IMMIGRATION & THE ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIME WAVE

How about one more?

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Viewpoints, Outlook

Jan. 22, 2004, 6:57PM

No bright side to Bush's immigration plan
By RAUL YZAGUIRRE

President Bush touted his

immigration proposal in the State of the Union address. But the plan marks a stunning reversal of America's centuries-old covenant with its immigrants.

The promise of America to its immigrants is that if you work hard and believe in this country's fundamental traditions and values, you, too, can become a full-fledged American.

But the principles outlined in the president's speech would instead create a massive new guest-worker program with no meaningful path to permanent legal status.

What's more, the proposal would reinforce a two-tiered labor system with a large body of vulnerable workers whose ability to remain in the United States is entirely dependent on the good will of their employers.

The 8 million undocumented immigrants currently within the United States already represent an unofficial second tier of the labor market -- a national disgrace that badly needs to be addressed.

Unlike President Reagan, who signed a law to bring 3 million immigrant workers onto a path toward U.S. citizenship, Bush is simply proposing to give these 8 million workers only temporary status.

Though the president argues that these workers could wait in line for permanent visas through the nation's legal immigration system, the current wait for such visas is more than a decade. What would need to be included to make this plan realistic is more comprehensive changes in the number of visas and the structure of the system, neither of which the White House is proposing. After many years of temporary work, the hope for a green card would be only an

illusion.

Our nation of immigrants has a great tradition of honoring hard work by providing full access to the American Dream. Generation after generation of immigrants has become equal partners in upholding the values of this country.

Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Tom Daschle, D-S.D., have just introduced a bill that, far from perfect, would provide a path to permanent legal status for undocumented workers. Other bills are expected to follow suit. To move forward, reform must engage members of both parties.

The president is correct when he says immigrant workers are a vital economic force in the country. Their hard work, tax dollars, energy and commitment to the American Dream ought to be cherished and harnessed.

He is also correct in saying that immigrant workers need to be brought out of the shadows.

Unfortunately, his proposal would not do that.

Yzaguirre is the president and chief executive officer of the Washington-based National Council of La Raza www.nclr.org, an umbrella organization for more than 300 organizations dedicated to improving life opportunities for Hispanics.

And one more!

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Viewpoints, Outlook

Jan. 22, 2004, 8:52PM

It's time for U.S. to show Mexico some tough love
By U.S. REP. ELTON GALLEGLY

If there's one positive consequence of President Bush's guest worker proposal, it's that it has sparked debate on our failed policies on illegal immigration.

Now, if only it would spark a discussion of our troubled relationship with Mexico. It's clear our southern neighbor will be the greatest beneficiary of what can only be called another amnesty program. An estimated 70 percent of illegal immigrants in the United States come from Mexico. They provide an economic boon to Mexico by easing its unemployment rate and providing cash for the Mexican economy through remittances.

Last year, Mexico received more than $14 billion from Mexicans living in the United States who sent part of their paychecks to relatives back home. That's more than Mexico earns from either tourism or direct foreign investment, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

But while Mexico is profiting from its relationship with the United States, it's not so clear what we're getting from Mexico. When Mexicans take our jobs, U.S. workers suffer. More than 8 million Americans are out of work. Hotel and restaurant jobs -- which used to be filled by legal U.S. residents and citizens -- are now filled by illegal immigrants who are paid much less than what U.S. workers were paid.

Slaughterhouses -- which used to be a high-paying field for U.S. workers -- are now filled with illegal immigrants who are paid a fraction of the former wages and given no benefits. It's dangerous work, with many injuries. Without health insurance -- a given in the illegal immigrant community -- hospitals are stuck footing the bill. In 2001, California and the federal government reimbursed health care providers for $648 million worth of services to illegal immigrants.

Mexican trucks roll into California and other border states. Currently, they are restricted to within 20 miles of the border, but Mexican President Vicente Fox and President Bush want to remove that restriction. That's good news for Mexican truckers but bad news for U.S. truckers who have to compete with those willing to work for a pittance. Mexico's lust for U.S. dollars can be seen in its lobbying of local and state governments to accept its national ID card -- the matricula consular -- for use in the United States. The only ones who need those cards are illegal immigrants, criminals and terrorists. Those Mexicans who are in this country legally have other means of identification. But the card makes it easier for Mexican nationals to flout our laws and send money back to Mexico, which is all Mexico cares about.

