2008 Woodie Awards
The Issues with Immigration
Ashley Studley
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An illegal immigrant named Alfredo Ramos recently killed two teenage girls in a drunk driving accident. Ramos, 22, had been convicted of a DUI in February, and had a fake ID (in place of a license) on him at the time of the crash. After blowing a .14, Ramos was detained, and has since been charged with two counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter.
The accident has caused an uproar in one of America's ongoing political debates: illegal immigration.
According to MSNBC, there are an estimated 12 million illgegal immigrants in the United States today. In 2004, George W. Bush proposed a Guest Worker program, which would allow illegal immigrants to work for up to three years, and be given temporary citizenship. This could be renewed after three years, if the worker remained employed and followed the guidelines. "This new temporary worker program will bring more than economic benefits to America. Our homeland will be more secure when we can better account for those who enter our country, instead of the current situation in which millions of people are unknown, unknown to the law," the President announced during his proposal. He went on to add that such a program would allow authorities to filter out the hard-working immigrants from those who came to the US with ulterior motives.
After the three years, if that worker wishes to do so, he or she could apply for citizenship, a point of the proposal that didn't sit well with many in Congress.
"We cannot encourage people to come illegally, wait it out, and then get into a legal trap," said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas. "We have to reward people who come in legally. We do need to have certain types of workers from all over the world…but we have to know who is in this country."
In 2005, Bush traveled to Arizona, a state whose governors declared a state of emergency because of the number of illegal immigrants located in the area. While there, he spoke of the Guest Worker program and promised tighter borders. Although he had some people convinced, many of his own Republicans claimed that his proposal was too similar to amnesty. The President denied that his idea was at all related to amnesty, stating: "The program I propose would not create an automatic path to citizenship. It wouldn't provide amnesty. I oppose amnesty."
Last week, Bush headed down to Arizona again to discuss the achievements that have been made in regards to border control. He spoke about the number of border guards, which has doubled over the last year, the new fencing that has gone up between the US and Mexico, and the numerous arrests that border guards have made.
The Guest Worker program has been slightly reformed, with the temporary visas being named "Z" visas. With the "Z' visa, undocumented immigrants can work in the States for up to three years, but must pay $3,500 dollars each time it is renewed. The immigrants must also return home, and then apply for citizenship at a US embassy and pay $10,000 dollars to re-enter legally.
Some question Bush's motive for his incessant promotion of the Guest Worker program. Up until the early 2000s, Mexico's oil production had banned foreign investment. But as President Bush pushed for immigrant working visas, Mexican President, Vicente Fox, opened up Mexico's oil industry, PEMEX, to US investors.
A poll conducted last month found that 73 percent of legal immigrants found that illegal immigrants have helped the economy by accepting low paying jobs. In this poll, 800 immigrants in 47 states were surveyed by telephone by the New American Media, an organization which gathers information for ethnic media outlets. Perias Pillay, now 43, migrated to the US from Malaysia when he was 18 years old. "Nobody comes here to get on welfare. They come here to work, and as long as we need workers we should let them come," he said.
The poll also found that 64 percent of those surveyed believe that anti-immigration attitudes are the result of racism.
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