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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2006)
2 Commentary Clackamas Print! Wednesday, May 24, 2006 Face off: illegal immigratior] Immigrants already abused - criminalization won't help E. E. West The Clackamas Print The United States is a country almost entire ty composed of immigrant peoples, and yet there has always been a streak of xenophobia in the American social fabric. Germans, Scottish, Irish, Italians, Chinese - all these groups and more have encountered bitter resistance in their adopted homeland. From the beginning of the 20th century to the present the issue of Mexican immigration has been a focal point of America’s fear of the unfamiliar. No, illegal Mexican immigration is not a new issue by any stretch of the imagination. Just ask your mother, father or grandparents, and they will tell you that the “illegal problem” has been with us for at least as long as they’ve been alive. The issue comes up every few years or so, as some political figure or other attempts to make a name for himself by blustering about fee scourge of illegal immigrants. Despite fee fact feat there’s been much sound and fury about fee subject, next to nothing has ever been done about it Why might this be? Let’s imagine a hypothetical illegal immi grant, newly come to America in search of a job feat simply doesn’t exist back home in Mexico. Because he has no legal status in fee United States he is forced to take a job under fee table or wife false identification. His employer knows full well feat he is not in fee states legal ly, and feat he has little or no recourse should he be paid less than the going rate for fee job. Beggars can’t be choosers after all. More rarely employers will treat such immi grants poorly in defiance of labor laws, secure in fee knowledge that their employees will either take it or risk deportation. This, needless to say, works to an employer’s benefit Many smaller employers are simply doing what they can to keep competitive in a fierce market; they have few options but to hire those who will work for the lowest wage. Other, larger employers are not so blameless. To see just why illegal immigration has never beat dealt wife we only need to examine those who make immigration laws, and how they come to power. Representatives and sena tors rely in part on fee contributions of large employers to fund their campaigns. Is it any wonder then feat both houses have persistently refused to change a situation that favors their contributors? Lately a vocal segment of fee body politic has been advocating “stricter” immigration laws that would criminalize illegal immigra tion. They would see the estimated 11 million illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States today become felons, with absolutely no pos sibility of ever becoming citizens. This same group would love to see a 700- mile long, dual-layer wall along the Mexico- U.S. border, watchgd ceaselessly by border patrol. The immense cost of such a policy becomes all too ironic when you consider that one of the primary objections this group has is that illegal immigrants eat up social benefits that would otherwise go to citizens. Apparently spending vast sums of cash on a police state is not nearly as wastefill as feeding, clothing and giving medicine to needy human beings. To criminalize immigrants is to marginalize them even further than they already have been. By labeling them felons we will only encourage those who use the illegal status of immigrants to their advantage. One thing is certain: as long as America remains a place in which a person has a reason able chance at securing a happy, fruitful life, people are going to want to come here and they are going to find a way to make it happen. I for one hope we are never rid of that “problem.” No matter the idealism, immigration is a problem Elizabeth Hitz The Clackamas Print They called it “May Day,” and it was a plea for help, though not in the way you might think. On May 1, hundreds of thousands of people across America marched in protest of a bill. That bill, which has already passed in con gress, will put up a 700-mile wall across the United States and Mexico border. It will also make being an illegal alien a felony, as well as forbid any illegal immigrants already on American soil from ever becoming American citizens. Bleeding heart stories and phrases like “The American Dream” are all very idealistic, but it’s time that politicians and the American people face the music. However harsh reality can be, it remains a necessity. Our govern ment is not prepared to deal with the number of illegal immigrants that flood the United States every year. It creates a rapidly grow ing populace that we simply do not have the resources for. States like California and Arizona are going CAUTION PROHIBIDÓ 1 " I Illustration by E. E. West Clackamas Print bankrupt trying to fund things like public edd cation and healthcare for illegal immic™® However, economists say that wc canno deport all of fee illegal aliens heron Jj make up a pillar of our workforce. But wiftj all of those extra bodies, would we be facin fee massive work shortage we are now?ffl3 would be many more entry-level po® open to the American worker. Some peopi look down on manual labor or low skill jobsi menial; but to fee average Joe a job is a job. I Bush has recently put forth a plan to m thousands