NRI's Opinion & Help
Justice, Freedom
and Liberty for Undocumented People
NJ, USA, June 14,
2005
Ranjit Shaji,
Neither Kerry nor Bush showed any enthusiasm for
the Undocumented People during the entire election
campaign. Both of them evaded the immigration issue.
In the third Presidential debate, moderator Bob Schieffer
said he had received more e-mails about immigration
than any other topic. Even then there was less enthusiasm
among the candidates. Why ?
Opinion polls indicate that overwhelming majority
of Americans want to see the immigration system fixed.
Why did the Presidential hopefuls gave a silent treatment
to the immigration issue ?. The current immigration
system is widely recognized to be broken and unjust.
Giving freedom to Afghanistan, Iraq is fine but what
about the eleven million people at home who have no
freedom and live in the shadows.
More than 3,000 people have died illegally crossing
the border since the mid-1990s. People are dying at
the borders and families endure long separations,
many are forced to live underground existences. American
businesses cannot find needed workers or determine
if their workers are undocumented and the U.S. Government
resources are spent targeting people who fill the
labor market needs rather than those who wish to do
harm.
Long waiting lists and backlogs in family-based immigration
encourage immediate family members to remain here
undocumented rather than face long separations from
their loved ones or risk crossing a dangerous border.
The current immigration system hurts U.S. businesses,
U.S. families and U.S. security while it benefits
unscrupulous employers, traffickers and smugglers
who take advantage and profit from this broken system.
Immigrants put food on our tables and roofs over
our heads but they are denied the most basic rights.
Anti-immigrant forces are stirring up fear and hate
towards immigrants of diverse nationalities and workers
are not allowed to be reunited with their families.
Many of the fundamental human and civil rights of
immigrants are under attack. Immigrants have long
been the backbone of the U.S. economy and labor force,
yet they are forced to live in the shadows, fearful
of asserting their rights and often the victims of
exploitation in the workplace.
Undocumented immigrants constitute only 1% of the
total U.S. population. Contrary to popular belief
most of these immigrants do not enter the United States
illegally by crossing the border with Canada or Mexico.
Instead most immigrants here illegally, 6 out of 10,
enter the U.S. legally with a student, tourist, work
or business visa and become illegal when they stay
in the United States after their visas expire. The
issue is not only about Mexicans. Large number of
Asian population can also be seen working in Motels,
Gas stations, Convenient stores, Dunkin Donuts etc.
Most of them have overstayed their visas.
Undocumented immigrants are extremely vulnerable,
as they have few labor protections and are often afraid
to come forward to assert their rights. It is difficult
for them to join a union, object to illegal wages
and unsafe working conditions or receive compensation
for work-related injuries. Unscrupulous employers
often use workers immigration status against them.
Such an employer will contact immigration officials
when an undocumented worker files a labor violation
complaint. This tactic enables such employers to continue
their illegal practices. Workers who attempt to assert
their rights are punished or intimidated.
The Arizona Border Control initiative uses the $10
billion program which includes the use of unmanned
aerial vehicles, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft
and more than 200 additional Border Patrol agents
to increase border surveillance. The same enthusiasm
could have resulted in Bin Laden's capture.
America is advocating human rights all over the world
but what about the ten million here at home who are
constantly living under the fear of deportation ?
Richard Gere is miles away supporting freedom for
Tibet but would really appreciate if he could also
support the freedom for the ten million Undocumented
People here at home.
A just legalization program will allow hard-working,
law-abiding individuals to come out of the shadows
to be screened by the Government. It will also make
the communities safer because, when immigrant's deportation
fears are removed, they are more likely to report
crimes and suspicious activity to local law enforcement
agencies. This measure enhances the security by bringing
immigration under the rule of law, enabling the law
enforcement agencies to focus on terrorists and criminals
rather than workers and families. But right now the
enforcement agencies waste time and resources investigating
workers and families instead of tracking terrorists
and criminals.
People who are against immigration reforms are nothing
but racists. What does America stand for ? Freedom
and Liberty. They say they eat up their taxes. Most
of the Undocumented People are willing to pay taxes
but how ? On one side Government says they are not
eligible for social benefits and on another side they
issue drivers licenses in some states. This shows
there is complete anarchy regarding this issue.
Advocates against immigration have no Humane approach.
America is a land of immigrants. Why are people coming
here ? To work hard and make their dreams a reality.
