President Bush issued a new chapter in America’s long history of immigration policy this month with a proposal to give legal status to millions of immigrants working illegally in the United States.
The administration’s plan would allow immigrants to apply for three-year work permits, granting them the same rights as legal workers and allowing them unrestricted travel back home. The reforms would also let American companies hire immigrants if they can prove no U.S. citizens are available to work the jobs.
An estimated 8 million to 14 million illegal immigrants live and work in the United States today, creating a large, invisible underclass of mostly Hispanic aliens. Approximately 60 percent of these workers are Mexican.
Many consider the timing of the plan as proof that Bush is working to capture the Hispanic vote for the fall presidential election. However, White House officials point to the recent Americas Summit in Mexico as incentive for unveiling the proposal now.
Government officials, Latino activists and alien workers alike consider Bush’s proposal a major step forward in the long-awaited process of protecting the rights of millions of illegal immigrants. The Sept. 11 attacks diverted attention from the issue of immigration reform in recent years, putting the political spotlight on the war on terrorism instead of domestic policy.
“It’s time. This is the 20th century,” Camille Solberg, president of the Hispanic American Council of Wisconsin, said. “It is time for these people to be treated as human beings. Now they can get out of the shadows of being mistreated, of being taken advantage of.”
Fears linger, however, that the plan may prove harmful for both illegal immigrants and American workers. Some speculate that alien workers are in danger of opening themselves up for deportation after their three-year permits expire. Others worry that U.S. business owners may drive down wages to turn American workers away from jobs, ensuring that only immigrants are available to work.
Although people from all sides of the debate question the direction of the plan, most agree it is simply a starting point from which negotiations can begin.
“The process will expel all of these questions,” Solberg said. “All of those loopholes will be cleared out. As activists, we will address them.”
Solberg’s major concern is not with the plan itself, but with the threat many Americans feel from any policies that empower immigrants.
“My concern is the backlash, how the white community is seeing this,” Solberg said.
However, many feel U.S. workers should not be targeted as a stumbling block to the process. Instead, politics is the biggest obstacle to reform. Democrats’ strong labor base and the Republican Party’s traditionally staunch national security and border stance make immigration reform something many politicians would prefer to ignore.
“Personally, I don’t blame the average American for having fears,” Steven Gonzales, former adjunct law professor at the University of Wisconsin, said. “What I fear is a failure of leadership. Party politics benefits from making their base angry.”
The war on terrorism creates yet another difficulty to updating immigration policies, with fears that easing the United States-Mexico border may heighten American susceptibility to attacks.
Gonzales, however, claims that only by opening up the border and increasing international cooperation through immigration reform can the United States ensure its own security.
“The border is something that is artificial,” Gonzales said. “Building a fence around the country is not going to work.”
