Immigration Debate does Cause Heartburn

Here is a very significant report from the Pew Hispanic Center. It highlights some new impressions and feelings of Hispanics as the immigration debate continues on the path of hate and fear. The report also dispels some urban myths about Hispanic perspectives regarding immigration. Here is quick summary of the report:

• This report puts into perspective the feelings Hispanics have about raids & deportations.
  
• The national survey also explores how the issue of immigration has affected Latinos from a personal stand point, and how the heightened attention to immigration issues has had a specific negative effect on them personally. "These effects include more difficulty finding work or housing; less likelihood of using government services or traveling abroad; and more likelihood of being asked to produce documents to prove their immigration status."
  
• While generally the report says the current immigration debate has made life much more difficult, Latinos are upbeat about the long-term prospects for Latino children, expecting them to have better jobs and more money in the future.

Interestingly enough, it should not come as a great surprise to some, but the report verifies the fact and feeling that many of us have regarding raids, deportations, local and state legislation, and current Homeland Security policy.

• "Federal, state and local governments have pressed forward with hundreds of new enforcement bills, regulations and procedures--including stepped up deportations, more workplace raids, and restrictions on access to driver's licenses and other government services and benefits."
  
• "They oppose--often by lopsided margins--many of the new enforcement measures being pursued by federal and state authorities. Three quarters (75%) disapprove of workplace raids; some 79% prefer that local police not take an active role in identifying illegal immigrants; and some 55% disapprove of states checking for immigration status before issuing driver's licenses.
• By contrast, non-Hispanics are much more supportive of all these policies, with a slight majority favoring workplace raids and a heavy majority favoring driver's license checks. "

Another urban myth that the Pew Hispanic Center reports clears up is the fact that "Hispanics generally see illegal immigrants as a plus – both for the Latino community itself and for the U.S. economy in general.

Here, too, there are differences by nativity – with the foreign born significantly more positive than the native born in their views about the effects of illegal immigration. But even the native born are more positive than negative. And, as they assess the impact of illegal immigrants on the economy, native-born Latinos are more inclined to see a positive impact now (64%) than they were five years ago, when just 54% said the impact was positive."

I believe it is urgent that our elected leaders and the faith based leadership continue to work for comprehensive immigrant reform. The piece meal approach is so much more enforcement oriented and it seems that immigration proponents are giving up much more in terms of compromise than we are receiving in laws and legislation that are just and reform oriented.

The Pew Hispanic Center report is clear.....life under the current hate and fear filled immigration debate is being felt in a negative manner by Hispanics regardless of their legal or unauthorized status.

The report is available at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.