Most of the Undocumented People are law abiding people
working, more then the usual hours an average resident
does. Many citizens who are shouting against immigration
reforms received amnesty in 1986.
Anti-immigration groups, in their efforts to further
restrict immigration and oppose any positive reforms
to the immigration system, often propagate myths to
support their agenda. One anti immigration group based
in New York calls Undocumented People as terrorists.
And pity that noone is objecting to this. Stop treating
Undocumented People as criminals. There are more heinius
crimes commited by residents than the Undocumented
People.
They say immigrants are non educated people. Fact
is the median years of schooling for the legal immigrants,
13 years, is a full one year higher than that of the
U.S. native-born. Foreign-born scientists and engineers
make up 28 percent of all individuals with PhDs in
the United States engaged in research and development
in science and engineering. Inc. Magazine reported
that 12 percent of the Inc. 500 the fastest growing
corporations in America were companies started by
immigrants.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan has
stated that Immigration, if we choose to expand it,
could prove an even more potent antidote for slowing
growth in the working-age population.
The nation needs an efficient, humane way to get
people safely to the employers who want to hire them
and that takes Congress and the President. They are
the ones who have to stop repeating the history of
death along the border. U.S. border policies have
resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 migrants
on the U.S.-México border. This human rights
crisis must be addressed in a balanced and serious
way.
And finally people who are against immigration reforms
should realize one thing. We all are in a way illegal
aliens on this planet and all will end up at the grave
and there noone is going to ask - Are you an American
or Mexican or Indian or Chinese or illegal ? People
against immigration reforms will not understand all
these concepts since it requires a high calibre quality
of mind.
Undocumented People are just the minuscule part of
the bigger threat America is facing. In a November
2004 article of the Harvard Business Review says creativity
and immigration is under threat and America will no
longer be a economic powerhouse. Some of the highlights
of the excerpts are given below with permission from
Dr Richard Florida.
The United States of America for generations known
around the world as the land of opportunity and innovation
is on the verge of losing its competitive edge. Great
advances have always come from ideas. Ideas do not
fall from the sky. They come from people. People write
the software . People design the products. People
start new businesses. Every new thing that gives us
pleasure or productivity or convenience is the result
of human ingenuity.
Of critical importance to American success in this
last century has been a tremendous influx of talented
immigrants. Since the 1930's the U.S. has welcomed
a stream of scientific, intellectual, cultural and
entrepreneurial talent. This talent has helped make
the U.S. university system and the innovative infrastucture
second to none. 1990s saw the largest wave of immigration
in U.S. history bringing more than 11 million people
from all corners of the globe. The foreign born population
of the U.S. currently numbers more than 30 million.
Percentage of the population representated by immigrants
is higher in Canada and Australia than in the U.S.
These countries understand that todays global economy
centers on competition from people rather than for
goods and services. New Zealnd's minister for research,
science and technology says "We no longer think
of immigration as a gatekeeping function but as a
talent attraction function necessary for economic
growth".
The U.S. is allowing its creativity infrastructure
to decay. In the global creative class index based
on the data of ILO and US Census bureau, the U.S.
is not even in the top ten. Accoording to Business
Week's 2004 IT 100 only six of the world's most competitive
hight tech companies are based in the U.S. while 14
are in Asia. In the areas of patents and publications
America's formidable lead has been eroding as well.
Add to all this greater security concerns and a highly
politicized scientific climate and it is easy to see
why the nation is becoming less and less attractive
to the world's brightest minds.
Economists have predicted the shortage of skilled
and talented workers as all but inevitable. National
Association of Manufacturers report concurs, predicting
that a skilled woroker gap will start to form in 2005,
widening to 5.3 million workers by 2010 and 14 million
by 2020. Outsourcing and unemployement are short term
issues and the real long term predicament facing the
U.S. is the loomimg shortage of creative talent.
Students are the leading indicator of global talent
flows. A March 2004 report by the council of graduate
schools found that international student applications
for fall 2004 admission had dropped sharply at 90%
of the graduate schools responding to its survey.
The total decline was 32%. Foreign students are not
only finding attractive educational opportunities
in other countries, they are also facing obstacles
to studying in the U.S. The major reason cited was
the visa application process.
