|
October 17, 2007 09:58 am
Immigration: 'It's a complicated issue'
“Kids wonder about what happens if their parents get stopped on the way home."
By Carol Cole-Frowe
CNHI News Service
NORMAN, Okla. — A forum talked about the complicated problems of immigration and discussed the impact of the Nov. 1 implementation of House Bill 1804, Oklahoma’s immigration reform bill that’s being called the toughest of any state.
HB 1804 is said to be causing Hispanics to flee the state.
Panelists were Norman immigration attorney Giovanni Perry; Juanita Vasquez-Sykes, president of the League of Latin American Citizens; and Sylke Merchan, an attorney who formerly worked for the Chicago office of the Department of Homeland Security. Merchan emphasized that she was not speaking as a government employee and her opinions were her own. The forum was at the Memorial Presbyterian Church and sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
One opinion was unanimous — that immigration problems are complex and inspiring a depth of emotions on both sides of the issue.
“We can’t even get to the solution when we are defining people as less than human,” said forum attendee Ed Romo of Midwest City, who described the new law as close to the old Jim Crow laws. “I’m really worried because up to now, there hasn’t been an outrage. What would be the next logical step? Public floggings? … Where is the limit?”
HB 1804 passed by wide margins of 84-14 in the House and 41-6 in the Senate, with Gov. Brad Henry signing the bill reluctantly and saying immigration issues will not be effectively addressed until the federal government acts.
Business will be required to verify employment status under the bill. It will deny driver’s licenses and ID cards to illegal immigrants and require local agencies to verify immigration status and citizenship before an applicant can receive benefits.
Romo said he felt like state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, author of HB 1804, is a God-fearing man but is misguided.
“He needs to be put in his place,” he said.
Perry said that because the federal government hasn’t acted on immigration reform, states are stepping in.
“We absolutely need something done on the federal level,” she said. “(States) are going into an area that doesn’t belong to the states. … Obviously we need to deal with security at the borders.”
Perry said HB 1804 was going to have a large, negative effect on many different industries like construction and hospitality. And she said it would be costly to the Oklahoma economy.
“That’s going to go to you and me — that cost,” she said.
Perry said she doesn’t like deportation cases.
“They are very difficult. They are very heart wrenching,” she said.
She said Congress has taken much discretion from judges.
“Now it’s like, you’ve committed this crime. You’re out,” Perry said. “It’s gotten so strict that even the judges are having a hard time.”
Lyntha Wesner said apparently there is a lot of anger in the populace that caused the Oklahoma Legislature to pass HB 1804.
“What are the changes that need to be made?” Wesner asked. “Who’s looked at the facts?”
Perry said the legislators in both houses say they never heard from the other side of the immigration issue.
A man in a blue shirt who refused to be identified said he is sympathetic to the plight of immigrants, and feels the employer should be held as accountable as the employee.
Vasquez-Sykes said she gets lots of calls from employers, who want to know what to do to keep their employees.
“I guess one thing that’s burdening to me is the people I’m talking about love to work,” she said. “The work ethic is just astounding.”
She said one of the heartbreaking things is dealing with children who have grown up in the United States but face the uncertainty of perhaps having their parents deported.
“Kids wonder about what happens if their parents get stopped on the way home,” Vasquez-Sykes said. “There are just things that I hate for any young person to worry about. … Some of the students have grown up here from babies. This is their home. … It’s very, very difficult to try to tell them why they are limited, why they are different from their friends.”
Perry said smart, young Hispanic women who are children of those who came into the country illegally are being told to find an American citizen to marry to be able to stay in the country.
“What kind of message is that to send to our young, smart women?” Perry asked.
She said she was particularly concerned about the sharing of databases, such as the Social Security database, with the immigration databases.
Merchan detailed the immigration laws and why it’s tough to avoid deportation if people can’t prove their status.
“The government prevails about 98 or 99 percent of the time,” Merchan said.
She said the most common areas of relief are when it concerns an employer that needs specific job skills.
Merchan said students are required to carry a very specific class load.
Attendee Judi Reynolds said she thought the new Oklahoma law might be unconstitutional.
“I still have hope for that,” Perry said.
Perry said she believes amnesty that’s been suggested on a federal level would need to be more like an “earned legalization,” with a lot of requirements that included learning English.
“There needs to be a process so people don’t go underground,” she said.
“I think the whole thing is a complicated problem,” Merchan said. “I don’t know that there is a perfect solution.”
Carol Cole-Frowe writes for The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.
|
