http://new.savannahnow.com/node/149253
Alarcon: Use work permits, not walls, to stop illegal immigration
Opinion | Editorial
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 at 12:30 am




When the problem of illegal immigration is rooted in economics, the solution is rooted in economics.

The U.S. government has not gotten straight what it is going to do about the 11 million people who have lived in America without the proper paperwork. Instead, it has allowed each one of the states, cities and towns to take the matter into their own hands, giving politicians the perfect tool for their political campaigns.

Have you seen the TV campaign adds that are running? It's warfare in the name of immigrants' future, but it doesn't give us any information regarding the people or communities affected by it. Georgia, for example, has the fastest growing Hispanic population in the nation increasing from 220,000 in 2000 to 470,000 last year.

Politicians talk about building a wall to secure the borders, which is unrealistic and contradictory. In 1989, the United States was celebrating the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in the name of democracy. Today, they are planning to build one in the name of national security.

Immigration reform and terrorism are two different battles, but the mixture of both is a useful political campaign. TV ads speak of amnesty. Amnesty for what? It's unrealistic and useless to talk about citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. All that is needed is work permits, not citizenship.

I believe that citizenship is a privilege and that's why only birth gives it. But walls and amnesty are both factors pushed into our brains as political campaigns. I wonder how many of us in Savannah really know about how the state of Georgia is using the undocumented workforce and how this workforce is helping the state to move forward.

These immigrants come to work and only to work. Because of their hard work, we can go to supermarkets and buy inexpensive chicken, inexpensive Vidalia onions, cheap pine straw for our gardens, and of course, less expensive contractor's fees when remodeling our homes.

In Georgia, there has always been a balance between two social classes. Now that a third one, poorer than the rest, with working ethic imbedded in their blood, has arrived, most people feel more comfortable rejecting it than accepting it. But the latest immigrants did not come here for the cheese, milk, food stamps or government subsidized housing. Most of them don't even know that a government is capable to provide for the poor, except the ones who come from Cuba (the government gives them everything they need).

Most Americans hold on to the belief that immigrants don't pay taxes, which is only true if they don't have the legal paper work to work. But that's when the document forgery comes in. This is a big part of the political campaign of Gov. Sonny Perdue: crack down on document forgery.

The undocumented workers get fake Social Security numbers to be able to be on a payroll, which means taxes get taken out of their paychecks. But they will never see the benefits of paying taxes. Where does that money go? I bet the government is pretty happy with that money flow. It makes you wonder why the federal government has not enforced the immigration laws for over six years in Stillmore, the site of the latest raid?

Just two weeks ago, federal Immigration Crime Enforcement agents performed the most inhuman and drastic raids in the name of the law, leaving behind torn Hispanic families, a broken economy and a poultry plant that moves the economy of four surrounding towns on the verge of closing. People may respond, "They deserve it." However these 700 Hispanics paid taxes and supported the local economy by living and spending their money. What good comes from that raid? It was a perfect political campaign. Our state and local communities did not get anything out of it.

The migration of people from the poorest countries to the wealthier nations is happening all over the world. People tend to migrate to seek a better life. Mexico has a huge illegal migration coming from Central American countries like Guatemala and Honduras.

Immigration law is needed. But immigration laws are supposed to prevent illegal immigration. These laws don't work in many cases. The solution isn't harsher laws against immigrants. That would not prevent the migration; people are willing take that chance. Instead, the problem is the growing economic gap between poor countries and rich countries.

When the problem of immigration is rooted in economics, the solution must be rooted in economics. Give work permits for those coming from poorer countries. It will empower the economy in their countries. The money they send home creates a stronger and healthier economy, which reduces the need of migration for future generations to come. At the same time, the U.S. economy will benefit with a hard-working class.

America has always benefited from an immigrant working class. In 1910, 11 million immigrants came in through New York. Today we are dealing with the same number. What has happened? Nationalism is taking over. Intolerance is taking over.

Do we know where these people come from? Why they choose to cross illegally and risk their freedom for a chance to work?

If immigration is seen through different eyes than those of political campaigns, a real strategic plan can be implemented for the betterment of us all.


