Maybe the questions we’re asking about immigration are too narrow and too shortsighted. “We also ought to ask some broader questions about assimilation, about how to ensure that people, once outsiders, don’t forever remain marginalized within these shores,†wrote Ellis Cose of Newsweek. “That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented workers, or how best to secure the border, and it is one that affects not only newcomers but groups that have been here for generations.â€
Contrary to what its critics say, the 2004 law allowing eligible children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition is not a handout. The kids pay tuition, like any other graduates of Kansas high schools. Because of it, 243 students are in the state higher education system, mostly at community colleges. Unfortunately, the lawsuit over the law is costing taxpayers — more than $160,000 so far, to a Kansas City, Mo., law firm hired by former Attorney General Phill Kline to defend the law, according to the Lawrence Journal-World. And it’s not over yet. Kris Kobach, the plaintiffs’ attorney when he isn’t chairing the Kansas Republican Party, may ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case, despite the refusal of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to rehear a challenge of the law. If Kobach is serious about wanting the state to spend less money, he can do his part by shutting down this losing lawsuit.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
America isn’t the only country dealing with immigration concerns. The World Bank recently discovered a trend of developing countries seeing higher rates of immigrants from even poorer countries.
The bank found that some 74 million migrants move from countries of extreme poverty to countries just slightly better off economically in hopes of providing for their families, sending back a collective $18 billion to $55 billion a year.
“South-to-south migration is not only huge, it reaches a different class of people,†said Patricia Weiss Fagen, a Georgetown University researcher. “These are very, very poor people sending money to even poorer people, and they often reach very rural areas where most remittances don’t go.â€
The crackdown on illegal immigration, combined with an economic downturn in housing and construction, appear to be reducing the numbers of Mexican immigrants entering this country, according to a Los Angeles Times article.
Among the many signs cited of a slowdown: According to a recent survey of Mexicans, about one-third fewer than a year before said they planned to seek work abroad. And in fiscal 2007, which ended in September, U.S. border officials apprehended some 877,000 illegal border crossers — down about 20 percent from the year before.
T ougher border and workplace enforcement seems to be having an impact, but some experts insist the slowdown follows a familiar pattern and is mainly about the sluggish economy.
Moreover, there are still an estimated 12 million illegals living and working here, many in complicated mixed families, with some children born here and legally U.S. citizens.
Is America willing to balance enforcement with pragmatism and compassion?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The Christmas season illuminated the jarring contrast between the public piety of some conservative Christians and their intense anger toward illegal immigrants, noted Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker. “After all,†she wrote, “the Bible, which conservative Christians hold out as the inerrant word of God, includes several admonitions to practice kindness toward ‘strangers.’â€
Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, said: “We welcome the stranger because the Savior himself was not welcomed in mainstream society. The whole teaching of ‘no room in the inn’ was about someone poor and marginalized and pushed off to a stable.â€
Posted by Kristin Mehler
The legal challenge to the 2004 law allowing some illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Kansas public universities and colleges hit the wall last week when the federal appeals court in Denver denied a request that the full court rehear the case. This decision again hinges on the lack of legal standing of the out-of-state plaintiffs to challenge the law because they didn’t face “concrete and imminent†injury.
But the law remains a modest and humane recognition that capable illegal immigrant kids — brought to this state by their parents — ought to have the same shot at college as their fellow Kansas high school graduates. When they better themselves by going to college, Kansas benefits, too.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Los Angeles producer Adrian Martinez is working on selling his new show, “Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen?†to cable television. The trailer claims that “true love knows no borders,†and the disclaimer assures that the show’s producers do not give out green cards, noting “that’s the government’s job.â€
Posted by Kristin Mehler
GOP immigrant-bashing candidates, take note: A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center reinforces what has been long known about foreign language-speaking immigrants — that they pose little threat to the dominance of the English language in our country.
The study found Hispanic immigrants following the classic pattern of previous waves of immigrants: The first generation learns little English, the second uses primarily English, and the third is almost completely fluent in English.
In short, there’s no reason to fear immigrants who can’t speak English. Time isn’t on their side.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its list of the top 10 last names in America. Squeezed in with the Smiths and Johnsons are the Garcias and Rodriguezes, coming in at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.
