"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 4/19/'06 11:30AM
"Georgia Immigration" - (Google) News Sweep - 4/19/'06 11:30AM
4/19/'06 - The following article(s) were found in the media. Several stories are provided ... with links to the original sources ... for your convenience:
- The Immigration Payoff (Business Week)
- Your turn: Readers on immigration (AJC)
- Thousands look to boycott, envision vast database (AJC)
- READERS WRITE (AJC)
- Catholics full of show on illegal immigration (AJC)
- The Year In Hate (SPLC)
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12388437/
The Immigration Payoff
Legalizing Migrants Would Boost Their Investment In The U.S. Economy -- And Give A Big Lift To Mexico, Too
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Desperate, I motioned to one of the dozens of street vendors swarming around the idling cars. "Is there a turnaround lane for people who're stuck here by mistake?" I asked. "No, you're out of luck," he said, lugging a 3-foot crucifix and leopard-print blanket for sale.
But a few minutes later, he came running back. "You're in luck!" he shouted. "There's a place up here where there's no fence and the curb is broken and you can do a U-turn."
STEADY FLOW.
I won't say here whether I bent the traffic rules, but it occurred to me that the poorly designed border entrance is similar to our broken U.S. immigration policy. The U.S. doesn't have a sensible way to deal with the need for a steady flow of reliable workers to do jobs our citizens are no longer interested in performing.
As a result, millions of good, hard-working people end up breaking the law. And it's not just illegal immigrants who do so but also Americans whose businesses would fail without that willing workforce. We have a legal and ethical bottleneck that must be addressed -- quickly.
For months the public debate has been dominated by anti-immigration forces who correctly note that the border is leaky but demand an enforcement-only approach. But when the Senate recently began considering compromise legislation that would allow millions of illegal migrants to start on the path toward citizenship and create a temporary workers' program, the tone of the debate changed dramatically [see BW Online, 3/31/06, "A Future with Open Borders"].
CAPTURE THE VOTE.
More than a million immigrants -- some in the U.S. legally, some not -- began marching peacefully in dozens of cities across the U.S., waving American flags and urging legislators to allow an estimated 12 million people, more than half of them Mexicans, to emerge from legal limbo. Their actions are not going unnoticed by politicians of both parties eager to capture the vote of the fast-growing Hispanic population, the country's largest minority [see BW Online, 03/31/06, "In Georgia, Immigration Is No Peach"].
Mexicans back home are watching with some amazement as their compatriots assert themselves politically. "I think all of us were taken by surprise by the size and impact of the marches," says Mexican political scientist Sergio Aguayo.
Yet seeing the protesters also filled him with a sense of sorrow. "The migrants may have an emotional and cultural attachment to Mexico, but we're realizing that many of our most hard-working citizens are gone for good," he says. "They want to stay in the U.S. because they feel they can develop their potential better there."
DEAD END.
Indeed, for decades the Mexican government has failed to create the proper conditions for solid economic growth. While NAFTA boosted export manufacturing, there aren't enough jobs for the millions who didn't complete high school.
Authorities have implemented an ambitious scholarship program to keep 5 million poor kids in school, which will make a difference in the future. But for now, many must take dead-end jobs with no fringe benefits in Mexico's informal economy, or cross the border, as about 400,000 are doing annually.
Primitivo Rodrguez, a historian who works to defend the political rights of Mexicans living abroad, is disturbed by the toll migration has taken on Mexico [see BW Online, 03/10/06, "The Fox in Winter"]. In many rural towns, the only inhabitants left are small children and the elderly.
"Migration has been one of the biggest disgraces to hit Mexico," he says. "The continuing exodus has caused the disintegration of whole families and communities."
BANK ACCOUNTS.
There are many who believe both the U.S. and Mexico would benefit from a change in the laws. Carlos Olamendi, 49, is a Mexican-born restaurateur and entrepreneur in California who 27 years ago overstayed a tourist visa and became a U.S. citizen in 1986 thanks to an amnesty. A prominent Republican, he lobbies tirelessly for immigration reform. "Legalizing the migrants who are already established here would revitalize the economies of the U.S. and Latin America," says Olamendi.
