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 Editorials | Issues | January 2007 
Immigration Debate Blazed in 2006
 Edward Sifuentes - North County Times
From the first rumblings of protest marches across the region to the Escondido City Council's failed attempt to ban illegal immigrants from renting in the city, 2006 arguably could be summed up as the year of immigration. Whether on the streets of Southern California or in the halls of Congress, immigration reform seemed to be on the tip of almost everyone's tongue.
On street corners, immigrant rights activists protested against anti-illegal immigrant rights activists. Immigrant rights activists staged a national Day Without an Immigrant boycott. Congressional leaders took a series of immigration hearings on the road - increasing tempers on the street corners of border cities such as San Diego.
But in the end, an immigration debate that started with such a bang has ended without many results. Neither Congress, nor street protesters, nor local governments accomplished much in changing immigration policy in 2006.
Analysts, commentators and activists appear divided on whether any substantive change is in store in the coming year.
The challenge, they said, is striking the careful balance between comprehensive reform and addressing the concerns of vocal voters who say they are fed up with illegal immigration. Many of those voters have called upon local governments to take action in response to the federal government's apparent inability to stem the flow of immigrants into border communities.
"What you see at the local level is the frustration people have for the federal government's failure to deal with illegal immigration," said Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Escondido.
Local governments take action
The events that shaped this year's immigration debate began in 2005, when the rise in public frustration led hundreds of people to the Arizona border with Mexico in a protest called the Minuteman Project.
The monthlong border stakeout inspired several similar groups to spill over into the region's streets. Jeff Schwilk, a retired Marine, founded the San Diego Minutemen, which he describes as a neighborhood-watch group of sorts.
In February, Schwilk's group began protesting at day-labor sites, where mostly Latino laborers gather for work, around Vista. The group attracted counter-protesters.
In response to the increasing visibility of curbside workers for hire, the Vista City Council acted in June adopting a law that requires would-be employers to register with the city before hiring day laborers within the city limits.
Minutemen and their supporters declared the new law a victory that would reduce the large gatherings of men seeking jobs along streets.
But the law encountered legal obstacles.
The American Civil Liberties Union and California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. have sued the city, claiming the law violates constitutional free-speech rights and was motivated by unlawful discrimination. The case is pending.
Escondido ordinance falls in court
Escondido's City Council approved on a split vote its controversial rental ordinance. The city attracted national attention following the lead of towns such as Hazleton, Pa., adopting the law requiring landlords to provide proof that their tenants are in the country legally.
The council meetings attracted crowds of supporters and opponents by the hundreds spilling out of council chambers to the sidewalks near City Hall.
Prominent Latinos said the ordinance would result in discrimination against their community. They criticized the ordinance as unconstitutional and unworkable.
Shortly before taking effect in November, lawyers for the ACLU and the Mexican American Legal and Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit claiming the law was unconstitutional because it was pre-empted by federal law and violated due process.
Federal Judge John Houston seemed to agree, saying the ordinance raised "serious questions" and issuing a temporary restraining order. The judge later signed a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the law after the council decided to drop its legal defense.
Several council members have said they will revive the issue.
House bill spurs protest
But perhaps few events fueled this year's rallies more than the House immigration reform bill, H.R. 4437, passed in December 2005. The package of tough border enforcement measures, including a provision that would make it a crime to aid illegal immigrants, was widely condemned by Latino and immigrant-rights groups in part because of the perception that it would lead to mass deportations.
In late March 2006, thousands of students in the region joined others nationwide walking out of classes in a protest organized using the popular Web site Myspace.com. The students, who were predominantly Latino, protested the House measure and called for comprehensive reform, including amnesty for illegal immigrant students.
Student protests were quickly followed in May by the nationwide "Day Without an Immigrant." On that day, millions of illegal immigrants, students and their supporters took to the streets, avoiding work and shopping, to demonstrate their economic muscle.
"Today we march, tomorrow we vote," marchers chanted.
Protest organizers and analysts were split on whether the day's events were more symbolic than show of force.
While crowds clamored for immigration reform at city chambers, House Republican leaders deployed a series of immigration hearings around the country, including four in San Diego County. The hearings were widely criticized as political theater aimed at promoting the House immigration reform bill, while attacking the more comprehensive Senate version.
The Senate's wide-ranging immigration bill, adopted in May, included stronger border enforcement measures along with a guest worker program and a legalization process for millions of illegal immigrants.
The first hearing, held at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol station, attracted thousands of immigrant-rights supporters and protesters to hear immigration expert witnesses and more than a dozen congressional representatives speak. But public, media and congressional interest dwindled with each passing hearing.
Only two congressmen and a significantly smaller audience attended the last hearing held in August at the San Diego County administration building.
After the hearings, Congress passed a significantly reduced package of immigration measures, including a bill to build 700 miles of border fence. But the bill provided only enough funding to build a fraction of the length.
By November, much of the public's attention had shifted to a deteriorating situation in Iraq. Most analysts say the Iraq war was the dominant issue on voters' minds when they gave Democrats control of both houses of Congress in the election.
What next?
A Democratic-controlled Congress could make it more likely that reform proposals could include a broader perspective on immigration than the House bill, said Cecilia Munoz, vice president of the Latino rights group, the National Council of La Raza.
"There appears to be really strong support for the kind of approach that passed the Senate; strong enforcement with a path to citizenship," Munoz said.
With the 2008 presidential election looming, other analysts say the Democrats may hesitate in raising the question of amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants. Dan Stein, president of the Federation of American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter immigration measures, said Congress should focus on border security.
The public "will be sorely disappointed if the Democratic leadership pursues the same failed policies," Stein said. "The American public expects the new congressional leadership to take real steps to secure the nation."
Whether Congress presses forward on immigration or not, local governments and local activists will continue to battle on the front lines, said Pedro Rios, San Diego director of the human rights group, American Friends Service Committee.
"I think the impulse to claim immigration issues at the local level will increase, and... Escondido-type ordinances will increase," Rios said.
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 3511, or esifuentes@californian.com. |
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