The poll backhandedly points to a demographic shift in our country. Studies indicate a possible Hispanic majority in the next 20 years.
Immigration is becoming less and less of an abstract issue that can be dismissed with deportation. It’s literally changing our country, and we are beyond the point of turning back.
Posted by Kristin Mehler
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer took a beating before abandoning his idea of issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. The issue also scuffed up presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who tried to admire Spitzer’s proposal without also supporting it. Spitzer gets credit, though, for identifying the problem. “The federal government has lost control of its borders, has allowed millions of undocumented immigrants to enter our country and now has no solution to deal with it,†Spitzer said Wednesday. Remember that it was not so long ago that even conservative Republicans such as Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, saw the common sense in trying to ensure that undocumented residents aren’t also unlicensed drivers. “If they’re working here, I want them driving legally here,†Tiahrt told The Eagle editorial board in April 2001. He changed his mind after Sept. 11. Now, illegal immigration is the most radioactive of political issues.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., must be desperate to attract attention to his presidential campaign. He is now running a TV ad in Iowa linking illegal immigration — the only issue he is known for — with terrorism. The ad includes a picture of a bloodied child from a terrorist act in Europe, Associated Press reported. “There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs,†the narrator says. “Islamic terrorists now freely roam U.S. soil, jihadists who froth with hate, here to do as they have in London, Spain, Russia. The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill.â€
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The latest farm bill faces challenges ranging from partisan politics to feuding commodity groups to President Bush’s veto pen. But the biggest threat to agriculture is anti-immigration sentiment, according to Barry Flinchbaugh, the well-known Kansas State University farm economist. “In the next five years, 53 percent of farm work will be done by illegal immigrants,†he told a Salina crowd Tuesday. “We’ve got people who want to load them up and ship them back.†He added: “Farmers hire them because they work.â€
And when Flinchbaugh asked whether anybody in the audience was a Native American, nobody responded. “Damn, there’s a bunch of immigrants in here. Box ’em up,†he said. “This issue’s loaded with racial prejudice. If we don’t settle this, we won’t be eating fruits and vegetables.â€
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Good for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., for voting with 11 other Republicans Wednesday to try to advance the DREAM Act — the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The effort failed, 52-44, confirming that the majority in Congress would rather do nothing than do anything to bring the millions of illegal immigrants out of the shadows of our economy and communities. But Brownback and the others in favor deserve credit for trying to help the youngest and most innocent among the illegal immigrant population — those who came here with their parents and have graduated from high school here. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., voted “nay.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The DREAM bill before Congress is an easy way for our country to redeem, in some small way, the immigration fiasco we find ourselves in. The bill, which failed a crucial test Wednesday in the Senate, would allow eligible children — those who entered the country before the age of 16, have lived here for five years and have graduated from high school — to be granted legal status for six years. At that point, if the immigrant had spent two years in college, he would become eligible for legalization.
This bill wouldn’t open the borders. It simply would open the door of opportunity to young immigrants who were brought here and want to better themselves and their families.
Posted by Kristin Mehler
Going where Congress was too dysfunctional to tread, states are passing immigration measures that are all over the map from welcoming to punishing. A Washington Post article noted that in response to tough new Oklahoma laws on transportation and employment of illegal immigrants and more, as many as 25,000 undocumented workers have fled the state. And not for south of the border: “They’re going to Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, anywhere where the laws aren’t against them,” said a leader of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association. Such a report will only strengthen Kansas lawmakers’ resolve to mimic Oklahoma next session, when it should be seen as a cry for help to Congress and the federal government — the true authorities on immigration.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
“We need a comprehensive federal policy. We can’t solve it a state at a time, and that’s what it’s been left to.” — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, president of the Democratic Governors Association, speaking to reporters last week at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Ark.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The groups behind an anti-immigration billboard in Topeka asking “Had Enough?” got an answer of sorts. Within a day, vandals added the words “of racism” to the question, painted a swastika over the American flag and added the phrase “fight fascism.” All of which prompted the sign company to remove the billboard, and Ed Hayes, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps state director, to say, “Criminal charges will be pursued and a reward is being offered for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators in this matter.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver dismissed a challenge to Kansas’ immigrant tuition law, ruling 3-0 that the plaintiffs couldn’t demonstrate harm and, therefore, had no legal right to challenge the law. A Topeka judge had dismissed the challenge on the same grounds.
