Latin American Concerns Echo U.S. Arguments

June 21, 2007

McClatchy Newspapers

LIMA, Peru - Efforts to stem illegal immigrants from neighboring countries are increasing in parts of Latin America because of concerns, similar to those in the United States, that they drive down salaries and bring crime and violence with them.

Ecuador, Chile and Venezuela are discussing whether to restrict illegal immigrants, and Costa Rica recently tightened barriers. Peru is studying whether to tighten its border with Bolivia.

Driving the changes are concerns echoed in the U.S. immigration debate: that undocumented workers take jobs from locals, raise the crime rate and drain tax dollars through their use of public school and health systems.

In the same vein, business groups in the region have been opposing new laws that might limit uneducated, low-cost laborers from migrating to countries that need them - just as in the U.S.

Governments throughout the region report almost three million immigrants, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. A majority is believed to lack proper documentation.

In Ecuador, a presidential candidate in last year's campaign made concern about illegal aliens a staple of her campaign, said Gioconda Herrera, a researcher at FLACSO, a Latin American think tank with an office in Ecuador.

The concern there is with Colombians who have fled the war in their country and moved to northern Ecuador to sell knickknacks in the street and work on sugar and banana farms, Ms. Herrera said.

"The public wants more control so more undocumented workers don't enter," Ms. Herrera said by telephone from Quito. She said the concern "has reached xenophobic levels."

Undocumented Colombians in Venezuela have prompted concerns there, said Raquel Alvarez, an immigration specialist at the University of the Andes in San Cristobal, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

"There's little anxiety that Colombians are taking the jobs of Venezuelans. They take jobs in sectors where there aren't enough Venezuelans, such as textiles or on farms," Ms. Alvarez said by telephone. "The concern is that violent elements are crossing into Venezuela to commit killings and kidnappings."

Venezuela has beefed up border posts as a result, she added.

Chile's strong economy during the past 20 years has been a magnet for illegal immigrants from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and especially Peru.

President Michelle Bachelet's government is drafting a proposal that would allow illegal migrants to gain temporary legal status to work and perhaps eventually gain citizenship.

Argentina approved a measure in 2003 to give illegal immigrants the right to public schools and health clinics and pave the way for temporary work status, said Jorge Gurrieri, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires.

"The problem of illegal aliens has lost its political force with the new law," Mr. Gurrieri said by telephone from Buenos Aires.

Costa Rica's Congress approved a measure in 2005 that created a vehicle for Nicaraguans to apply for Costa Rican citizenship, but the measure also imposed penalties on businesses that hire undocumented workers.

"There are sectors within Costa Rica that are uncomfortable with the Nicaraguans," said Guillermo Acuna, a researcher with FLASCO's Costa Rica office. "Unions, in particular, feel like the Nicaraguans cost them jobs and force down wages."

Source: (C) 2007 The Augusta Chronicle. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved


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