Bill ignites debate

By Jimmy Cusack
cusack@mscd.edu

   On Saturday, March 27, an estimated 50,000 people united at Denver’s Civic Center Park in protest of House Resolution 4437, which would make all undocumented immigrants felons.
   The resolution would also require all employers to verify the immigration status of their employees. Protests have taken place across the country over the past few weeks.
   The House has already passed the bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn. has introduced a companion bill to the Senate, which would make it a felony to be in the United States without proper paperwork.
   Proponents of the bill feel that keeping tabs on illegal immigrants is vital to national security.
There has been outrage over the bill presented by Frist and Sensenbrenner, and the provisions that make it a criminal act to help anyone who is an undocumented alien.
   Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. was quoted as saying, “This bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan, and probably even Jesus himself.”
   Currently, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented workers from some 140 countries, with an estimated 60 percent from Mexico. There are also an additional 3 million waiting for visas.
   Metro’s Professor Vincent C. deBaca, chair of the Chicano Studies Department, was asked what affects the passing of Resolution 4437 would have.
   “ It would have far reaching implications, not just for Chicanos, but for the immigrant community overall, including people from many different immigrant groups,” he said.
   Also being protested is the House bill proposing the construction of a 700-mile long fence along our 1,983-mile southern border with Mexico. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., sponsors the bill.
   “ I think it is ludicrous, absurd, (and) given our budget is a supreme waste of national resources that are also paid for by Chicanos in the form of taxes,” deBaca said.
   “ When you consider a war in Iraq, the Hurricane Katrina damages, the health care problems and unemployment, I think we have a lot of more important emergencies to deal with other than spending 3 to 4 billion dollars building a fence that will not stop anything,” deBaca said.
   Those who are in favor of closing the borders say that doing so is vital to homeland security.
   “ There has been widespread debate about the logic of the border fence that it should be placed along Canada where some Muslim extremists have been caught trying to gain access. Many of the Homeland Security people have suggested that we face greater threats from all the cargo containers that come in to our ports, which are seldom, if ever scrutinized. The bill is much more far-reaching than that, because it calls upon state and local police to assist the federal government in policing immigrants,” deBaca said.
   When deBaca was asked if the illegal immigration issue is a problem he said, “ I think it depends; I don’t know if it it’s the greatest National Security threat or problem that this country faces. Certainly, I think there are is a criminal element coming in through the seven borders—drug dealers, people who profit through human trafficking—which can manifest itself into many other problems, both in host countries and here in our own country. So, yes, I would say there is a problem, but probably not the most important problem that we are facing.”
   “ This whole question has so many ramifications in that it has been allowed to fester,” deBaca said. “This issue has been ongoing for at least 100 years.”