Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, December 1, 2005
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PARKER HOWELL
EDITOR IN CHIEF
SHADRA BEES LEY
MANAGING EDITOR
MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
IARED PABEN
NEWS EDITORS
EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
KELLY BROWN
KA'IY GAGNON
CHRISTOPHER HAGAN
NICHOLAS WILBUR
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JOE BAILEY
EMILY SMITH
PART-TIME NEWS REPORTERS
SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS EDITOR
scorn ADAMS
LUKE ANDREWS
JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
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AMY UCHTY
PULSE EDITOR
TREVOR DAVIS
KRISTEN GERHARD
ANDREW MCCOLLUM
PULSE REPORTERS
AILEE SLATER
COMMENTARY EDITOR
GABE BRADLEY
KIRSTEN BROCK
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ARMY FETH
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The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub
lished daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year by the
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gon, Eugene, Ore The Emerald
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The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
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Aaron DuChateau | Illustrator
■ In my opinion
Immigration reform doesn’t cut it
On Monday, President Bush unveiled
his newest plan to recapture his conser
vative base. After five years of calls for
tighter border security from the right,
the president has finally proposed
legislation to make the country safer.
Or so I thought. After reading the text
from his speech at Davis-Monthan Air
Force Base in Arizona, I came away dis
heartened. I was hoping President Bush
had finally seen the kind of threat that
open borders pose.
The president's proposal, though a
step in the right direction, stops short of
enacting any meaningful reform. It
does call for tighter security by increas
ing border guards, building fences and
setting up cameras.
However, Bush’s proposal has one
major flaw: It grants worker visas to il
legal immigrants already in the country,
which will be renewable for up to six
years. How is this going to make our
country safer? Rewarding criminals
with legal status not only encourages il
legal immigration, but also threatens
national security.
Perhaps the worst part of President
Bush’s bill is what’s missing. The bill
does nothing about illegal aliens al
ready in the country. While increasing
security is a step, we must remove the
incentives for crossing the border.
Many people don’t realize what a
drain illegal immigration is on our sys
tem. Last year in Oregon we spent an
estimated $400 million educating illegal
aliens, according to the Department of
Education. Eight states have even gone
so far as to grant in-state tuition to ille
gal aliens as long as they’ve attended
high school in the state. Eleven other
states, including Oregon, have recently
tried to pass similar legislation.
Every day, illegal aliens use welfare,
Medicaid, hospitals and schools with
out paying a cent in taxes. Many will ar
gue that offering free social services is a
small price to pay to keep the nation
running. This country thrives on the
work of millions of immigrants and vis
iting workers — the agricultural sector
wouldn’t be able to function without
seasonal laborers. But our financial
KIRSTEN BROCK
ILLUSTRATING ABSURDITY
need does not justify turning a blind
eye to the illegal aliens in the country.
President Bush’s plan completely ig
nores another problem — the accept
ance of the matricula consular, or con
sulate card. The card was originally
intended to help the Mexican con
sulates identify Mexican citizens living
abroad. Now, the matricula consular is
used as a valid form of identification in
the United States.
All a Mexican citizen needs to do is
report to one of 65 Mexican consulates
in the United States and present his or
her birth certificate. The problem is
the Mexican government has no
nationwide registry of criminals, birth
certificates, death certificates or even
matricula consular cards.
There is no background check per
formed, no fingerprints taken and
there is no database of matriculas con
sulares, which enables illegal aliens to
simultaneously hold several cards —
even under different names. This
makes it difficult for the Oregon con
sulate to verify the applicant’s identity
and criminal history.
Most disturbing is the fact that many
states, including Oregon, accept these
cards as a valid form of ID. Oregon and
nine other states even grant driver’s li
censes to illegal aliens who hold a ma
tricula consular. The driver’s license in
turn gives an illegal immigrant the abil
ity to buy a house, get health insurance
and open bank accounts.
Of course, Mexico’s lack of infra
structure is its own problem — but
the United States has no business ac
cepting an ID card that is so unreli
able. Because of the matricula con
sular ID cards, terrorists could easily
enter the country and settle in Ameri
ca without having to be processed by
the government, which would enable
them to travel around the country
virtually undetected.