of National Guard troops to pad fee U.STMexico border. The cost of sum scheme seems horrendous; $1.9 bill® emergency funds will be needed to even*)) cute fee intended proposal. And there is a hig| probability that another $20.3 million wfflN needed to hire more judges to help the cai system adjust to fee extra court cases wh3 would result as a side effect of Bush’s plan.I But fee fact is this - it is a plan. An into] set of actions, which is more than most adna istrations would ever attempt Someth™ to be done. On feat fact alone all of the poM parties agree. But what kind of affirmative action) ha they promoted? None. Passive-a attempts by Democrats and Republicans! to come in fee form of more paperwork; fee proposed orange cards which would1 illegal immigrants here longer than two y a chance at citizenship. But paper# not fee answer for an already overt and overstrained INS. Some sort of de action is needed to stem or at least si flow of this massive problem. An estj 2 million illegal immigrants live and wl fee United States, and fee numbers only continually. I am not saying we should stop immi altogether, or feat immigrants should be any differently than any natural-bom U.S. d zen. My father’s parents were both immi I know how hard it was for them, and ho they worked to get where they did What I am saying is that we have to fee line wife illegal immigration. Ifwe|o curb fee idealistic nature of our own nati could very quickly cause our own d As much as we would like life perfect for everyone in fee world we make every person in a third world c an American citizen and we cannot our own country’s wellbeing on the Utopia. If there is a plea for help, it is from our if j government, and it is a plea for reason. From ‘No Child Left Behind' to ‘No Child Left Alon Laura Cameron I Commentary Editor The Pentagon has a file on every stu dent on this campus. That’s right, every single one. They have their names, addresses, emails and cell numbers. They know where they were bom, what their grades are, their credit information and their Social Security numbers. They know every thing. No, this is not a conspiracy theory. This is part of the No Child Left Behind Act. Section 9528 of the act requires sec ondary schools - the definition of which Clackamas Print 19600 S. Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 (503) 657-6958 ex. 2309 The C lackamas Print is a weekly student publication and is distributed every Wednesday except finals week. varies from state to state to include junior highs, high schools and colleges - to provide “directory information” of all their students to military recruiters. Section 9528 was added after intense lobbying by the Pentagon; hardly sur prising, considering that one-third of all school districts in America had policies against giving student information to recruiters before the act was passed. We all know that the military is hurting for recruits. But this goes beyond making it eas ier for recruiters to call students at home. According to Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, “the Pentagon has retained a private marketing firm to gather and analyze extensive personal information E ditor - in -C hief : Ben Maras C opy E ditors : Katie Weinberg, E. E. West N ews E ditor : Katie Wilson C ommentary E ditor : Laura Cameron F eature E ditor : C.J. Ciaramella S ports E ditor : Mike Guidice A&E E ditor : Tayo Stalnaker P hoto E ditor : Jeff Sorensen A d M anager : Sam Krause about high school students for the stated purpose of identifying potential military recruits.” This program is called JAMRS, Joint Advertising Market Research & Studies, and the information the firm is gather ing for the Pentagon can include credit card records, Social Security numbers, DMV records, grade-point average, class schedules and ethnicity. This information is purchased from a vari ety of other firms, including ones that process college scholarship and loan applications. Yes, students have the opportunity to opt out, but considering how quiet everyone has been on this issue I can’t imagine that most students even know A d A ssistant : Helen Conley S taff W riters : Derek Erickson, Justin Goe, Elizabeth Hitz, Frank Jordan, Mike Kimberiing, Megan Koler, Adam J. Manley Matthew Olson, Kyle Steele, David Stark, N. P. Delzell, Helen Conley P roduction A ssistants : Adam J. Manley, Kim Maier, Elizabeth it exists. This is sickening. The gove does not need to know what cla am taking, nor my driving record| fact that a private company is com" this information makes me even I nervous. Can anyone here say “id( tity theft?” Not to mention that 1 is a gross violation of the Privacy 1 and possibly a violation of the Foo Amendment. I thought the Republicans were s posed to be all about “getting govt ment off the backs of the people.” N that they’re in power, it appears tl they are not only on our baiks mi than ever are but peering ovei I shoulders. Hitz, Chris Anderson,. Scott Risvold P hotographers : Adam J. Manley Lara Hedbor, Elizabeth Hitz, Matt Olson, N. P. Delzell D epartment A dvisor : Linda Vogt D epartment A ssistant : Chris Hennel G oals : The C lackamas Print aim to report the news in an honest I unbiased, profess >nal i n- .er. 1 The opinions expressed do not. ■ necessarily reflect those of tlie stu- ■ dent body, college adminttratiOT® its faculty or The Print. E-mail ■I comments to chiefed c ackamas. ■ edu. |