Carmen Alarcon, a native of Colombia, is a freelance writer living in Savannah.


When the problem of illegal immigration is rooted in economics, the solution is rooted in economics.

The U.S. government has not gotten straight what it is going to do about the 11 million people who have lived in America without the proper paperwork. Instead, it has allowed each one of the states, cities and towns to take the matter into their own hands, giving politicians the perfect tool for their political campaigns.

Have you seen the TV campaign adds that are running? It's warfare in the name of immigrants' future, but it doesn't give us any information regarding the people or communities affected by it. Georgia, for example, has the fastest growing Hispanic population in the nation increasing from 220,000 in 2000 to 470,000 last year.

Politicians talk about building a wall to secure the borders, which is unrealistic and contradictory. In 1989, the United States was celebrating the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in the name of democracy. Today, they are planning to build one in the name of national security.

Immigration reform and terrorism are two different battles, but the mixture of both is a useful political campaign. TV ads speak of amnesty. Amnesty for what? It's unrealistic and useless to talk about citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. All that is needed is work permits, not citizenship.

I believe that citizenship is a privilege and that's why only birth gives it. But walls and amnesty are both factors pushed into our brains as political campaigns. I wonder how many of us in Savannah really know about how the state of Georgia is using the undocumented workforce and how this workforce is helping the state to move forward.

These immigrants come to work and only to work. Because of their hard work, we can go to supermarkets and buy inexpensive chicken, inexpensive Vidalia onions, cheap pine straw for our gardens, and of course, less expensive contractor's fees when remodeling our homes.

In Georgia, there has always been a balance between two social classes. Now that a third one, poorer than the rest, with working ethic imbedded in their blood, has arrived, most people feel more comfortable rejecting it than accepting it. But the latest immigrants did not come here for the cheese, milk, food stamps or government subsidized housing. Most of them don't even know that a government is capable to provide for the poor, except the ones who come from Cuba (the government gives them everything they need).

Most Americans hold on to the belief that immigrants don't pay taxes, which is only true if they don't have the legal paper work to work. But that's when the document forgery comes in. This is a big part of the political campaign of Gov. Sonny Perdue: crack down on document forgery.

The undocumented workers get fake Social Security numbers to be able to be on a payroll, which means taxes get taken out of their paychecks. But they will never see the benefits of paying taxes. Where does that money go? I bet the government is pretty happy with that money flow. It makes you wonder why the federal government has not enforced the immigration laws for over six years in Stillmore, the site of the latest raid?

Just two weeks ago, federal Immigration Crime Enforcement agents performed the most inhuman and drastic raids in the name of the law, leaving behind torn Hispanic families, a broken economy and a poultry plant that moves the economy of four surrounding towns on the verge of closing. People may respond, "They deserve it." However these 700 Hispanics paid taxes and supported the local economy by living and spending their money. What good comes from that raid? It was a perfect political campaign. Our state and local communities did not get anything out of it.

The migration of people from the poorest countries to the wealthier nations is happening all over the world. People tend to migrate to seek a better life. Mexico has a huge illegal migration coming from Central American countries like Guatemala and Honduras.

Immigration law is needed. But immigration laws are supposed to prevent illegal immigration. These laws don't work in many cases. The solution isn't harsher laws against immigrants. That would not prevent the migration; people are willing take that chance. Instead, the problem is the growing economic gap between poor countries and rich countries.

When the problem of immigration is rooted in economics, the solution must be rooted in economics. Give work permits for those coming from poorer countries. It will empower the economy in their countries. The money they send home creates a stronger and healthier economy, which reduces the need of migration for future generations to come. At the same time, the U.S. economy will benefit with a hard-working class.

America has always benefited from an immigrant working class. In 1910, 11 million immigrants came in through New York. Today we are dealing with the same number. What has happened? Nationalism is taking over. Intolerance is taking over.

Do we know where these people come from? Why they choose to cross illegally and risk their freedom for a chance to work?

If immigration is seen through different eyes than those of political campaigns, a real strategic plan can be implemented for the betterment of us all.


Carmen Alarcon, a native of Colombia, is a freelance writer living in Savannah.