HispanicVista Columnists

The U.S. Senate Nukes Immigration Critics
Part Two of Two
By Raoul Lowery Contreras

Does the immigration compromise announced by a bipartisan Senate coalition solve any problems currently vexing our country?

Problem: Millions of illegals, mostly from Mexico though many are from other countries who came legally to the United States, but overstayed and those who jumped the border.

The compromise allows those in the country here illegally before January 1, 2007, to be issued a temporary visa that allows them to stay if they can prove regular employment and no criminal activities. These people can apply later for permanent residency if they pay a $5,000 fine, learn English, return home for a brief period of time and apply for the "green card," which they can parlay after five years into citizenship.

As there is a fine, this means this is not an "amnesty." Anyone who declares this compromise to be an "amnesty" is wrong. Amnesty would mean no fine, any punishment or any conditions like learning English.

Problem: Hundreds of thousands of jobs going begging in construction, agriculture and hotels/restaurants unless illegals fill them.

We know that up to 25 percent of construction jobs in growing areas like Arizona, Texas, Florida, California, Nevada and special places like New Orleans (almost 100-percent) are filled by illegals. Without them, we know that homes would take four months longer to build and cost $50,000 more, according to a study in Arizona.

We know that restaurant employment (a traditional immigrant work place) is growing by 15 percent a year even as the American population is not.

We know that as much as 90 percent of our agricultural work force in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Washington state, Oregon and Idaho is Mexican born, no matter the wages paid. Lumber tree toppers in Montana, for example, are paid over $30.00 an hour and illegals have been found working at those premium-paid jobs.

We know that the State of Wyoming employment department has advertised in Mexico for "cowboys" because not enough Americans want the job. We know that the State of Hawaii imports legal Mexican farm workers to pick pineapples because it can’t find enough Hawaii residents to do the job. We know that asparagus farmers and grape growers in California have crops rotting because they can’t find enough workers to harvest their crops. We know that a freeze killed a billion dollars worth of oranges in California because there weren’t enough workers available to pick the crop.

The compromise deal allows up to 1.5 million agricultural work permits and 400,000 temporary work permits in other labor areas. If immigrants can prove they worked in agriculture for 150 days during the past three years, they can be issued one of the agriculture permits. How many will be issued to those already here is conjecture, but it is certain to be a large number, thus there won’t be 1.5 million new agriculture workers coming to the U.S., nor a need for many more than, say, 250,000 new workers.

As for the 400,000 work permits, they will be for a two-year period that can be renewed after the applicant spends a year home between permits. Three such permits could be issued over the years and these people would not be allowed to apply for permanent residence. This item needs to be redrawn to a period of 4-years with a 90-day layoff between applications, three such work terms (12 years) and the ability after 10 years for application to permanent residency. Employers would suffer greatly if they couldn’t keep trained people on the job for longer than two years.

Problem: Family reunification visas versus skill and educational visas.

Family reunification has been the foundation of legal immigration since 1965.

Even immigration critics like California Congressman Duncan Hunter have voted to enlarge family reunification. The compromise adds a future point system for skills and educational level to the system and constricts relatives eligible to come to rejoin their families. Considering that aunts and uncles, cousins and grandchildren are currently allowed to come, this restriction makes sense. Family should be defined only as parents, siblings and children. After all, legal immigrants can return to their country of origin anytime to visit cousins or grandparents and return to the U.S. without problem.

Border and Immigration enforcement.

The current Border Patrol numbers approximately 12,000 and is double the size it was when President Bush became President. Despite this growth, millions of illegals have walked past the Patrol as if they weren’t there…This, despite the Patrol’s budget and manpower doubling and tripling since 2001. Interior enforcement is negligible for many reasons, among which are a lack of personnel in immigration officers, the multitude of illegals using unauthorized Social Security numbers and the lack of disclosure between the Internal Revenue service, the Social Security Administration and the Justice and Homeland Security Departments.

The compromise deal allows 18,000 new Border Patrol agents…370 miles of additional border fences would be built, and an employee verification system would be implemented that would require employers to check with the government on legality of the employee as hired and allow three years to check all employees. After that, an employer discovered to employ illegals will be heavily fined, fined out of existence.

A tamper proof identifying Social Security card would be required to make individual checks and such a card is already in the Congressional-hopper introduced by California Congressman David Dreier.

Some fencing will be built supplemented by technological fencing and observation that should allow the Border Patrol to be more effective. Because the entire border is not being fenced some critics want the entire compromise junked. This is a stupid position to take.

In summary, critics and those who claim this compromise is a sellout or ineffective are wrong.

Most here illegally will step out of the shadows to become legal. Some will continue on the path to citizenship. Most can return home and return to the United States legally at will thus cutting down the number of illegal crossings.

Many workers in the fields will become legal and be joined seasonally by the legal workers desperately needed for a full harvest. Seasonal construction workers will help alleviate housing shortages and help keep prices down under the work-permit program. As work slows down, these people can return home so they can return legally when needed. This cuts down significantly on illegal entry.

Emergency labor will increase legally for places like New Orleans that would never rebuild without Mexican workers. If there are any doubts about Mexicans rebuilding New Orleans, ask any white New Orleans survivor of Hurricane Katrina.

Future immigrants will be graded for skills and education.

With most presently illegal workers becoming legal, the border protected by more fence and technology and a larger Border Patrol, the few remaining illegal border-crossers can be run down and arrested more effectively than ever for the simple reason that there will be far fewer attempting to illegally cross.

In a phrase, this compromise allows our economy to have sufficient workers in critical fields that are currently short of workers and permits the government to know who is here and nails the border down to few illegal crossers. Why, for example, would anyone try to come illegally when they can come legally under this compromise, work for a period of time and return home to their families whenever they wish?

If anyone is serious about stopping illegal entrance into the country, they must support this Senate compromise on immigration. To not do so betrays agendas other than protecting the sovereignty of the United States.

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Contreras’ books, THE ILLEGAL ALIEN: A DAGGER INTO THE HEART OF AMERICA? and A HISPANIC VIEW OF AMERICAN POLITICS AND THE POLITICS OF IMMIGRATION are available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com