Thread: Facts Soften Illegal-Entry Stances (Opinion)

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/111001.php

Ernesto Portillo Jr. :
Expert: Facts soften illegal-entry stances

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.12.2006
advertisement Tamar Jacoby, a widely quoted national expert on illegal immigration, tells an insightful story about people's attitudes toward the politically charged subject.

Jacoby, in town this week to speak at a border seminar, recently observed a group of conservative Republicans grousing about illegal immigrants. The group was in Dallas, a city as politically red as San Francisco is politically blue.

While pounding their fists on the table, the Dallas residents advocated sealing the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration. But as they considered other factors such as labor and the economy, the hard edge softened, she said.
The group arrived at the realistic understanding that enforcement-only solutions will not solve the illegal-immigration problem.

For Jacoby, a guest on numerous news shows from Fox News to National Public Radio, the Dallas experience shows that Americans, when given the range of facts and information about illegal immigration, will support a comprehensive immigration reform plan that calls for border enforcement but allows immigrants to legally work in this country.

The public will reject the punitive legislation adopted last month by the U.S. House of Representatives, which calls for stricter employer sanctions, 700 miles of border fence and making it a felony to be in this country illegally.

"It's acceptable to say we have to get a grip on the illegality. But just cracking down doesn't work," said Jacoby, who is politically center-right.
She told her story Tuesday to a group of journalists from across the country, including an American reporter based in Mexico City. The journalists are in town for a weeklong seminar on border and immigration sponsored by the Institute for Justice and Journalism at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.
I attended Tuesday's session with Jacoby and others, and participated on a panel with fellow Arizona journalists.

Jacoby's words resonate with calmness and clarity. She reflects a broad coalition from Wall Street to the labor unions, from Republicans to Democrats, from immigrants' rights groups to law enforcement.

Today's immigrants, like yesterday's immigrants, bring vitality and energy to American communities, said Jacoby. Allowing foreign workers to legally work in this county will free border agents to focus on security. And true comprehensive immigration reform will deal with the estimated 10 million to 11 million undocumented immigrants living and working in the country.

"The flow is real," she said of illegal immigration. "It has to be regulated because we need the labor and it can't be stopped. We have the flow, but we don't have the pipeline."

Unfortunately, her words increasingly are drowned out in today's national debate on immigration, dominated as it is by right-wing talk-show hosts and politicians pandering to a frightened and unsure public.
While uncertainty and irrational rhetoric led to the House's proposed border plan, Jacoby, who spends a lot of time talking to members of Congress and opinion makers, is optimistic about workable immigration reform.

She doesn't foresee the U.S. Senate passing the House plan in full. She believes the Senate will ask for law enforcement and national security, but it will demand a plan to permit foreigners to work in the U.S. and honestly deal with undocumented workers in our midst.
Jacoby foresaw this outcome in Dallas.

â—? Ernesto Portillo Jr.'s column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Reach him at 573-4242 or at eportillo@azstarnet.com. He appears on "Arizona Illustrated," KUAT-TV Channel 6, at 6:30 p.m. and midnight Fridays.

Unfortunately her 'message' is one of the inevitability to our being overrun by all these foreigners that we 'need' so badly.

A pox on her and all of her ilk.

RR

OKAY ! OKAY, Tamar!!! You have passed the test. You will be allowed to attend the next White House press conference, and you will be allowed to ask the President a question.

Here is the question you may ask:

President Bush, do you feel that family values stop at the Rio Grande ?

I also failed to find 'facts' portrayed in the article.

RR