At the same time, Mexico has steadfastly refused to extradite criminals who have committed heinous murders in the United States and then fled to the safety of their homeland. In Los Angeles alone, at least 150 Mexican nationals are wanted for murder and other serious crimes committed here.

There is even talk of making the United States an electoral district of Mexico. Maywood, Calif., resident Manuel de la Cruz is a naturalized U.S. citizen who retained his Mexican citizenship and who won a seat in Mexico's Congress last year. He says that 10 million Mexicans in the United States are eligible to vote in Mexico and, therefore, the United States should be an electoral district for his native country.

Instead of giving away the store, the United States should be helping Mexico to pull itself up by its bootstraps.

Mexico is our neighbor, and it is in our best interest to see that it succeeds. But U.S. workers and taxpayers shouldn't have to suffer in the process. The United States should make it clear that our relationship is a two-way street. It's time for some tough love. Until Mexico proves itself to be a good neighbor and willing to make a better life for its own citizens in their own land, the United States should not continue to be the department of social services for Mexico.

Gallegly, R-Calif., is chair of the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights.

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The URL in #42 & 43 should read as follows:

This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/2367075

Before I go to bed, let me share another little tidbit of information!

Agency to Open Palo Alto Battlefield

By LYNN BREZOSKY Associated Press Writer

The National Park Service is scheduled to open its first site dedicated to the U.S.-Mexican War on Saturday, on a cactus-dotted stretch of land that lay forgotten for more than a century.

The Palo Alto Battlefield is where U.S. and Mexican soldiers began a fight that led to Mexico losing half its territory and the United States gaining claim to the Southwest.

However, the visitor's center for the 3,400-acre site will feature displays reflecting both U.S. and Mexican perspectives on the war - in English and Spanish - in hopes of attracting visitors from both sides of the border.

"What we're trying to do is look at the historical process and honor the soldiers of both countries," said Douglas Murphy, the National Park Service historian responsible for organizing the exhibits.

Still, it took a lot of negotiating by the park service to get Mexican historians to share what few documents they have from the period, Murphy said. The Mexican government gave no official support.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and other dignitaries are scheduled to officially open the park site, which also has a scenic overlook. Future plans include a network of trails through the battlefield.

U.S. and Mexican high school color guards will attend the ceremony, and both national anthems will be played. Mexican dignitaries have been invited, Murphy said, but he was not confident they would show.

The battlefield was long forgotten after the war. For more than a century, it was owned by a succession of private ranchers. Locals speak of childhood scouting missions yielding buttons from uniforms or shards of ammunition.

In the 1970s, then U.S. Rep. Kika de la Garza began a campaign to acquire the land and have it dedicated as a historic landmark. U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz continued the efforts in the 1980s. President George H. Bush signed the authorizing legislation in 1991, allocating $1.9 million to begin acquiring the land.

The battlefield, located nine miles east of the Rio Grande, saw the first real action in the U.S.-Mexican War, also known as "Mr. Polk's War," after then-Pres. James K. Polk.

"Polk was hell-bent on starting a war in order to get his political goals accomplished to stretch the boundaries of the United States," said Gilberto Hinojosa, dean at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

And stretch them he did: the more than half a million square miles of territory acquired by war comprise what is today California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, as well as parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming.

U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor spent the hot afternoon of May 8, 1846, trading cannon shots with Mexican soldiers led by Gen. Mariano Arista.

Taylor's men were outnumbered by more than a third, but they had the advantage of newer, lighter artillery, including cannon balls filled with shrapnel. Arista reported 252 men killed, Taylor nine. Nightfall ended the battle.

The war continued with Taylor's army pushing into the Mexican interior and Mexico City. It ended with Mexico giving up 529,017 square miles of territory under the Feb. 2, 1848, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Texas-Mexico border was moved from the Nueces River near Corpus Christi about 200 miles south to the Rio Grande.

On the Net:

Palo Alto Battlefield: http://www.nps.gov/paal/