Government, big business blamed during immigration debate

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the 12 million undocumented workers in the United States have allowed corporations to pay low wages for unskilled labor and pocket the profit while ruining the American dream for uneducated citizens.

Stein added these labor practices are dumping the cost of benefits such as emergency health care, social services, housing and subsidized hot lunches onto the taxpayers and the communities where the illegal immigrants reside.

Appearing with Stein in the debate that was a part of the CSC Distinguished Speakers Series was Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, an organization that strives to assist immigrants as they cross into the United States from Mexico by providing food, water and other necessities.

Morones said he agrees that immigration reform is needed, but said his organization’s purpose comes from Matthew 25:35, which says, “When I was hungry, who gave me to eat? When I was thirsty, who gave me to drink?”

Morones advocated that the 12 million undocumented workers in the United States be given a pathway toward citizenship. He said they left Mexico only because of the economic opportunities available in the United States.. He also said these workers strengthen the U.S. economy because of their purchasing power and also because they pay into Social Security, but will never collect the benefits.

Morones said the United States is a great country that has lended a helping hand to millions through the years and should continue to do so. “We don’t encourage anyone to come here illegally, but we don’t want them to die,” Morones said of his organization. He said at least 4,000 and perhaps up to 10,000 have died since 1994 while trying to reach America “in search of a better life.”

“The 12 million undocumented workers are not criminals and they should have a pathway to legalization so they don’t have to live in the shadows or worry about the border patrol,” Morones continued. “They want to contribute to this nation, but in an open manner.”

Morones, who interrupted participation in Migration March II near the Mexican border to participate in the debate at CSC, said the problem of illegal immigration in the United States is small compared to the world-wide picture. He said there are 200 million undocumented people in the world as those from poor countries seek a better life in a rich country. He added that about a third of the 12 million illegals in the United States came here legally, but their visas have expired. He said Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, was once in this situation.

Stein said the Bush Administration has not cracked down on illegal immigration because it wants to create a “hemisphere of labor” so there is a large pool of workers who are paid barely above the poverty level. He said the chances of an illegal immigrant being deported are less than 1 percent.

Because of the flood of illegal immigrants, the American economic dream has disappeared for many U.S. citizens who are uneducated and unskilled, Stein charged. He said 86 percent of the jobs that have been created in the United States during the last 20 years have gone to immigrants.

“This issue shapes the future destiny of our country and changes what it means to be an American,” Stein stated. He said Americans should be the ones who decide how many immigrants can come to the United States and where they can come from.

“We are not enforcing the immigration laws and the borders are in shambles,” Stein said. “We are the laughing stock to the rest of the world. We could win the war on poverty if we controlled our borders.”

Morones said the U.S. should be building bridges with its neighbors, and putting up a wall along the Mexican border “sends the wrong message to the rest of the world.”

Stein, who said he has devoted the last 25 years to stopping illegal immigration, struck at the Mexican government, calling it “a tragic story of a failed regime” and full of corruption. He said it hasn’t taken advantage of the globalization opportunities because of its unwillingness to promote the English language among its people and its “economic policies that are hostile to a free market.”

“The solutions have to come from Mexico to educate and train its people so it can attract the capital to grow the economy there,” he stated. “The Mexican government will continue to push people into this country to get the hard currency they send back as long as we allow it to happen.”

Morones said many Mexicans have come to the United States illegally because poor people cannot obtain visas. He also stated that while America has only 5 percent of the world’s population, it consumes a third of the natural resources and that 75 percent of the illegal drugs are consumed by Americans.

The latter issue sparked some of the livelier debate similar to which came first, the chicken or the egg. Morones said Americans willingly buy the drugs while Stern said no market can be created without a supply, and that the demand “doesn’t come out of thin air” but because drugs are being pushed onto youths.

Stein also charged that the Mexican army assists drug smugglers from South America. He added that some 30 years ago he was involved in efforts to stop the production of drugs in Latin America by finding replacement crops, but found that the countries involved had no interest in cooperating because “the drug money went all the way to the top.”