posted June 30, 2003
Although I am a supporter of Congressman Zach Wamp, I was disappointed in his recent statement concerning the issue of Hispanic immigration recently published in The Chattanoogan.
Congressman Wamp was correct in deploring the recent deaths in Texas of immigrants who were being smuggled into the United States in inhumane conditions. (There are many such deaths each year, but many are not widely reported, as this incident was). However, I believe his solution missed the mark.
He stated the way to cut back on illegal smuggling of Mexicans was to make sure Mexicans knew they would not receive benefits if they arrived here illegally. (He used the term "illegal aliens"; I prefer the more appropriate and less demeaning phrase, "guest workers"). This is, after all, a land with a strong immigrant history.
I assure you that our southern neighbors do not come here seeking benefits or welfare. They come here to work, and to work hard, because they must in order to provide for their families back home. They seek the hard to fill jobs, jobs that American employers cannot fill in critical industries. They accept low wages and long hours. Rather than inquiring about vacations (generally unheard of for Hispanics working in this country), they ask how many hours of work they can get. They live together to minimize living costs, go without many consumer goods we consider necessary, and endure year or more separations from their families. In addition, they suffer many other hardships due to the fact that they are part of an underground economy. This makes them vulnerable any time they encounter the system and ripe for exploitation.
The issue of unfilled jobs in key economic segments of our economy is not new; it has been a fact for at least twenty years, starting in California when there was no one to pick the crops. Now employers in other industries, including hospitality, textiles, poultry, depend on our guest workers to keep business open. Many news magazines have acknowledged that our country's economy would have been crippled in recent years without the assistance of our immigrant workers.
Any immigration attorney will tell you that the Immigration Department is broken as a system. Congressman Wamp acknowledged it himself recently. Fix it, I say. Congressman Wamp suggests that our undocumented workers are lawbreakers and should only come here legally. This is fantasy land. The truth is that Hispanics would stand a better chance of hitching a ride on the space shuttle to the U.S. than immigrating legally under current regulations. It is Congress who must accept responsibility for creating this increasingly intolerable situation by their refusal to deal with the realities of our mutual economic needs. The problem has been that it is a political hot potato. Statesmanship is needed.
It is not fair to beckon with one hand and set up life threatening obstacles with the other hand. It is not fair to American business or to immigrant workers.
Supply will meet demand, somehow, some way. That way will continue to be inhumane smuggling and immigrants dying in the desert until Congress overhauls the Immigration Department and makes its regulations realistic. There have been several "guest worker" programs on the legislative table, and there may be other solutions. But it is way past time for Congress to find solutions to the economic reality and mutual need between the U.S. and Mexico.
Mary G. Gardenhire
marggard@comcast.net
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