The ruling makes sense.
The 2004 law allows children of illegal immigrants to pay the in-state tuition rate at the state’s public universities. But that’s only if they have attended a Kansas high school for three or more years, graduated or received a high school equivalency from a Kansas school district, and are on the path toward citizenship.
Some out-of-state college students — backed by anti-immigration groups — argued it was unfair that they had to pay higher tuition rates and that the law violated their equal-protection rights. But the in-state tuition rate is based on Kansas residency. And if the out-of-state students want to live in Kansas for three years and meet the other residency requirements of the law, they can qualify for the lower tuition rate, too.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Given the country’s mood, the Census Bureau’s request that the federal government suspend immigration raids during the 2010 census seems like a lot to ask. In the past, easing up on enforcement has eased illegal immigrants’ fears about cooperating with census takers. But these days, unfortunately, many Americans would prefer that undocumented residents were deported rather than counted.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
It’s good that the federal government is finally cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants, which will include more raids on workplaces. But our country also needs some type of guest-worker program, especially for industries that depend on foreign labor. For example, growers’ associations estimate that more than 70 percent of farm workers in the fields of the United States are illegal immigrants, the New York Times reported. Our economy depends in part on these workers.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
As our editorial today states, the local Hispanics upset about a new driver’s license renewal requirement did themselves no favors by shouting at and calling Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon a liar at a Wichita meeting last weekend. They came off as noncitizens demanding rights to which they are not legally entitled. Plus, the residents’ beef is mostly with Congress and the federal immigration boondoggle, not with Wagnon or state lawmakers.
That said, the residents’ plight is real and difficult. Many have visas and are in the process of attaining legal status, but they lack Social Security numbers and proof of citizenship. Some of them have had Kansas driver’s licenses for years. But early this year, the state, as part of the federal Real ID Act, stopped accepting license holders’ affidavits stating that they are legal residents. So suddenly, it’s unlawful for them to drive — something of a necessity in transit-challenged Wichita. The result is that we’re likely to have more people driving without licenses and insurance.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., contends that his voting for the immigration bill Thursday and then, about 10 minutes later, voting against it wasn’t a flip-flop. "I wanted to signal that I support comprehensive immigration reform, but now is not the time, this is not the bill," Brownback said. But conservative critics aren’t buying it. A new YouTube video titled "Sen. Switchback" ends with the slogan: "Sam Brownback. Leadership only John Kerry could love."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Include the National Urban League in the groups opposing the immigration reform bill. The Urban League’s primary objection is the temporary worker provision, which it argues needs to be more narrowly tailored and include a requirement that American workers be given first right to jobs. National Urban League president and CEO Marc H. Morial said in a statement: “There is a dire need for the nation to invest heavily in efforts to recruit, train, prepare and place American workers for available jobs prior to allowing businesses to seek temporary worker visas for the same jobs.”
Meanwhile, the White House issued a report Tuesday from its Council of Economic Advisers saying that “immigration has a positive effect on the American economy as a whole and on the income of native-born American workers.” It argued that immigrants enhance the productivity of native-born workers and increase their earnings an estimated $37 billion a year, the New York Times reported. However, other studies have concluded that immigrants reduce earnings of native-born workers, particularly low-skilled workers.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks Hispanic immigrants should stop watching Spanish-speaking media to learn English. “You’ve got to turn off the Spanish television set,” he said last week at the annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. “You’re just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster.” Schwarzenegger is correct that immersion can speed up learning a language. But the bigger barrier likely is the three-year waiting period to get into many English language classes.
Posted by Andie Clum
Michael Goodwin had a commentary in Friday’s Eagle that got to the heart of many Americans’ unease about the immigration bill: They don’t trust that the government will really enforce the border. That’s no doubt why the new immigration deal announced Thursday calls for an immediate $4.4 billion investment in border security and enforcement.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
