Domestic Policy - Immigration Position Paper

Domestic policy - Immigration Position paper

Hispanic immigrant position :

A lot of Hispanic people have been coming to America. They come from: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ecuador... They come here because of political persecution in their homeland. Or they come here, quite often, because of abject poverty. Their children are hungry.

We think this shouldn't, in any way, be looked at as a "burden" on America; but rather, a tremendous opportunity—to be of help.

In Eunice, New Mexico, we researched a grassroots model that we believe, if plugged into towns all across America, could make it a heck of a lot easier for Hispanics moving here. The "Hispanic Council" was started in Eunice by a group of local citizens who wanted to help new Hispanic arrivals in as many ways as possible.

Hispanic Council president Leon Navarette said they, for one, served as an advocacy group lobbying the town City Council for better roads, sewers... on the south side of Eunice where many of the new Hispanic arrivals live. The Hispanic Council also provided consulting to inform new arrivals about work place rights; or, to connect some to small business organizations that could help with new business start ups.

Education was also looked at as a key by the Hispanic Council. They lobbied for more bilingual staff to help new arrival youth with the transition to American schools. They consulted with new arrival youth, and adults, about staying in, or going back to, school. They set up a college scholarship and financed it by local bake sales, auctions, etc.

Social service needs are also a priority, and the Hispanic Council put on, for example, a seminar with a doctor from the Department of Social Services to explain about child inoculation, and other health and nutrition related issues.

The make-up of the Eunice Hispanic Council was all Hispanic, not necessarily by design. We believe having people of other nationalities on a Hispanic Council as well, would increase town togetherness and help people learn much more about Hispanic cultures.

Immigration in general :

According to a Sept. 2001 National Geographic article on immigration, we now average 1 million immigrants to America a year, not only from Latin America, but from Asia, Africa, the Middle East... Former director of the Census Bureau, Kenneth Prewitt was quoted: "We are on the way to becoming the first country in history literally made up of every part of the world."

Given this, it is our belief America has this phenomenal opportunity to have a model society that revolves around peaceful co-existance, heightened social justice and the melding of enriching cultural ideas. (In our travels, we have most graphically seen this taking shape in such cities as Los Angeles, New York...)

In fact, Michael Elliott, in an essay for Time Magazine (2/4/02) about New York's rich diversity of immigrants wrote: "...with good humor, sound institutions and tolerance, that swirl of humanity can create a vibrant culture and an unparalleled opportunity for people to dream of a better life for themselves and their families."

Note: We also acknowledge some foreigners in no way want to leave family, neighborhood and country to come to America.
But, as noted earlier, they do it because their children are hungry, or in peril because of war, etc. To that end, it is our belief the U.S. should do everything possible to help better their situation in their home country—so, if possible, they can stay.
(See: foreign policy)