Crossing the Rio Grande
As US immigration reform draws criticism from both ends of the political spectrum, fear is that it could exacerbate rather than solve the problem, reports Veronica Balderas Iglesias
Earlier this month, during his weekly radio programme, United States President George W Bush declared that the US, a nation of immigrants, needed "immigration reform". With this announcement the US administration took an important step towards admitting that the current immigration system is woefully inadequate.
Advocacy groups working closely with thousands of illegal workers, however, are not satisfied with the president's proposal to allow illegal immigrants already in the country and workers abroad to apply for a three- year renewable work permit. Mark Silverman of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), points out that the weakness in the new proposal is that it does not provide a way for so-called "illegal aliens" to obtain permanent legal status. "We hope that the president and the Congress build on this initial statement to come up with far-reaching immigration reform that provides for legal status for hard-working, tax-paying immigrants and their families," Silverman told Al-Ahram Weekly.
More immigrants arrive in the US each year than to the rest of the world combined. Official statistics show that there are 33.1 million legal and illegal immigrants living in the US, accounting for 11.5 per cent of the population. According to estimates, between eight and 12 million immigrants are undocumented. Jose Sandoval from the California-based support group Voluntarios de la Comunidad explains that they come mainly from Mexico, India, the Philippines, China, El Salvador and Guatemala.
In his speech Bush posed the question: "If there are foreigners willing to do what Americans are not, why not give them a chance?" According to academic and activist Naomi Klein, "Washington is constructing a kind of three-tiered fortress in which the US rules by decree, Canada and Mexico serve as guards, and Mexican workers are banished to the continental equivalent of the servants' quarters."
Silverman does not agree with the notion that an estimated one-third to a half of illegal immigrants work underground, and consequently pay no taxes. "The majority of undocumented workers do pay taxes," he stressed, arguing that comprehensive immigration reform has to include an earning adjustment clause, a new labour programme and a reduction in the case backlog.
Advocacy organisations lament that the authorities are failing to address the urgent need to improve the living conditions of illegal immigrants. For now, those who do make it into the US wake up to the fact that the "American dream" remains a fantasy. "Being on the inside may be better than being locked out," writes Klein, "but it's no guarantee of equal status."
Successful integration into the US in the real sense of the term is growing increasingly difficult given the systematic ghettoisation of the immigrant population, the significant lack of welfare benefits in the US, and the relative poverty of the educational and legal system offered to the Latin community.
There are those within the US government who are against the legalisation programmes and specifically against Bush's new immigration plan. For instance Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo has criticised the new immigration plan as "rewarding illegal behaviour". He wants an additional 20,000 border patrol agents set up along the US-Mexico border, while he expects the government to target those hiring illegal immigrants and advocates a guest-worker programme with the emphasis on the worker returning to their country after the contract ends.
Anti-immigration activists say that immigrants among the prison population cost taxpayers about $900 million each year. Sandoval argues that many non-English speaking illegal workers are often unjustly convicted because they are not able to adequately defend themselves.
In order for a new immigration policy to be effective it must bring benefits not only to the US but to the immigrants themselves. While immigrants remain underpaid and unattended to by the state, xenophobic activity is rapidly gaining ground in places like Florida, Texas and Arizona. "Undocumented immigrants suffer from great psychological pressure, especially from members of anti-immigrant groups who 'hunt' the illegal workers," Sandoval told the Weekly.
The US administration has so far failed to clarify and articulate a unified stance on immigration. Vague proposals that are announced but not properly implemented cause confusion, especially when different proposals are conflicting. Indecision will only prompt potential illegal workers to pack their bags and run as fast as they can to America before the empire closes its doors.
This may provide the US with the time it needs to gather the powerful labour force it requires to keep its industries running before it permanently closes its gates to all those seeking to live the fabled dream.