It may seem ridiculous to talk about
Mexican terrorists — but who would
have expected terrorists to enter the
country from Canada before Sept. 11? If
a man from the Middle East did cross
the Mexican-American border, he could
obtain a matricula consular ID card
with ease. Since Mexico has no real reg
ister of births or deaths, all he would
have to say would be that his parents
emigrated from Saudi Arabia and that
he was bom in Mexico.
Who would be able to argue? In
fact, this makes more sense than a ter
rorist entering through the Canadian
American border — it was already
done in preparation for the 9/11 at
tacks, so why not try to enter through
a border that isn’t being watched for
Middle Eastern terrorists?
Of course, many illegal aliens ar
rived here legally and have overstayed
their visas. This is how Mohammed
Atta and many of the other Sept. 11 hi
jackers arrived in this country. The
INS, however, does not generally pur
sue visa violations. Instead, they pre
fer to focus on deporting criminals,
not “law-abiding” aliens.
In fact, Tony Lew, the Los Angeles
INS spokesman, said in 2001 that “our
priorities are to go after illegal immi
grants committing crimes. If they are
law-abiding citizens, we don’t have the
resources to go looking for them.”
The problem with this stance is that
illegal aliens are not citizens, nor are
they law-abiding. By being here, they
have already broken the law and need
to be deported. The president should
realize that illegal immigration does
pose a serious threat and the time for
being compassionate is over. Either
they wait in line and submit themselves
to thorough background checks like le
gal immigrants or they need to find
work elsewhere.
kbrock@dailyemerald.com
■ Editorial
Vacation
gives all an
opportunity
to serve
From Dec. 9 until Jan. 9, University students
are free from classes and homework. While play
ing video games and bar-hopping may be on the
top of some stressed-out students’ lists of ways to
spend winter break, we hope some Eugeneans
will use the long vacation to help people in need
through volunteer work.
Although the damage wrought by Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita is no longer at the forefront of
the media, the work to repair New Orleans and
surrounding cities has only just begun. The
American Red Cross is spearheading many efforts
to help. People can fill out an application to vol
unteer for the Red Cross at www.redcross.org.
The Oregon Pacific Chapter of the American
Red Cross provides opportunities for volunteers
to help in Eugene. It has its office at 862 Bethel
Drive. Call 541-344-5244 to find out about volun
teer opportunities such as Meals on Wheels and
the Child Care Food Program, or visit www.ore
gonpacific.redcross.org. Wednesday, the Red
Cross provided food, clothing and shelter to stu
dents whose homes were damaged by the fire
near campus on 18th Avenue.
Smaller local organizations also create many
opportunities to help the hungry and homeless
in Eugene.
The Eugene Mission, a shelter on 1542 W. First
Ave., provides food, clothing, shelter, gospel and
work therapy to homeless people. The Mission is
open 24 hours a day and serves breakfast, lunch
and dinner daily. Volunteers can help with serv
ing meals or by participating in chapel services.
To find out how to help, call Linn Antis at 541 -
344-3251 and ask about volunteer opportunities.
The Family Dinner Program, sponsored by
FOOD for Lane County, provides another oppor
tunity to help hungry Eugeneans. Every week
day at locations in Eugene and Springfield, the
United Way of Lane County-funded agency
serves an evening meal to individuals and fami
lies in need. Volunteers aid with food preparation
in the afternoon and help serve meals in the
evening. The program’s main office is located at
770 Bailey Hill Road just of West 11th Avenue.
Those interested in volunteering can call Sheyla
Norte at 541-343-2822 or visit United Way of
Lane County’s Web site at www.volunteersolu
tions.org/uwlane. The Web site provides a
28-page list of other volunteer opportunities.
Today is World AIDS day, which brings to
light another opportunity to serve: the HIV Al
liance. Visit www.hivalliance.org or call Nicole
Buffington at 541-342-5088 ext. 10. Volunteers
for the Alliance can “care for pets during a
client’s hospitalization, help with errands,
plumbing or just be there to listen,” according
to the UWLC Web site.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Since you get more
joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a
good deal of thought into the happiness that you
are able to give.” So take some time out of your
not-so-busy schedule over winter break and help
some people in need.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Parker Howell
Editor in Chief
Steven Neuman
Online Editor
Shadra Beesley
Managing Editor
Ailee Slater
Commentary Editor
CORRECTION
Wednesday's editorial (ODE “Now is the time to start
learning from history") should have said former Secretary
of State Colin Powell in 2004 called the situation in
Darfur genocide.