need to be handled according to the law?