http://www.urbantulsa.com/article.asp?id=3445
From UrbanTulsa.com
Originally published by Urban Tulsa Weekly Thursday, June 29, 2006
©2006 Urban Tulsa Weekly.

http://www.urbantulsa.com/article.asp?id=3445


Red State Blues
None dare call it reason, but “amnesty” will do for the time being
by Ginger Shepherd


"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door"
-from "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, and posted on the plaque commemorating the gift from the country of France, The Statue of Liberty


The issue of immigration has always been a hot topic in America – naturally. But historically, when things get difficult for the ruling class sons and daughters of the Pilgrims, the discussion generally, heats up on the selective, subjective question of who’s welcome and who’s not.

When the debate gets past the wringing of hands to the point where votes are at stake—that’s when the politicians start taking heed and being positioning themselves on legal immigration.

“Illegals” have always been a “problem,” but in the last part of the 20th century and in the start of the 21st, the United States, which for many years tolerated the trickle of mostly Mexican “migrant workers,” woke up to the torrent of Central and South American immigrants that has now flooded the workplace and is straining limits of the social services of the public sector.

The debate over immigration policy has divided the country into a towering babble of opinion—from the racist and jingoists to the bleeding hearts and social activists. Politically, it has divided the ruling party Republicans somewhere down the middle and left Democrats trying to define a position of their own.

Indeed, the strangest of bedfellows has formed along an eerie, different sort of Austin/Boston axis that once sought to wrest the country from eight years of reign under King Reagan.

In the Senate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, R, introduced SR 1033 regarding border security; the bill is sponsored by nine other senators including Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, both Democrats.

The President, former Austin resident and a pragmatist on immigration, has suggested something similar. Bush’s proposal would allow undocumented workers to participate in a temporary workers program. The program would grant those illegal immigrants legal status as temporary workers. There would be a three-year time limitation on the status and then the worker would have to return home.

Even more divisive for the GOP, the issue of immigration has begun dividing fellow Republicans and other so-called conservatives. U.S. Congressmen John Sullivan, R-Oklahoma District 1 is diametrically opposed to the Republican party’s most visible member and leader – Pres. George Bush.

Sullivan and other nativist fellow travelers, have baulked at their party chief’s, going so far as calling it “amnesty”.

Recently, when Sullivan spoke at a regularly scheduled Tulsa Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce event for business leaders, Sullivan told those in attendance that the president was “dead wrong” on immigration, according to Tulsa World’s June 2 edition. The issue at hand was the worker program that Bush initially proposed.

Besides being on the other side of the fence, so to speak, from his more moderate Republican brethren, Sullivan is also vigorously opposed to the opinion of his Tulsa Roman Catholic Diocese bishop, Edward Slattery, who has called for compassion.

Slattery has called much of the proposed legislation harsh since some of it would criminalize helping illegal immigrants making felons of teachers, doctors and even clergy who help. He has gone so far as to suggest he would go to prison before he would stop his local Catholic Charities group from serving the needs of illegal immigrants.

The bishop’s April 2 statement on immigration can be found on the diocese’s Web site, www.dioceseoftulsa.org.

Sullivan is an active Catholic in Tulsa. He has been involved with Catholic Charities and is a graduate of Bishop Kelly High School.

Sullivan said he has respect for Slattery and wants to be compassionate to immigrants, yet he feels he has a better plan.

Black and White? Or Red, White and Blue?

But first, a little history on the subject.

Unlike the immigration issues of the past, “illegal” immigration defies quotas and exclusion acts. In the 1980s, Congress attempted to address the issue with an amnesty-type law that granted illegal aliens who had lived within the U.S. consistently from January 1982 to 1986 an opportunity to apply legal status.

At that time, about three million illegal immigrants received amnesty. The law also put in place penalties for employers who hired illegal immigrants.

Congress again attempted to strengthen its laws regarding illegal immigration through the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which worked to strengthen sanctions on both illegal immigrants and those who smuggle illegal aliens into the country.

But legislation in place has had little impact and arguably has not been effectively enforced. Sullivan said there are 11 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the country today. He added that there is significant population in the Tulsa area.

Sullivan’s congressional district includes Tulsa, Washington and Wagoner counties

The issues that arise for congressmen like Sullivan and groups such as the OK Minutemen, the Oklahoma branch of the Minuteman Project, is that these workers are unaccounted for, are linked to crime and national security issues, and even create a cost for the government.