Migrants would pay more taxes, open bank accounts, and sign up for auto loans, home mortgages, and insurance, he says. Airlines would benefit as migrants would be free to fly back and forth rather than trek through the rattlesnake-infested scrub and desert of the border.
And Mexico would benefit as migrants in the U.S. invest in the hometowns they left behind. Olamendi and 34 other immigrants in New York, Texas, and California created a $3.5 million investment fund to boost businesses in their home state of Puebla.
Building greenhouses and warehouses, they're helping farmers package traditional Mexican foods for export to the U.S. under the "Cinco de Mayo" brand -- to be launched in Los Angeles on May 5th, the Mexican holiday that is celebrated more among nostalgic U.S. Hispanics than it is south of the border.
NIGHT CLASSES.
Certainly, Mexico's government must do more by investing in job-creating regional infrastructure projects and by reducing the red tape and corruption that prompted many frustrated Mexicans to abandon their country. But the private sector is likely to forge the way. "There is a lot of entrepreneurial energy among the migrants, and they want to help create jobs by investing in both countries," says Olamendi.
That's good news for the Mexicans who prefer to stay in their own country. Graciel Barraza, who works at the Sharp TV factory in Rosarito, just south of Tijuana, is a 27-year-old father of two. He moved to Rosarito from Sinaloa state seven years ago intending to migrate to the U.S.
But he found a good job -- he's in charge of recycling at the huge export facility -- as well as a boss who encouraged him to enroll in night classes for a university degree in business administration. "My future is here," Barraza says. "I have no desire to leave my country anymore."
For every person like Barrazo, though, there are a dozen less-educated but equally resourceful Mexicans who have managed to establish lives in the U.S. and are contributing to the American economy. For them, legalization is the best solution.
Go ahead and make them pay a hefty fine for having broken the law. Introduce tamper-proof worker ID cards to prove who's legal and who's not. We need an immigration program that recognizes, rather than hypocritically ignores, the fact that the U.S. needs a steady supply of workers to do the backbreaking tasks few others are willing to do.
If the U.S. Congress has the vision to accomplish that, then at least the migrants will have a clearly marked, legal path that they can pursue. Then we can concentrate on patrolling the southern border to keep out the real enemy -- terrorists.
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http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/atlanta_world_445428bc53f0f0b70088.html
Your turn: Readers on immigration
Alan Lin, Michelle Rojas, J.D. Anderson, George K. Hinton, Connie B. Jones, Gesele Dorsey, David Mace, N. Dock - For the Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Report views of those who entered legally
I read the two articles: "Thousands turn out at rallies" and "What they say on immigration" on your Web site. They are great articles, but I think in order to better balance the report you should also cover two other groups: legal immigrants and second-generation and above U.S. citizens. From what I understand, these two groups are not very supportive of the initiative of the Latino community.
Legal immigrants --- who paid thousands of dollars in taxes to fund the infrastructure, school system and medical system --- feel threatened by illegal Latino immigrants, who never paid taxes but enjoy public services and are going to get citizenship ahead of legal residents.
This is a matter of justice. People who have been citizens all their life in Georgia have a similar view. Don't forget that 75 percent of them support the bill. Where are their voices?
I expect to see more balanced stories from the Journal-Constitution in the future.
ALAN LIN, Norcross
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Change the law to let couples stay together
I really enjoyed your article on immigration rallies that filled the nation's streets. Something that I do not hear being mentioned during all of this debate [is] the illegal immigrants who marry U.S. citizens and have children.
There is a misconception that when you marry a U.S. citizen, you can get your citizenship. During the process of applying for residency, the immigrant is required to return to [his] home country, which could take up to a year or more. This puts a hardship on the spouse and the children.
I think there should be some kind of reform in this area that does not require the immigrant to return home. It would make more sense for them to be able to stay here with their family and support their children.
