2010 Saw The Death Of Immigration Reform
Commentary by By Felicia Persaud, caribworldnews.com
NEW YORK - What started out as a hopeful 2009 for many on the hot button issue of immigration reform has ended with shattered hearts, tears and broken dreams for millions across the United States.
While the Obama administration and Democrats promised reform, the promise failed to materialize. Another `Yes We Can` chant flushed down the toilet. Not even the DREAM act, a watered down version of reform that would have benefitted children, failed to make it. What is left for many is now a dark cloud of desperation, where the undocumented are left prey to unscrupulous attorneys and individuals even as Republican lawmakers foam at the mouth like rabid dogs, ready to strike at their latest scapegoats – `illegal aliens.` These are the same `illegal aliens` who work the farms of this country, who serve as housekeepers and nannies and hotel maids; who work as dish washers, supermarket packers and delivery persons and who gut fish for a living – all jobs even the millions of unemployed would refuse to take. And let`s not forget the highly educated and skilled, who are deemed illegal because their paper work is caught up in a backlogged labor system that moves slower than a tortoise. They`re not drug dealers or terrorists. Their only crime is trying to make a better living for their family and those they left behind when the big American corporations moved in and took to paying next to nothing in their home nations. Yet, while many prepare to lay comprehensive immigration reform to rest with little hopes of a resurrection any time soon, Republicans like Steve King offer no real solution to the problem, except more anal retentive policies that force many further into the deep under-belly of this country`s economy. King, an Iowa Republican who is likely to chair the subcommittee dealing directly with immigration, wants to end automatic or `birthright` citizenship for children born in the United States, which has been enshrined in U.S. law since the 14th Amendment`s adoption in 1868. He and his band of dim wits have yet to come up with any real solution to deal with the millions who are entrenched in this country, who keep the engines running and who pay their taxes like all loyal Americans. The reality is that while King and his cronies believe that building a fence and rounding up and deporting millions is the solution, the fact is that the U.S. economy lacks the financial capacity to do so, as their good buddy, Mr. Bush, emptied the coffers on Iraq. And, while King runs around spinning his birthright scheme, corporations who support both parties are happily employing the `illegals` for jobs Americans won`t do. Republicans and blue dog Democrats can continue to blame the undocumented all season long, but until rational solutions are offered to fix the problem, nothing will change. Killing immigration reform is not the solution. Rounding up and deporting millions is not the solution. The solution lies in giving work permits and travel documents to the millions of hard working, moral migrants working and living in this country, so that we can all benefit – from the IRS to the DHS. Patrol and control the borders yes but deal with the problem at hand – millions we don`t know, who honestly are building this country`s economy. The choice is clear unless of course the status quo of keeping an underclass of serfs is really the intention after all.