All of which, in a post-September 11 world, is a little too scary for protectionists.

In the Tulsa area, Sullivan said illegal immigrants have attributed to $138 million in health care cost because they went to area emergency rooms for health care needs that range from having the flu, a broken bone and even to have a child.

“This is a large percent of indigent care,” he said.

The cost isn’t just isolated to Oklahoma. In fiscal year 2001, California spent more than $648 million on emergency medical care for illegal immigrants, according to an article written by Congressmen Elton Gallegly, R- California District 24. At that time, California’s public hospitals were facing a $600 million a year deficit.

In the last 10 years, that state has lost 65 emergency rooms because of the cost associated for caring for illegal immigrants, Gallegly wrote.

In 2002, hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey provided about $2 billion in free emergency and short-term care to patients who had no insurance, he said, pointing out that many were illegal immigrants.

South Carolina was faced with a $4 million bill, which as the result of unpaid maternity bills from illegal immigrants, he added.

Many illegal immigrants are reliant on the emergency medical services because they don’t have health insurance.

Steve Merrill, spokesman for the OK Minutemen, said illegals come to the U.S. and get jobs that sometimes paid in a range of $6 to $12 an hour but their employers are not providing them with health insurance.

“They are flooding our hospitals,” he said.

The cost of health care for illegal immigrant doesn’t just cost the average American more taxes or impacts state budgets; it affects individual home budgets. Sullivan explains that paying for illegal immigrant health care can mean increases in health insurance premiums that Americans pay.

Cost is just one part of the health care issue--actual disease is the other. Sullivan and Merrill didn’t address the topic, but Gallegly did in his article using the example of tuberculosis, which virtually was wiped out among Americans by 1983.

However, with the number of illegal immigrants, the disease is on the rise again. Gallegly cited a case were one illegal immigrant from Mexico was linked to the tuberculosis infection in 56 other people before he was forced into treatment.

Even more, about 53 percent of the people in the U.S. who are diagnosed with tuberculosis are born outside of the country, he said.

“In the Los Angeles area, 80 percent of the people infected with TB are foreign-born with Mexico leading the way, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, India and China,” Gallegly said.

Under current immigration regulations, those immigrants who come to the U.S. legally (through the visa process) are required to be examined by medical professionals as well as be vaccinated, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site, www.uscis.gov. Those required to have physicals include applying for immigrant visas, temporary visas (nonimmigrant), refugees and asylees.

The examinations include a physical and mental exam, a tuberculin skin test (skin test for tuberculosis), a blood test for HIV and syphilis. Vaccinations needed include Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Polio, Tetanus, Diphtheria Toxids, Pertussis, Influenza type B and Hepatitis type B, according to the site.

Beside health issues, opponents of lenient immigration policies like Merrill and Sullivan point to crime and national security.

For Sullivan, interest in dealing with the illegal immigration peaked during his first campaign for his congressional seat. The year was 2002 and the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001 had just occurred. At that time, he said it became apparent that that immigration laws are not being enforced. Sullivan’s concern on the immigration debate isn’t just a personal issue. He said that his office receives numerous calls on the topic and he has received at least 8,000 letters.

After the attacks, there was indication that some of the hijackers had come to the U.S. on temporary visas that had expired. Even more, some of the hijackers had used false names as well as forged document to gain entrance to the country.

Merrill, who worked for both the border patrol and the Immigration and Naturalization Services, said an individual associated with a terrorist group changes his name enough so as not to be flagged by terrorist watch lists. He then gets a temporary visa like a student visa. That individual comes to the U.S. as a perpetual student with a part-time job and becomes a “sleeper” for the terrorist group.

But it is more than just forged documents. Merrill said there are groups that specialize in getting illegal immigrants across the border. These groups not only bring illegals but they bring drugs, weapons and even terrorists.

He said there have been recent reports that the terrorist group Hezbollah has worked with theses groups to cross the border.

With crime a growing problem, enforcement is a bigger issue. Sullivan and Merrill said that in some cases when law enforcement encounters illegal immigrants there is little they can do regarding enforcing the law.

As an example, Sullivan said in Catoosa, law enforcement officials recently pulled over a vehicle. In the vehicle, there were 18 people – all illegal.

Five of the 18 in the vehicle were juveniles under the age of nine, he said.

