Thread: SOB: Immigration bill dead, but fears live on

Immigration bill dead, but fears live on

Friday, June 29, 2007
By Ted RoelofsThe Grand Rapids Press

SPARTA -- In many ways, this family of five is like many others in West Michigan.

They go to church. They pay taxes. The oldest daughter does well in school and dreams of college.

But with the collapse of an immigration reform bill in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, the parents continue to fear a knock on the door that could split this family in two.

They broke immigration law a decade ago when they crossed the Mexican border, and they could be deported. Their three daughters are citizens because they were born in the United States.

"All it would take is one phone call, and you are gone," said the father, Ignacio, 45, who spoke in Spanish through an interpreter and asked that his real name not be revealed.

"I live very fearfully, watch everything I do, all out of fear of being deported."

The bill defeated Thursday, which was backed by President Bush, would have offered a complex path to citizenship for many of the 12 million people who reside in the United States illegally.

In the end, it was scuttled by anxiety about illegal border crossings and anger over a measure critics called nothing less than amnesty. Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media icons lined up against it.

A poll earlier this month by Rasmussen Reports found that 69 percent of voters favored reform that focused on securing the border and on reducing illegal immigration.

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, said the failed Senate measure deserved its fate.

Hoekstra was outspoken among House Republicans who opposed the Senate immigration measure and introduced a measure approved Tuesday by the Republican conference by a 114-to-21 margin.

"It (the bill defeated in the Senate) offered a pathway to citizenship, which clearly the Republican conference is opposed to and clearly the American people are opposed to,' Hoekstra said.

"It would have effectively rewarded people who had gamed the system. It would have rewarded lawbreakers with one of the most precious pieces of paper in the world, which is American citizenship."

But to Teresa Hendricks, executive director of the Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project, it is hard to justify turning away from those who do some of our toughest jobs.

And, like it or not, she said, they are part of our community.

"Our country and economy are growing and changing. Each time our country has grown for the better, immigrants have done the heavy lifting.

"The less appealing the job is, the more likely you are going to find an illegal immigrant doing it. The harder the work, the lower the pay, the more likely that the person doing it is foreign-born."

Hendricks called the defeated immigration reform proposal "the best compromise available."

A study by the Pew Hispanic Center estimated illegal immigrants make up 24 percent of agricultural workers, 14 percent of construction workers and 12 percent in food preparation.

In total, the estimated 7.2 million workers are about 5 percent of the civilian work force.

The Washington D.C.-based Urban Institute, a non-partisan social policy research organization, estimates the number of undocumented immigrants in Michigan at 120,000 to 150,000. As many as 40,000 are estimated to live in West Michigan.

Ottawa County tops the state in the number of migrant workers. It sees 6,030 migrant and seasonal workers each year, a number that swells to 11,942 when family members also are counted. Kent County ranked fifth, with 3,280 migrant workers and 3,496 non-workers in migrant households.

Oceana County farmer Jerry Brandel said crops would rot in the field without undocumented workers. Brandel, president of Hart Produce Co., grows cucumbers and asparagus.

"We are trying to get our crops harvested, and those are the only ones willing to work. Who is going to do the work, that is my question."

Brandel favors a work-permit program that would make it easier for agricultural workers to come here.

"What they need is a work permit where they can apply for citizenship. If they have a good track record and pay their taxes, they could become citizens."

For Ignacio and Rosa (also not her real name), that remains an elusive dream.

They met 15 years ago at the home of a wealthy lawyer in Mexico, where Ignacio worked as a gardener and Rosa was a cook. Ignacio is a native of Mexico, while Rosa made her way north from a village in Guatemala in search of a better life.

For much of the past decade, they have lived in cramped migrant quarters in northern Kent County while picking apples and cherries. Ignacio now does maintenance for an apartment complex while Rosa looks after their infant daughter.

Ten months ago, they bought a trailer for $1,600, a big day for them and their three children, 11, 7 and 1. Rosa has carefully decorated the inside, with dozens of pictures of family and friends on the wall.

One of those pictures reveals the family, which was then four, standing with pride in 2005 in front of the White House.

Ignacio finds no irony in the image.

"We have respect for this country. We have love for this country that adopted us," Ignacio said.

Send e-mail to the author: troelofs@grpress.com http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/in...l=6&thispage=1

They broke immigration law a decade ago when they crossed the Mexican border, and they could be deported. Their three daughters are citizens because they were born in the United States.

"All it would take is one phone call, and you are gone," said the father, Ignacio, 45, who spoke in Spanish through an interpreter and asked that his real name not be revealed.

10 years and he STILL cannot speak English??? Need I say more?

One of those pictures reveals the family, which was then four, standing with pride in 2005 in front of the White House.

Gosh, they should have rung the doorbell!! I'm sure jorge would have put them up for the night in the Lincoln bedroom. Hell, anything for a couseeen!

"We have respect for this country. We have love for this country that adopted us," Ignacio said.
No Ignacio, you do NOT have respect for this country. If so you would have respected the LAWS of this country. By staying here you continue to disrespect my country and my fellow Americans.

"What they need is a work permit where they can apply for citizenship. If they have a good track record and pay their taxes, they could become citizens."

Why do pro illegal supporters keep saying illegals benefit the economy by paying taxes? The only tax they can pay is sales tax. If they are paying state and federal income taxes, it's under a false identity.

Oceana County farmer Jerry Brandel said crops would rot in the field without undocumented workers. Brandel, president of Hart Produce Co., grows cucumbers and asparagus.

"We are trying to get our crops harvested, and those are the only ones willing to work. Who is going to do the work, that is my question."

Brandel favors a work-permit program that would make it easier for agricultural workers to come here.
"What they need is a work permit where they can apply for citizenship. If they have a good track record and pay their taxes, they could become citizens."

Absolutely not...if you came here illegally...NO AMNESTY...not now not ever. Brandel's thinking is exactly the kind of mindset of those employer's of illegal aliens we must defeat. These "hacendados" envision themselves as freeing their minions and leading them on to a better life as they concurnetly exploit their labor by illegally hiring them, not paying business employment taxes, and allowing them to be here utilizing our social and public services at taxpayer expense. Yet, these hacendados see themselves as the great liberators. This is extremely dangerous and we must fight against this mindset.

"We have respect for this country. We have love for this country that adopted us," Ignacio said.

No Ignacio, you do NOT have respect for this country. If so you would have respected the LAWS of this country. By staying here you continue to disrespect my country and my fellow Americans.

Jaded, how does this guy figure we adopted them??!! Don't you usually go looking for someone to adopt? I've never heard of a kid breaking into a house, robbing the owners blind and then insist they adoped him!

Originally Posted by NotGoingToTakeItAnymore

"We have respect for this country. We have love for this country that adopted us," Ignacio said.

No Ignacio, you do NOT have respect for this country. If so you would have respected the LAWS of this country. By staying here you continue to disrespect my country and my fellow Americans.

Jaded, how does this guy figure we adopted them??!! Don't you usually go looking for someone to adopt? I've never heard of a kid breaking into a house, robbing the owners blind and then insist they adoped him!

I don't recall signing any adoption papers!