-----
March 24, 2006
There are a few things about Georgia politics I'm not so crazy about...the use of the word "illegal" to describe people is one of them. A friend pointed out that the New York Times, that bastion of the liberal media, uses it too. I wrote a letter to the public editor and this is the response I received:
Dear Ms. Serna,---------------
Thanks for writing. I will make sure that the appropriate person sees you message. But just so you know, here is the relevant entry from the paper's stylebook:
illegal immigrant is the preferred term, rather than the sinister-sounding illegal alien. Do not use the euphemism undocumented.
Sincerely,
Joe Plambeck
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times
Note: The public editor's opinions are his own and do not represent those of The New York Times.
LEGISLATURE 2006: House passes bill on illegals-Senate prepares to iron out differences -- from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.We have a legislature full of people who claim to be Christian. I won't be the first to point out the incredible hypocrisy of policies that do people harm - by attempting to deny children an education (that was last session's anti-immigrant gem - preventing the children of these supposedly "illegal" people from attending public schools), cutting people off from jobs they need to support their families, preventing access to health care (this is terrible public policy for us as a society, not just for immigrants) and creating an atmosphere of disrespect that has led to violence against immigrants.
Carlos Campos & Jim Tharpe.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Georgia's sweeping attempt to confront illegal immigration moved a step closer to becoming law Thursday when the state House voted 123-51 in favor of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act. The Republican-dominated chamber debated Senate Bill 529 --- a complex proposal aimed at illegal immigrants and those who employ them --- only 90 minutes before House leaders called for a vote.
State Rep. Dan Lakly (R-Peachtree City), the son of a legal immigrant from Yugoslavia, told the House the bill is a simple case of "right versus wrong, legal versus illegal."
Lakly and other speakers pointed a stern finger at the federal government, which they said has failed to fix a broken immigration system.
"There comes a time when the states have to stand up as one and send a message to the federal government," Lakly said. "The people of our country want our borders secure. The people of this country do not want to be overrun by illegal immigrants."
But Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Duluth), one of two Hispanics in the House, said the bill, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate this month, does not provide "meaningful immigration reform."
"This bill is not the right first step," he said. "It addresses symptoms of the problem, not the cause, which is a broken national system."
Polls show that more than 80 percent of Georgians want the Legislature to deal with illegal immigration. The thorny issue has become a centerpiece of this election-year session of the General Assembly, where all 236 lawmakers' jobs are up for grabs.
Rogers' bill [Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock] attempts to prohibit adult illegal immigrants from getting taxpayer-funded benefits to which they are not entitled. [Note: this sentence explains nicely that this is already prohibited, and this aspect of the bill does not address anything new.] It also attempts to ensure that companies with public contracts hire only workers in the country legally, and it would financially penalize private employers who hire illegal immigrants [Again, already the case.] The bill also would establish tough penalties for human trafficking [This aspect of the bill is definitely a good thing.]
House members added a provision in committee that would require illegal immigrants to pay a 5 percent surcharge on money they wire out of the country. That has upset some senators who might try to remove that section. [We're talking about people who are supporting their families with this money. 5% adds up quickly - they already pay sales taxes, many pay too much in income taxes, propping up Social Security to the tune of billions of dollars, not to mention taxes as fees. If their children attend universities, they pay out of state tuition. How many times can we charge the same struggling people?
"As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year." Full ARTICLE.
There are an estimated 250,000 to 800,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia --- though no one has a precise number. Proponents of a crackdown say illegal immigrants burden schools, prisons and the health care system without footing an equal part of the tax burden. Opponents of Rogers' proposal say immigrants are here seeking a better life, do pay taxes and take only the jobs Americans refuse.
"This is an unprecedented level of fear," said Zamarripa, who called for a weekend of prayer on the issue. Zamarripa said he had tried to be a voice of moderation and spoke out against plans within the Hispanic community to stay home from work today as a demonstration of their importance to the state's economy.
In the House, conservative Democrats sided with the Republican majority to easily pass the bill. Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) said Rogers' bill did not go far enough, but agreed it was a starting point. He said the federal government had spent billions on homeland security since 9/11 "but we can't stop hungry Mexicans" from crossing the border by the millions.
"We have a system that is out of control," Powell said. "What part of illegal do people not understand? It's illegal to be here undocumented."
Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell), who voted against the bill, said some of her constituents had urged her to "do something about all those Mexicans." But she called Rogers' proposal "race-baiting, hypocritical legislation."
"When history records what we've done in this chamber, I'm going to be on the right side of history," she said.
Tisha Tallman, counsel for the Atlanta regional office for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the organization would continue its opposition to the bill. Tallman said MALDEF continued to believe the bill was "not only unconstitutional, but bad policy for Georgia."
The bill "fails to recognize contributions" of immigrant workers on Georgia's economy. She said MALDEF, which has sued over similar issues in other states, was preparing for potential litigation in Georgia.
WHAT THE BILL WOULD DO
The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (Senate Bill 529) would do several things:
1. Discourage businesses from hiring illegal immigrants by prohibiting employers from receiving state income tax benefits if they hire undocumented workers.
2. Require proof of legal residence for anyone older than 18 who seeks public benefits. Prenatal care would be exempt. The courts have ruled that illegal immigrants are entitled to a K-12 education and emergency medical care.
3. Require that public contractors use only workers who are in the country legally. It would not hold a contractor responsible for a subcontractor who hires illegal immigrants. [This is already the system in place for most undocumented workers - it happens to deprive them of many of the labor protections they would otherwise have access to.]
4. Empowers the Georgia Department of Labor to establish the Georgia Immigrant Worker Verification system to verify that employers with public contracts only employ workers legally in the country.
5. Require verification of the legal status of any person jailed for a felony or DUI. [I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but the police already id anyone and everyone they take into custody. Trust me, I've seen it happen to people who do not have legal identification, and it ends up costing them around a thousand dollars to get out of jail.]
6. Establish penalties for human trafficking. Penalties of up to 20 years in prison would be imposed for anyone who recruits or transports a person who is subjected to forced labor.
7. Place a 5 percent fee on wire transfers of money to a foreign nation when the sender cannot prove legal status in the U.S.
8. Regulates the "notarios" industry which provides immigration assistance services.
Where do we live again? Last time I checked my great great grandmother hopped on a boat without a whole lot of documentation herself. You know what? I bet she was hungry and tired and fed up with not being able to make a decent living.
But yeah, let's make Georgia all about putting the hurt on undocumented immigrants. That's fair, and righteous, and Christian.
"Illegal: it's the new black..."
1 comment:
Post a Comment