MICHELLE ROJAS, Smyrna
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Lopsided coverage insults intelligence
I am responding to your recent article titled "Immigration rallies fill nation's streets: Latinos test political, economic muscle" (Page One, April 11). I am a longtime reader of the AJC, so I hope you will hear me out.
With all due respect, I must say that this is the worst piece of journalism I have read in some time. To have this piece as your lead article in the AJC without even acknowledging that there is a whole other side to this debate --- which the majority of American citizens just so happen to agree with --- is, quite frankly, insulting to my intelligence! One should not have to look in the Opinion section of a newspaper to find anything resembling objectivity on a particular issue, should they?
I am not an expert in the field of journalism, although it was my major in college. But I am smart enough to know poor journalism when you make it this obvious! Nor am I a knee-jerk reactionary who believes this is a black and white issue. I am actually a fairly liberal-minded person on many issues. But if there is one thing that I cannot stand, it is being treated like a fool. And, I must say, I have felt that way more and more frequently when reading the AJC.
Please take these criticisms to heart, AJC. I am nothing more than a concerned reader and an average American.
J.D. ANDERSON, Macon
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What's up with Mexico? Find out!
Angela Tuck's column prompted me to write this letter ("Coverage of illegal immigration encompasses all sides," Inside the AJC, April 15).
In recent months, I have become increasingly concerned about two deficiencies I perceive in the Journal-Constitution's news coverage. In fact, I notice this same deficiency in other major news media. I am convinced that the media's roles as gatekeepers and agenda-setters for the public are far more influential than editorial opinion. That is why I feel that a dearth of reporting on two subjects is a disservice.
First, there is very little reporting out of Mexico and Central America to help explain this invasion of Latinos into the United States. There is ample reporting from the border between the United States and Mexico, but it's almost as if nothing exists 20 miles south of the border.
I see Latinos demanding all sorts of concessions by the United States, but I fail to understand why they blame the United States and not their own governments for the lack of economic opportunity in their native countries. Is not the government of Mexico humiliated that its citizens are fleeing the country? Do their politicians not feel, much less admit, any sense of failure?
Why, during the late 19th and all of the 20th century did Mexico languish in the economic doldrums while the United States grew into an economic giant? Surely there is no shortage of journalists who know the language and understand Mexico and its history well enough to do a substantial reporting job south of our border. Why do they not question government officials, academics, and business leaders on these subjects?
GEORGE K. HINTON, Dahlonega
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Don't compare this to civil rights movement
In Teresa Borden's article ("HBO production chronicles Latino students' 1968 protest," Atlanta & the World, April 12), the Hispanic group compared itself to the civil rights movement. You can't do that if you are illegal.
Blacks were asking for rights that they deserved. Border crossers also are asking for rights --- but they arrived here illegally. If the Hispanic people who cross the borders illegally are not made to obey the laws of America, how can we tell other nationalities that they can't break the laws of this land? The line has to be drawn somewhere.
I can respect a man or a woman who wants to work for an honest living. But we are almost legalizing slavery when we let undocumented workers work for companies and [they\] are paid lower wages, simply because they are illegal. Then we throw them away when they are hurt on the job, leaving their families to suffer.
Lets not put undocumented workers in front of the line when there are people who are already standing in the line legally to get into this country, and they are willing to enter according to the laws that are in place, not force themselves onto the American people.
CONNIE B. JONES, Atlanta
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It's painfully familiar to Californians
As someone who will be moving to the Atlanta area from Los Angeles, I can clearly see that all Latinos do not take jobs that Americans won't take. I see too many white and black people in the South working in fast-food restaurants and as housekeepers, etc.
What I do see are people coming in and getting benefits that some of our own people cannot get!
Unfortunately, there are not enough resources to provide for everyone in this country unless the government does something. While I understand the need to work and provide for your family, I think we are missing a bigger, more systemic problem, which is Mexico itself.
While I see people demonstrating and demanding rights that they do not have in this country, I do not see a single Latino demonstrating in Mexico about the dire economic situation there! Why aren't they demonstrating in their own country about what goes on there? I think if they all united in Mexico, it would be enough to bring about serious change in that country to allow them to make a decent living. Companies would come in. But I don't see that.
