Forum confronts issues on immigration reform in U.S.
Misconceptions about immigration, and the effects migrants have on the U.S., the economy and the community were discussed in a forum hosted Friday at the Presbyterian Church.
Nathan Hult, one of the event planners and a member of the Presbyterian church, said the forum came about because a discussion started within the church, particularly with the Hispanic congregation, about the current news regarding immigration. He said the church felt the need to get the facts out there and talk about the issue with the community.
“There are two sides to every issue, and we wanted to get both sides together, in a friendly and welcoming environment, to talk to each other and find common ground and work toward any kind of a solution we can,” Hult said.
James Morales, USU vice president of student services, and Kim Hernandez, a visiting history professor for the university, were present at the forum and offered their stories and expertise.
Morales said it is important for people to realize immigrants have a whole life story to tell; that their lives are “not just how people see them right now.”
“Students and others don’t see the whole picture,” Morales said, “by that, I mean when you hear about immigrants you typically look at them how they are now, how they are struggling to get their foot in the door and adjust to a new culture and life.”
He said from only that perspective, people get a “very limited view.” Morales said his family immigrated from Mexico more than 30 years ago. Morales is the youngest of eight children, the first four were born in the United States and the last four, including himself, were born in Mexico. However, despite being an immigrant, Morales said he would consider everyone in his family “model citizens” and citizens who have contributed “quite a bit” for this country.
“I think the most we have ever done, as far as breaking the law, are speeding tickets. All of my brothers and sisters have graduated college. We serve our communities and have worked our butts off to be where we are today,” Morales said.
He said his parents taught him the importance of a hard work ethic and that has carried him his whole life. He explained if someone had seen them as a younger family, they would never have guessed where he and his family ended up.
“That is the problem with looking at immigrants as having only one story to tell,” he said, “you miss the bigger picture.”
Hernandez spent her portion of the evening talking about the history of immigration. She explained the process by which the United States got to where it is now and the unintended consequences that most immigration laws have brought about.
“The unanticipated consequences of all these past laws in our country are responsible for the current heated debate about immigration we are seeing today,” Hernandez said.
The federal government is responsible for taking care of immigration, Hernandez said, but, “since they aren’t doing anything, states are taking matters into their own hands.”
Hult said education on the history of the United States and immigration is vital because it is information that many people may not know about, but is needed to fully understand the issue.
“I don’t think people realize how the country got to where it is today and don’t understand the box we have put ourselves in,” Hult said.
Many misconceptions about immigration and undocumented workers were addressed. A member of the panel, attorney Marty Moore, explained four misconceptions he said he hears the most.
“There is this misconception that there is a way to become a legal citizen for anyone who wants to. There are six billion people on the planet and five billion of those don’t have a prayer to become a citizen,” Moore said.
The thought that everyone wants to come to the United States is another misconception, Moore said. He said it is not true in the majority of cases, that people come here to benefit their families economically and it is “no one’s first choice.”
Welfare is a touchy subject for a lot of people, Moore said, and many people think undocumented workers can get welfare but he said that is just not the case.
“Welfare benefits are not available to illegal immigrants. They may be available to their children because they were born here and are legal citizens, but they are not available to just anyone,” Moore said.
The final misunderstanding Moore talks about is the way people think the immigration “problem” can be solved.
“People will say, well we can just round everyone up and deport them. There are at least 10 million illegal immigrants, that is a lot of people, it is not logistically possible to round up that many,” Moore said. “There is no way to do it like that here.”
Hult also said a misconception he hears is one of the reasons why he wanted to start the panel in the first place.
“I think that people believe there are only one or two solutions to this problem, but I think there are many sub-issues that need to be taken into account before solutions can be thought of,” Hult said.
Moore said 90 percent of immigrants who are deported, get deported because they are arrested for breaking the law. He said police are “cracking down” on businesses hiring those without proper identification and, as a result, businesses are becoming more strict. Since enforcement has gotten tighter, Moore said it has led to an increase in fake papers being made so undocumented workers can still get a job. However, Moore said this causes even worse problems for an immigrant if they are caught.
“Having fake papers is identity theft, which is a felony, which basically makes it impossible for someone to ever get approval for citizenship, so they just continue to live off of fake papers,” Moore said.
Other problems people have with undocumented workers, Moore said, have occurred since Utah passed a bill saying proof of citizenship is required to get a drivers license, and by extension, insurance. Many people are driving around without any way of taking care of an accident if something happens.
Lt. Brett Randall of the Logan City Police Department said it is an issue he has to face regularly. Randall is one of the few officers from the LCPD that can speak Spanish. He said he gets immersed in the Hispanic culture and does his best to treat each case strictly from the criminal aspect and not bring in the fact that someone is in the country illegally when dealing with them.
Utah Sen. Lyle Hillyard, another member of the panel, said treating undocumented workers as people is very important and should be the main goal for everyone.
“The people here are still people, they are human beings,” Hillyard said. “If they are here illegally that needs to be addressed … but I am more concerned about protecting everyone.”
Hillyard spoke highly of law enforcement and the part they play in the immigration situation. He said he is on the law’s side when it comes to immigrants and that he is for “helping law enforcement make Logan a safer place.”
Moore summed up the main reason people feel frustrated when he said, “I think the one thing people can agree on across the political spectrum is that the (immigration policy) system is broken, it doesn’t work, and we all are for getting that fixed.”
– megan.b@aggiemail.usu.edu