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 News from Around the Americas | January 2006 
Illegal Immigration Debate Boils Over in 2005
 William Finn Bennett - nctimes.com
| | Protestors rally against people who hire day laborers. (David Carlson) |
It all depends on which side of the fence one calls his own. When it comes to the debate over illegal immigration, 2005 was either a banner year that raised awareness of a major problem facing the state and nation, or a series of blows to the human rights of illegal immigrants and Latinos in America.
There were riot cops in a quiet Carlsbad neighborhood. People who journeyed from all over the country to camp in the mountains in east San Diego County to spot border crossers or rally in defense of human rights. There were shouting matches and accusations of assault as protesters and counter-protesters clashed in the sweltering heat.
Escondido residents stood up in favor of or against a police force to patrol the border and conduct inland sweeps in search of suspected illegal immigrants. Protesters in Fallbrook screamed that local banks were allowing illegal immigrants to open bank accounts as counter-protesters with Mexican flags hurled back accusations that the protesters were racists.
In the debate over illegal immigration in North County, the middle ground was shrinking fast in 2005, a year when tempers exploded and each side pushed for change.
For San Diego human rights advocate Christian Ramirez, "it's really been a tough year."
Ramirez, who is the San Diego office director for the Quaker human-rights organization American Friends Service Committee, said that to gauge just how serious things have gotten, one need look no further than the record 460 immigrant deaths along the U.S. Mexican border between Oct. 1, 2004 and Sept. 30, 2005.
"2005 has been by far the most violent, disastrous year in the history of this border," he said.
Concerned over what he sees as an alarming increase in human rights violations of immigrants and Latinos in North County, Ramirez and his group were instrumental in 2004 and 2005 in forming human rights organizations in Escondido and Vista.
But for long-time proponent of stiffer enforcement of immigration laws and Republican state Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside, "it was a huge year," he said last week.
Year of the Minuteman
Morrow called it "The year of the Minuteman," referring to the Minuteman Project, a civilian group that staged a border watch along Arizona's portion of the U.S. Mexican border in April. He said that he is celebrating the fact that North County residents and Americans in general finally are beginning to wake up to the drain on the state's finances and the risks posed by the federal government's failure to stop illegal immigration.
Morrow, who has declared his candidacy for the 50th Congressional District seat formerly held by Randy "Duke" Cunningham, has attracted media attention in recent months for his open endorsement of the Minutemen and a controversial town-hall meeting that he organized in August featuring several nationally known opponents to illegal immigration.
Ramirez said he blames 2005's record number of immigrant border deaths on several factors, including: the state of emergency on the border declared by Arizona, New Mexico and Texas; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the Minutemen; the border watch vigils that were organized by what Ramirez called paramilitary groups; and the increasing militarization of the U.S./Mexican border.
Another major factor, Ramirez said, has been the government's and politicians' increasing focus on policies that emphasize enforcement - policies that fail to address what he called the real problem driving illegal immigration: an American labor market in need of cheap labor.
Legislation excludes guest workers
In 2005, Bush and farm industry groups pushed for a comprehensive immigration policy that would include a guest worker program allowing foreign workers to temporarily live in the United States, so long as they agreed to return to their country after a set amount of time. Bush and the farm industry say they support it, because the economy and many labor intensive industries need inexpensive labor.
Opponents say that too many illegal immigrants are already in the country, with more arriving all the time. The country must first deal with stopping the flow across the border and deporting those already here illegally before even considering allowing more immigrant workers into the United States, conservative groups and many local politicians say.
Opponents of Bush's proposal won the latest skirmish in the immigration battle in recent days, when the House approved a bill that includes such measures as enlisting military and local law enforcement help in stopping illegal entrants and requiring employers to verify the legal status of their workers. The bill also authorizes the building of a fortified fence along parts of the U.S. Mexican border.
Noticeably absent from the legislation in its present form, however, is a guest-worker program or measures to address the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already living in this country. Those issues are expected to be taken up by the Senate after the year-end recess.
The summer of the border watch
In April, a group called the Minuteman Project held a border watch vigil in Arizona that captured worldwide media attention, when about 1,000 volunteers patrolled the U.S. Mexican border and reported suspected illegal immigrants crossing into the United States to the U.S. Border Patrol.
That endeavor inspired three other similar border vigils in San Diego County during the summer, one of which was organized by Oceanside resident James Chase. During that border watch, state Sen. Morrow paid them a visit in support of the group's efforts.