Here in California, every job that can be filled by a non-Latino is filled by one. A lot don't bother to speak English and sometimes are arrogant. (Surely someone at your office MUST speak Spanish.) If I was moving to another country, I would learn the language; it would help me to advance. But here, there is an underground network that seems to get these people hired.
Case in point: I was in Palm Springs at a major restaurant and one of the junior waiters did not speak English. Yes, he was working hard, but if you asked for something, all you got was a stare. After calling the head waiter several times to get such things as water, etc., at my table, he too expressed his frustration at not being able to communicate with certain members of the staff, who were all Latino.
Simply being a hard worker does not make you right. Apply for citizenship, like everyone else. I just feel if there were a worker pass given here, three-quarters of Mexico's population would be right here in the United States.
California is right above Mexico, but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the country reacts when EVERYONE in their state seems to be Latino, when all the resources get used up, hospitals close and Medicare goes broke. Classrooms are crowded here, and the majority of students are Latino and have illegal-immigrant parents. To say that the school district does not care is an understatement. In many schools here, D is a passing grade. You can get a diploma with a D average.
I think it will only get worse before it gets better.
GESELE DORSEY, Los Angeles
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Not about being nice; it's about obeying law
The simple problem with your story and the march is this: As nice and hardworking as Emilia Nabor (whom you quoted) is, she is, in fact, a criminal and has broken the laws of the United States.
Having said that, I believe Nabor is a nice person. I do not characterize her as a bad person because of her choice to come here to work and live. I think the U.S. government makes it far too difficult for good, hardworking people to come here lawfully. The law allowing for lawful employment of foreign workers is far too intricate to make hiring of foreign workers a viable solution for U.S. companies, but that does not mean that the Compromise Immigration Reform Package is a good solution; it rewards those who did not follow the law as currently written.
This compromise is analogous to saying that a burglar would be warned if caught breaking into your house one time and jailed for a second offense. But, if you didn't catch the burglar for between two and five years, he could go to the police, make a declaration to have burglarized your house, and be released to live in your house.
If the burglar managed to stay inside your house for more than five years, he wouldn't even have to declare to the police that he broke the law by illegally entering your home; he'd simply continue to live there while placed on an 11-year path to homeownership.
It is worth noting that the Mexican government, and many other governments, do not grant legal immigrants the right to protest governmental matters. Further, a legal immigrant, to Mexico, is subject to arrest for doing so, and may be deported without right to legal proceedings. Just as Mexico has a constitution and laws, so does the United States. Those laws need to be enforced, or changed as needed, and violators should not be free from worry when breaking the law.
As noted in the following paragraphs --- which I sent to U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney and U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson --- it appears the members of the U.S. House and Senate have lost their minds:
"My wife is an immigrant. My wife and I spent a substantial amount of money (and time) to do everything legally. Most people would not believe the unbelievably long and complicated process that must be followed to stay within the rules, with no guarantee of success or further expense. I cannot begin to describe my frustration, as I attempted to get a driver's license for my wife, who was about to be left for a lengthy time, while I had to leave the country.
"I am ashamed to have to explain to my wife that, though we followed the law, it was not really necessary. I am more ashamed of my elected representatives and will do all that I can to see that any who vote to pass this compromise bill are voted out of office."
DAVID MACE, Dunwoody
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How to define an immigrant vs. illegals
First of all, an illegal worker is not an immigrant. An immigrant is one who makes a conscience decision to move to a new place and become part of that society, culture, language, laws, etc.
The illegals in this case have no intention of doing that. They just work and take money out of the community and eventually go back home.
We should have the same immigration laws Mexico has.
N. DOCK, Atlanta
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http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/atlanta_world_4454287c53f0624b0058.html
Thousands look to boycott, envision vast database
Teresa Borden - Staff
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Organizers of last week's immigrant rallies saw political power in the thousands who marched for immigration reform here and in other cities nationwide. Others saw a vast, untapped database.
