Immigration: a
Complicated Issue in the US
HAVANA (Prensa Latina) - The presence of
illegal immigrants in the United States
is a very complicated issue that has not
been analytically assessed for many
years from different points of views.
The situation of 11 million persons who
live in the shadows fearful of being
deported, jailed or even killed by
extremist groups that promote racist
doctrines, is today at the center of the
media and the public debate.
Civic rights advocates recall that for
several decades former presidents Ronald
Reagan, George Bush, William Clinton and
George W. Bush used the issue for their
political interests.
The problem is so important and its
implications so decisive in the
elections and other aspects of life in
the USA that a solution has been
postponed during repeated presidential
mandates.
Although the votes of Hispanics and
immigrants is not a majority they can
swing in one or the other direction, a
campaign expert explained.
No executive of legislature power was
able to gather bipartisan consensus
requested by President Barack Obama to
set up a code that would allow
regularizing the situation of immigrants
and their families, above all those from
the south.
Presidential elections, mid term
elections (Congress) and reelections
gravitate around this issue and, as many
experts explain, it keeps immigrants as
hostages of political interests.
Increasing frustration after failures in
2006 and 2007 deepens now after a recent
decision in Arizona to pass Law SB 1070,
a severe state legal instrument aimed at
combating illegal immigration that put
this issue in the center of a heated
debate.
Considered one of the states with more
presence of illegal immigrants, about
460,000 according to conservative
estimates combined with a series of
factors to produce a freak law that has
scared political, legislative sectors
and the population in general.
A state congressional house controlled
by conservatives, a Republican governor
and growing drug-trafficking, among
other factors led to its approval.
Critics of the measure warn that it will
create incidents of racial
discrimination and other abuses, and
have proposed to take it to the courts,
said Justice Secretary Eric Holder in
Congress.
On the other side of the issue those who
approve the controversial law uphold
that it is a praiseworthy effort to
combat something that is becoming a
scourge.
Adding to the complexity of the issue is
the valuable hand labor of immigrants
who maintain and make large
contributions to the US economy. The
so-called wetbacks in California,
Florida, New Mexico and Arizona, to
mention just a few regions, represent
millionaire figures for the local
economy, according to official
statistics.
That is without counting the big impact
on the remittances they make to Latin
American nations such as Mexico, El
Salvador, Dominican Republic, and
Nicaragua among other. Politicians and
civil leaders in those countries are
already protesting against the Arizona
immigration law.
On the other hand, the situation becomes
even more heated after the Arizona bill
was signed into law because many now
feel denied their human rights because
they have copper colored skin like the
original peoples of Latin America.
Returning to the subject, 2010 is an
election year. How long will this debate
last and what will the proposed solution
be?
This is an important question and a
challenge for President Obama who
intends to separate himself from the
road followed by his predecessors in the
White House. |
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