Immigration is a volatile political issue for the 2008 presidential contenders.
Controversy surrounds immigration: Illegal immigrants, for example, face accusations that they unfairly take jobs away from Americans. They can be exploited by employers and have no protections. And the flow of illegal immigrants adds to worries that the United States cannot control its borders and protect itself against terrorists.
Consider these national statistics on illegal immigration:
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These illegal immigrants came from Mexico (57%), El Salvador (4%), Guatemala (4%), Philippines (2%), and Honduras (2%).
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(29.9 million) of arrivals in the United States.
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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services highlights that the illegal immigrant population in America grows by approximately 500,000 each year.
Diane R. Chappell-Daly is a lawyer in Syracuse. She has been handling immigration cases from about 100 different countries for 13 years now.
She says that something has to be done:
“I think we definitely need legislation. There’s a severe shortage of employment visas and family-based visas. And that’s part of the reason we’re seeing undocumented people here right now. It’s impossible for many of them to come here with documents. And there’s a need for the work that they do and it’s a draw for them. So we’re sort of in a difficult situation right now and it really need to be addressed. We need some strong leadership on that issue.” [Diane R. Chappell-Daly]
She is a strong advocate of immigrants and praises their value to the United States.
“I would like for people to really appreciate the benefits that immigrants bring to our society. In terms of the culture, the food, the language — just the diversity of experience and their energy — I think they contribute a lot to our society and I would like to see some recognition of that.”[Diane R. Chappell-Daly]
In one effort to deal with the issue of illegal immigration, the Bush Administration proposed a guest-worker plan. It called for:
This plan went down in flames.
In the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton propose detailed plans to overhaul the system.
Republican Giuliani wants illegal immigrants to pay a penalty and pay back taxes. Giuliani doesn’t propose a plan on how illegal immigrants would get citizenship. But he argues that there should be a strong requirement that they speak, read, and write English, as well as understand American history. But speaking, reading and writing basic English is already a requirement for those applying for citizenship.
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s strategy is to strengthen the borders, promote greater cross-cooperation with Canada and Mexico, set strict penalties for those who exploit undocumented workers, and create a path to earned legal status for those who are here.
John Briggs is a professor of history and education specializing in immigration studies at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. He suggests that the economy can suffer if illegal immigrants can’t stay in the United States. Many jobs and industries rely on the immigrants, he says:
“They’re all built to the current labor structure — just simply can’t suddenly send everyone home and accept that there won’t be an extraordinary economic dislocation.” [John Briggs]
Briggs says that something needs to be done to help the undocumented workers.
“It will help labor in the long run if workers who are here are given some kind of protection. They will be less vulnerable to exploitation by employers and move more likely to insist in fair compensation.” [John Briggs]
Briggs adds:
“ They came here to get ahead. So their own motivation drives them to learn English to become citizens. You don’t have to force them to do it.” [John Briggs]
Local experts say that immigrant also have other needs.
Monica Dornford is with the Syracuse chapter of the Americanization League, a non -profit organization where immigrants can go for help in filling out forms to gain citizenship. She describes what’s needed in this way:
“People that come from other countries — especially the non-English speaking people—I think they should have more organizations that help to teach them about the United States — not only to speak English but how to communicate with English-speaking people and how to adjust.” [Monica Dornford]
Another expert says we should also look at different forms of employment for immigrants. Hope Wallis is program director of the Center for New Americans, a non-profit adult education and resource center that helps refugees and legal immigrants establish new lives in this community. She says the government should focus on keeping immigrant and refugee families together:
“I would propose expanding our family unification. There’s two ways I’ll like it expanded. I’ll like it expanded so that the backlog of family members the people have applied for can come more quickly to especially to U.S. citizens. And I would like for legal permanent residents to be able to bring the same relatives as U.S. citizens. [Hope Wallis]
The Rev. Blessed Sikhosana is the president of the Miracle Ministry, which ministers to immigrants, gained her citizenship in April 2006. She says the immigration service has to employ people who understands immigrants’ struggles:
“ Immigration tries to deal with issues using an American person. You need a person from that country, employ them, let them be the ones to do all the investigation. They come from there.” [Rev. Blessed Sikhosana]
For Democracywise, I’m Joyce Ogirri.
(Joyce Ogirri is a graduate broadcast journalism student.)
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