Considering the almost criminal stagnation on the issue of illegal immigration, someone needed to say something. Even our U.S. Congress has failed to make any statement, one way or the other, on the nearly millions of illegal immigrants currently working and living among the rest of the recognized citizenry of the United States. While Lou Dobbs continues to parrot the issue daily on CNN and right-wing extremists continue to advocate massive deportation, our representatives and officials have failed to move in any direction.
However, in Wisconsin, one man finally took a stand.
On Friday, UW System Regent Jesus Salas handed in his resignation to Gov. Jim Doyle following Mr. Doyle’s signing of the Wisconsin budget. For Mr. Salas, the omission of a bill that would give the children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition for the UW System and the Wisconsin Technical College System was the final straw. In his letter to Mr. Doyle, Mr. Halas wrote, “I refuse to join you in celebrating the signing of the 2007-09 WI budget. For us, it is a day of mourning for the future of our children who, through no fault of their own, continue to be denied access to the UW-System.”
While it’s obvious that the detrimental effects of illegal immigration must be addressed, the details of the rejected bill show that Mr. Salas’ and those who advocate for steady integration of the illegal population have legitimate points.
Critics have deliberately used the lowest level of analysis in order to condemn this bill and similar provisions. Anti-immigration proponents have argued this bill is simply a discount for illegal immigrants, which allows them to continue freeloading off the country they snuck into in the first place. However, to evaluate this failed bill as an extension of amnesty is to ignore the language of the bill as well as the ultimate reality of the immigration crisis in this country.
The provision would have required those applying for the UW System or the WTCS to have either graduated from a Wisconsin high school or received “high-school graduation equivalency” from the state of Wisconsin. Also, the applicant for a UW-System school must have been consistently present for three years following the first day of enrollment in a Wisconsin high school. However, the most important facet of this bill is the following stipulation: “… The person enrolls in the UW System of WTCS institution and provides that institution with a written affidavit that the person has filed or will file an application for a permanent resident visa with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as soon as the person is eligible to do so.” This is not simply opening world-class education to freeloaders — it is allowing qualified students who wish to live here legally and who abide by the rule of law to do so legitimately.
The argument, “Why give anything to individuals who have committed a felony,” is absolutely fruitless. This is not handing welfare checks to undocumented workers, it’s not giving health care to those who have tripped across the border and it certainly isn’t letting those who have deliberately crossed this border to simply siphon off tax-free wages for those back home. These are teenagers, mere children, who crossed the border with their families or were born here. To label innocent teenagers who have shown a productive desire to become contributing members to American society as criminal simply perpetuates the cycle of these economic refugees. And all because we consider them “illegal.”
There needs to be a political reality check in this country: We cannot continue to translate the “illegal” status of Mexican, Central American or South American immigrants, into criminal behavior. Every story on “The O’Reilly Factor” points to an illegal immigrant who murdered someone, robbed someone or committed some heinous crime worthy of decades in jail as another example of the scourge illegal immigrants bring to the United States. In what parallel universe of reasoning does undocumented status show devious intent? Simply because they didn’t obey the law? Do those who fail to pay taxes seek to harm others or tear apart their nation? Of course not, and neither do those most of those flout border security laws seek to burn America to the ground. There is legitimacy to the claim that some of those who enter our country have connections with terrorist cells. For that reason we must put more effort and funding into limiting immigration and securing our borders. However, the vast majority of illegal immigrants in this country seek only to live a secure and prosperous life, not to gnaw at the fibers holding this country together. In fact, they probably do more to hold it together by way of sheer labor than most groups in this country.
It is for this reason that a strict adherence to the “rule of law” must give way to an honest and sobering evaluation of this crisis. Even if we could deport every illegal immigrant in this country, given the economic suicide — both in terms of cost of deportation and the loss of a powerful and reliable labor force — and the morally abhorrent humanitarian crisis it would entail, this option is completely unfeasible. We can only look inward toward transforming those hidden from the scope of the law into tax-paying, full-fledged citizens.
While there are certainly illegal immigrants who merit deportation, such as those who have committed crimes other than crossing the border, these students have proven themselves to be productive members of society. They are ready to accept the responsibilities and duties of U.S. citizenship through rigorous education and should be welcomed with open arms, not forced out of their homes.
Mr. Salas may be accused of overreacting by resigning his position as regent, but in reality, it’s a bold move meant as a call to action on immigration reform. As a state and nation, it’s time to heed that call.
Jason Smathers ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and history.