Even more, individuals in the group possessed marijuana and cocaine, Sullivan said, explaining they only had enough for personal use not for distribution.

Officers were at a loss. Arrests were made and they contacted immigration officials – the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Oklahoma City, he said. Those officers were told to let the illegal immigrants go because there weren’t enough field agents available.

A Different Plan

One of the things that Sullivan is working on in Congress is to establish an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Tulsa because of the major highways that run through the area as well as the need for more agents in Oklahoma. He said states like Colorado, which are comparable to Oklahoma as far as size and population, have more than one office. Colorado has 16 offices.

Sullivan’s bill regarding the immigration and customs office is bill H.R. 1324; other Oklahoma representatives including Frank Lucas, R-District 3, Dan Boren, D-District 2, and Tom Cole, R-District 4 have sponsored the bill.

Merrill echoes Sullivan’s concern for additional offices, feeling that Oklahoma offices should also be opened in Altus, Woodward, Ardmore and McAlester and should start with two agents and one detention officer.

Sullivan says he has seen the drug issue first hand. He made a trip to the border; while there, he said, he witnessed border officials discovery of several hundred pounds of drugs including cocaine and marijuana.

And it isn’t just limited to cocaine and marijuana. Sullivan said there are even instances of heroin poppies being grown and transported to the U.S.

Part of Sullivan’s response to the immigration issue has been to introduce and support measures that increase funding and manpower for border patrol in order to strengthen the borders.

Drugs and manpower is just one part of the equation. Merrill said a typical scenario is this: illegal immigrants will commit a crime, be arrested and then leave. He explained that once the individual is bonded out of jail and the immigration officials apprehend him, he is then deported.

This may sound like the right direction but it poses a problem. Merrill said the individual is deported before a trial. The defense attorney will go to the arraignment and tell the judge that his client has been removed from the country and move the issue to be dismissed. Then the judge does just that and no criminal record is created.

He said after the illegal immigrant is returned to the country of origin, Mexico for instance, he waits a short time and returns, likely committing a crime similar to the one for which he was deported.

While the U.S. looks to address the issue, it is important for lawmakers to look at the cost associated with it.

Sullivan said if say 12 million illegal immigrants were given legal status in the U.S. right now, it could cost the government $33 billion in order to increase funding for various welfare programs, including the food stamp program and health care programs.

Why? He said just about every illegal immigrant would qualify for benefits.

“Taxes would go up 21 percent for every American,” Sullivan said.

With the costs and the different issues involved, it has to be asked: How do Sullivan and Merrill feel the government should address the issue? A flat amnesty program isn’t the answer for either man; but both believe in the idea of a guest worker program--but with some limitations.

Sullivan said a guest worker program would allow the worker to come to the U.S. for a short period of time, like two years, and then they would have to go back to their country. The individual could return to the U.S. to work after a certain amount time, such as a year. It is a similar idea that Merrill has.

It is a program that shows some compassion to the immigrant but still offers protection. For Sullivan it is a way to follow his religious leaders.

While the issue today is different from past issues, the U.S. had developed different ways to address immigration. Some of the country’s first immigration legislation was passed in 1862 and forbade American shipping vessels from transporting Chinese immigrants to the U.S. Twenty years later, the U.S. would pass the Chinese Exclusion Act, according to the History Channel. The law would be repealed in 1943.

Three different laws passed in 1875, 1882 and 1892, made it legal for immigrants and made it allowable for people to denied access to the U.S. if they were deemed to have a “loathsome or contagious disease,” the site said.

By 1917, Congress enacted laws that increased the classes that could be denied admittance to the country. Some of these measures included a literacy test and minimum standards for mental, physical conditions, morality and economic standing, according to the History Channel.

Congress established the quota system in 1921, saying that only 3 percent of a nationality could be admitted at a time. The quotas were modified in 1924 creating a quota for each country.

Public safety was a concern in 1941, and Congress passed laws that would not grant visas to those that posed a threat to public safety.

By 1952, the Congress codified the Immigration and Nationality Act. Quotas were changed in 1977. The quota would allow 240,000 immigrants worldwide. The number was increased to 270,000 in 1980.

Sullivan said there are splits in both parties. Even more so there have been odd pairings.

In Congress, there has been a focus on securing the borders. Discussions regarding immigration between the house and senate have been postponed until September.