Immigration Reformation

Known as a couple of blue dots in a red state, Austin and Houston are allegedly serving as “sanctuary cities” by anti-immigration advocates, implying that they are soft on illegal immigration. However, according to a recent study released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Austin and Houston are among the toughest cities when it comes to immigration law (ICE.gov). In October 2008, under Mayor White, Houston became the first city to adopt the Secure Communities program (Politifact.com).

The ICE’s Secure Communities program uses the information sharing capabilities between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) by allowing local law enforcement agents to run instant background checks on the fingerprint scans required during booking (ICE.gov). Both FBI records and DHS immigration records are checked; if a detainee is identified as an illegal immigrant, their immigration status and criminal background are assessed and they are promptly deported. Why is there such an urgency to remove immigrants from Texas? If they are hard-working, minor-first-time offenders, they ought to be allowed to pay their dues and get back to work. In the end, I believe their contributions to our society strengthen our economy.

In the mean time, Republican Legislators are doing everything they can to block the passage of the DREAM Act. The act would allow illegal immigrants who 1) arrived in the U.S. as minors, 2) have been in the U.S. for at least 5 years, 3) graduated from a U.S. high school, and 4) are of good moral character the opportunity to earn permanent residency after completing two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning (dreamact.info). While Hispanics are largely Democratic, they have yet to noticeably engage in this election season to help combat the Republican suppression of the DREAM Act. It is also difficult to replace an anti-DREAM Act incumbent with a pro-DREAM Act candidate since the majority of Texas residents directly affected by the Act are non-citizens.

Anti-immigration Republicans may have the upper hand in this case, as they tend to more cohesively voice their opinion with their votes. It has always been their general opinion that illegal immigrants take jobs from American citizens and are partly responsible for the level of unemployment in Texas and the U.S., today. What Republicans fail to realize is how much our economy depends on undocumented workers.

Illegal immigrant workers really do take on the jobs that Americans prefer not to make a career out of because they will accept less pay and fewer benefits (berkeley.edu). The companies that hire them can avoid payroll taxes and unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, the workers are happy to not pay into health insurance, 401ks, and income taxes. Some of the more lawless corporations would be more than happy to take their business outside of the U.S. if they were one day forced to pay their workers minimum wage, which is something that their undocumented employees do not require of them.

It is said that for every one “field” job sent overseas, 300 complementary jobs held by Americans would be lost or adversely affected. That means that a job held by an illegal farm worker directly affects the availability of and the wages of positions for truckers, retail workers, machinists, assembly line workers, Walmart shelf-stockers, HEB cart-pushers, etc. As evidenced by elaborate studies on immigrant and American workers, most economic experts agree that immigrants actually create more jobs than they fill (berkeley.edu). Rather than rushing hard-working immigrants out of our state, I think we should reconsider their status and deport based on severe or repeat criminal offenses only. The DREAM Act would be a great start. While Texas is becoming a minority-majority state, this means nothing unless young Hispanic Democratic voters become galvanized in the political system and are convinced that their vote is really worth something.