Near a parking lot entrance to the Plaza Fiesta shopping center on Buford Highway, where marchers gathered just before the event, representatives from the immigration law firm of Hernan, Taylor & Lee set up a kiosk to collect thousands of signatures they hope to attach to letters for Gov. Sonny Perdue and for the Georgia delegation to the U.S. Congress.
Aaron Ortiz-Santos, a paralegal with the firm, said the more than 20,000 signatures collected --- with names, addresses and numbers attached --- will go directly to the March 17 Alliance, the grass-roots group that organized the Atlanta march. Adelina Nicholls, a director of the alliance, said they also hope to set up a phone bank to recruit participants for a planned boycott and sickout on May 1.
"We still have to call all those people," she said. "Fortunately, we also have the other media, whose help has been as big as the world."
The Atlanta alliance wasn't the only group to gather signatures.
In Colorado Springs, Col., organizer James Johnson said they asked marchers to sign petitions to send to U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). He said that at an earlier march, they collected between 4,000 and 5,000 signatures. In addition, they plan to call signers who gave their phone numbers to keep them informed about both state and federal immigration reform efforts.
In Bakersfield, Calif., organizer Armando Elenes said they had hoped to gather signatures for a petition aimed at U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) but had to scrap those plans in favor of beefing up security when counterprotesters showed up. He said the petition now is being circulated in fruit-packing houses.
In Homestead, Fla., organizer Jonathan Fried said backers had collected signatures on about 2,000 "commitment forms" and people pledged not to buy anything or go to work on May 1. Fried said they would have collected more but could not get through the crush of the crowd to pass out the forms.
Back in Atlanta, the attorneys also, separately, signed up people who might need legal help with their immigration status.
At the signature tables, color postcards decorated with American flags advertised, in Spanish "The dream is near" and "The time is approaching to fix your papers."
Political strength
Ortiz-Santos said the law firm is already considering representing one woman, without charge, who approached them while the march was being organized and worked as a volunteer during the event.
Ortiz-Santos acknowledged that the name list could generate clients for the firm. But he said that is a secondary concern and any reform that comes out of Congress this year will likely generate more work than the firm alone could handle. He said that the attorneys' first priority in helping gather the names was to help the march organizers, for whom they are legal advisers.
"We are going to keep [signers] updated on the legislative process," Ortiz-Santos said, referring to the ongoing debate in Congress over different plans to reform immigration and deal with 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. "But if they need it, we can also provide help one-on-one to fix their papers."
Ortiz-Santos said they are also pushing Perdue to veto a bill passed this spring in the Georgia Legislature that cracks down on illegal immigrants and their employers.
Sandra Lacayo, a 26-year-old Nicaraguan who became a U.S. citizen two years ago, directed the signature gathering at the march. She said their forms had enough blanks for 20,000 names, numbers, addresses and signatures. But so many people wanted to sign that they began using the backs of sheets and even legal pads.
"We've been counting and counting [ever since]," she said.
Doubts eased
Lacayo said march organizers invited the attorneys to set up shop next to the signature tables so the lawyers could answer any questions and reassure participants it wasn't a ploy to turn over their information to immigration enforcers.
"They were educating people," she said. "I was there gathering signatures, but I'm not a lawyer. I can't answer their questions. ... It was very valuable to us that they were there helping."
Lacayo said many who signed felt free to do so because they are here legally. Those who didn't, she said, dragged over family members who have legal status so they could sign. Lacayo said the signature drive was just as important as the march.
"It's OK to march, but we can't just leave it at that," she said.
"In the countries where we come from we can complain and complain and no one hears us. But here, one does have the power to speak out."
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http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/opinion_4454bb5253f081b1001a.html
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Activism
Responses to "Catholics full of show on illegal immigration," @issue, April 18
Catholic Church sure to face barbs
Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don't. Mary Grabar chastises the Catholic Church for "agitation for certain popular causes." I suppose if Pope Pius XII had been more vocal when the Jews of Europe were being deported to the death camps, Grabar would have labeled him an attention-seeking Pharisee as well. We can't win.