In the time leading up to the border-watch vigils in San Diego County, extensive media coverage highlighted the concerns raised by both sides and law enforcement agencies on the potential for violence.
On several occasions, protesters and counter-protesters faced off, screaming curses and epithets at one another. When state Sen. Morrow showed up at Chase's border-watch vigil, one of Morrow's aides was allegedly kicked by a protester. At a Mission Valley training session for border watch volunteers, a similar scenario ensued and police arrested one Latino activist for allegedly assaulting an opponent.
Despite the conflicts, relatively small numbers of border watch participants turned out for any of the three vigils and volunteers' efforts resulted in almost no apprehensions of illegal immigrants.
Politicians seize issue
In a March speech, County Supervisor Bill Horn stumped for completion of a border fence to fight illegal immigration. In September, Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff waived legal requirements to the completion of 14-mile border fence south of San Ysidro. And in November, U.S. Rep Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, whose district includes Poway, Ramona and other portions of northeast San Diego County, called for building a double border fence from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
In the weeks following now-former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham's July announcement that he would not be seeking re-election to his 50th District seat, several Republican aspirants for that job vied to position themselves as stauncher-than-thou supporters of increased enforcement of immigration laws.
In May, state Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, kicked off a signature-gathering campaign to get an initiative on the ballot to create a state border police that would patrol the U.S. /Mexican border and conduct work-site enforcement to arrest suspected illegal immigrants. Later in the year, that initiative failed when proponents failed to obtain enough signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
In August, state Assemblyman Mark Wyland, R-Escondido, wrote an opinion column for the North County Times in which he endorsed the initiative. At the time, Wyland was considering a run for Congress to replace Cunningham. While still not confirming whether he is in or out of that race, he has publicly stated that he will run for the state Senate seat now held by Morrow, who is leaving office due to term limits.
Besides Morrow's July participation in the border watch vigil, he organized a townhall meeting on illegal immigration in August that drew hundreds of anti-illegal immigration activists and featured as speakers a cast of nationally known anti-illegal immigration figures, including U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
Dozens of human rights and Latino activists staged a protest outside the event, and scores of riot gear-clad police officers were present to prevent any violence.
Opinions clash
San Diego human rights activist Christian Ramirez criticized Morrow and other politicians for what he said was their exploitation of illegal immigration for political ends.
"Of course there is a problem of undocumented migrants, but to go after them and attack them is the lowest form of opportunism I have seen in years in California," said American friends spokesman Ramirez.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Morrow defended his long-standing position on illegal immigration.
Calling Ramirez's accusations "baloney," Morrow said, "It is very clear that illegal immigration is a huge economic drain on our state and nation."
Another local politician to take a strong stance on illegal immigration in 2005 was Escondido City Councilwoman Marie Waldron. In October, she wrote a resolution of support for the border police initiative and the City Council approved that symbolic resolution in a 3-to 2 vote.
Dozens of local Latino activists packed a City Council meeting a few weeks later and sharply criticized Waldron and the council for passing a measure they said would only worsen relations between the city and many of its Latino residents, who make up 42 percent of the population.
One of those who protested the council's decision was local human rights activist Consuelo Martinez, a member of the Escondido Human Rights Committee. With the help of American Friends' Ramirez, the organization was formed in the wake of a series of U.S. Border Patrol sweeps of inland communities in 2004 that netted hundreds of suspected illegal immigrants. Latino activists accused the Border Patrol of using racial profiling during their operations.
Martinez said Thursday that 2005 was both a good and a bad year.
Because of the border police initiative and human rights violations of Latinos in North County, "this year was a wake-up call - people can't believe this is happening in this day and age," she said.
Latinos mobilize
Latino residents and others are beginning to organize and take action to prevent continued human rights abuses in North County, Martinez said.
The Escondido Human Rights Committee recently began assisting Vista Latinos in setting up their own human rights committee and are continuing their efforts to train volunteers in the tracking of human rights abuses in that city, Martinez said.
In addition to its work on the local level, the committee is working with American Friends Service Committee and a coalition of human rights organizations across the Southwestern United States to raise awareness of human rights abuses and to pressure politicians for change, Martinez said.
"We are networking locally but also working on a national level, visiting our representatives and bringing national attention to the issue," she said.
On Thursday, Escondido Councilwoman Waldron sounded unrepentant for her decision to back the initiative.
"We have to do something about the problem (of illegal immigration), if the federal government won't," she said. "That is why local officials are now starting to speak up."
Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at wbennett@nctimes.com. |
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