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 Editorials | Issues | April 2007 
Immigrants: No More Living in Fear
 Kate Nash - Albuquerque Tribune
Maria Garcia hoped Congress would take some serious steps toward immigration reform.
That was more than a year ago, as immigrants by the thousands took to the streets across the United States to rally for reform.
Big changes never came. But federal law enforcement officials did.
And Garcia, a 30-year immigrant from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, who has lived in Albuquerque for almost 14 years, is afraid for members of the immigrant community who are like her.
"We can't permit that members of our community live in fear to take their kids to school or to go to the store. My children should not be afraid that I will not show up one day after work or that an immigration official will show up at my house in the middle of the night to take me away," said Garcia, a single mom with four kids, ages 8 to 15.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said her agency doesn't have a specific immigration operation ongoing in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, but that agents from March 26 to April 2 arrested 29 immigrants in Santa Fe as part of an effort directed at criminals. Most had final orders of removal or were fugitives, Pruneda said.
When there are specific crackdowns on immigrants without permission to be in the United States, Pruneda said, illegal residents become more aware of federal agents.
"People are cognizant they are in the country illegally," she said.
Garcia and other immigrants-rights advocates held a news conference in Albuquerque on this week, calling on Congress to pass sensible reform, on the first anniversary of street rallies for reform that clogged roads from California to New York.
"We need to stop investing taxpayers' money in failed border and enforcement policies that have led to a humanitarian crisis on the border and to human rights abuses in our communities," said Rachel LaZar, director of El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, the Center for Equality and Rights.
"In addition, we are extremely concerned about provisions that would require immigrants to return to the their countries of origin in order to adjust their status. This is not a viable option for families that are established in our communities, for workers who would lose their jobs, and for an economy that depends heavily on immigrant labor," she said.
LaZar and others, including religious and Hispanic community leaders, are asking for immigration enforcement activities to stop. They also called for better conditions for the 700 immigrants they said are being held in the Regional Correctional Center at Fifth Street and Roma Avenue Northwest in Downtown Albuquerque, the site of the news conference.
"As people of faith, we have to question an immigration system that is causing innocent people to fall victim to exploitation on the job, detention under often deplorable conditions and causing children to wait hopelessly to be reunited with their parents," said Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Catholic Conference of Bishops.
Meanwhile, President Bush announced immigration changes he'd like to see, including a three-year special workers visa. It would cost $3,500 each time a person applies for the visa. Bush also would require those seeking permanent residency to leave the country and pay a $10,000 fine before returning.
Gov. Bill Richardson, in a statement from campaign manager Dave Contarino, called Bush's proposal a "drastic shift away" from his previous plans.
"The president's plan is unworkable. If the cost of legalization is too high and immigrants are required to go back to their country of origin, millions will choose to stay in the shadows and nothing will have been solved."
Richardson, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, was the first governor in a border state to declare an emergency to augment local law-enforcement efforts. |
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