MELISSA JURGENS, Alpharetta
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Welcome help for Hispanics
I am a former Catholic who left the church long ago, based on its proscriptions on family planning and women priests. However, I have been proud of the church over the years for its struggle against despotism and poverty in South and Central America, where hundreds of priests and nuns have died in the struggle for recognition and civil rights for the peasants.
Millions of Hispanic people here need our help to be fully integrated into our culture. This is a civil rights issue more than an immigration issue. Shame on you, Mary Grabar.
WILLIAM M. MEREDITH, Roswell
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http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0418edcatholic.html
GUEST COLUMN
Catholics full of show on illegal immigrationBy MARY GRABAR
Published on: 04/18/06
The Catholic Church's support of illegal aliens is simply another ploy to build up underpopulated congregations with Hispanic, largely Catholic, immigrants.
Well, that's the way the cynical part of me sees it.
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| Mary Grabar teaches English at Clayton State University. | |||
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The less cynical part of me sees it as another misguided attempt at charity by the church in its ongoing efforts to catch up with the modern world.
But my gut reaction is the same as it was in the late 1960s when the church introduced nuns in knee-length skirts strumming guitars alongside blue-jean-clad, long-haired youths in "folk Masses."
There is something wrong with this picture.
I knew it as a girl who had just completed her confirmation, and it's something I know now.
Back in the 1960s, the American Catholic Church lost sight of the idea that Christians should leave unto Caesar what is Caesar's. It has confused ideology with religion. And as it has done so, it has displayed the worst kind of Pharisee-ism. Catholic leaders have exhibited a public piety through their agitation for certain popular causes. Like the Pharisees who loudly prayed to get attention, priests and nuns have taken up placards and marched. This is a sort of public prayer, and a capitulation to the new secular order that disallows real prayer and replaces it with political speech.
Furthermore, the groups on whose behalf the church demonstrates are usually very visible, by their skin color. Such gestures make great photo ops with the "underprivileged." Secular leftists pride themselves on the basis of such displays, a fact that Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor dramatized in her short story, "Everything That Rises Must Converge."
Do Catholic leaders heed O'Connor's message? Apparently not. I saw such pandering at St. Michael's parish in Rochester, N.Y., where I grew up. Along with the folk Masses, that church installed a special Spanish Mass between the two other Masses on Sunday. I remember my parents, who themselves barely understood any of the Mass in English, grumbling about how this time (around 10:30 a.m.) was taken away from them. We had to attend the later Mass.
But aside from this inconvenience to all other parishioners, including those who spoke a language other than English, such as the Slovenian my parents spoke, or Italian, or Polish, the church sent a clear message: Only certain ethnic groups deserve special treatment.
When I drove through the old neighborhood a few years ago, I noticed that St. Michael's church was boarded and closed.
I think of a neighbor, someone my son called Mee-Maw, a name he took up when he heard her grandson call her that, when I think of real Christian charity.
I have a picture of a woman riding a lawn mower, dressed in skirt and hose, and hair pinned up. As a Pentecostal, Mee-Maw does not believe women should wear pants or cut their hair.
I was in graduate school, working in the converted porch that served as my office in my house in Grant Park, when I heard the sound of a lawn mower in my backyard. I was either grading papers from my freshman composition classes or working on my own paper. The grass had not adjusted for my hectic schedule, and Mee-Maw, seeing a need, simply rode her lawn mower across the street and mowed my backyard. I once walked home from the bus stop after a late afternoon class to see her with my young son raking up the grass in the front yard.
Of course, I thanked her, but Mee-Maw casually waved it away, saying that was what Christ said to do in the Bible and that she was simply trying to do what He taught her.
The bishops, priests and nuns would do well to put down their placards and follow Mee-Maw's example
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| http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=627 | |||||
 | The Year In Hate A 5% annual increase in hate groups in 2005 caps a remarkable rise of 33% over the five-year period that began in 2000. by Mark Potok | | |||
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Erik Voss
erik@ICAtlanta.org
404-457-5901 Direct
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