The war on terror is leading America to abondon its
commitment to an open society. Restricting foreign
immigration will not open up more places for home
grown talent in the top American graduate programs
and research facilities. Countries like Canada, Australia,
UK etc are taking full advantage of America's fading
allure. These countries will have a huge advantage
in the coming war for global talent.
For the first time in its history the U.S. is also
confronting the possibility of a reverse brain drain.
And students are just the tip of the iceberg. Visa
delays have cost U.S. businesses roughly $30 billion
in 2 years. 6.3 million people applied for U.S. visas
between october 2000 and september 2001. But in fiscal
2003 that number dropped more than 40% to 3.7 million.
Almost every major American industry from high tech
to entertainment is feeling the repercussions of these
decisions.
What if NRI, Vinod Khosla the co-founder of Sun Microsystems
and venture capital luminary who has backed so many
blockbluster companies had stayed back in India ?
Or if An Wang, founder of Wang Laboratories, had gone
to university in Europe ? Think of high tech luminaries
Sergey Brin, the Moscow born cofounder of Google,
Hotmail cofounder Sabeer Bhatia who grew up in Bangalore
and Tim Berners Lee who discovered the Internet.
These are people whose creative genius has affected
the trajectory of entire industries. America's short
sightedness is causing some leading scientists and
engineers to leave the country. Roger Pedersen, a
stem cell researcher, who left the University of California
for Cambridge University says "They have not
made such a political football out of stem cells".
America's short sightedness and this circle-the-wagons
mentality will lead to more scientists and engineers
to leave America.
America's narrow mindedness is good news from a global
perspective. Several major economies - most notably
India's and China's- have grown to the point where
they can offer great opportunities for people who
stay or return home. India and China are sure to become
the global powers only because of one reason - they
have the greatest asset in huge numbers - People.
Peter Drucker said recently that India may already
have the greatest engineering and medical schools
in the world.
Nearly 45% of the U.S. workforce falls into the service
class - janitors, low-end health care workers, food
service workers and the like. Employing so many citizens
in non creative ways is a terrible waste of talent
and potential. If other nations develop better ways
to harness their societies creativity, the U.S. economy
might be blown away on an inconceivable scale.
It is important for both business and political leadership
to recognize the economic costs of overzealousness
and to weigh carefully the serious trade-offs between
current security and long-run competitiveness. Over
time, terrorism is less a threat to the United States
than the possibility that creative and talented people
will stop wanting to live within its borders. The
nation must act in concrete ways to reassure people
- both Americans and Global citizens - that it values
openness, diversity and tolerance. To that end it
must focus on improving the visa process immediately.
In the same way it built the canals, railroads and
highways to power industrial growth, the United States
has to build the creative infrastructure for the future.
America's eroding access to high level foreign talent
has not drawn much attention from political leaders
or from the media. If political decisions about immigration,
visas and scientific research stalls - the whole world
will have to live with the repercussions. Creativity
is not a tangible asset like mineral deposits, something
that can be hoarded or fought over or even bought
and sold. The U.S. must begin to think of creativity
as a common good like liberty or security.
The United States built the world's most powerful
economy by producing and attracting human capital.
To stay innovative, America must continue to attract
the worlds sharpest minds or else it would decay soon.
Over the years the United States has been called
a nation of immigrants. It is a melting pot for so
many different cultures, races, and religions which
makes it unique in the world. People bring their hopes,
their dreams, and in turn contribute, enrich and energize
America.
Because this country was founded in large part by
those who fled various kinds of political and religious
persecution, it has become of historical responsibility
to serve as an advocate for human rights. The very
foundation of America's greatness has been embodiment
of hope, opportunity and the unwavering belief that
tomorrow will always be better than today.
Finally who are the immigrants? Immigrants permeate
the fabric of America. They are an integral part of
our society, its goals and its values. The backbone
that helps make this country great, they set us apart
from every nation in this world.
Finally the Administration cannot afford to ignore
the Undocumented Workers and the contribution they
make to the US economy, nor can it afford to ignore
the contributions Foreign Labour makes to the U.S.
economy. The Bush Administration must look into the
matter gravely and quickly with a more Humane approach
before its too late and people continue to die at
the borders, Undocumented People continue to be harassed
and other countries take advantage of America's short
sightedness on closing its doors for the biggest resource
on this planet - People. The person who discovered
America, Colombus, was not born here.
The function of freedom is to free someone else -
Toni Morrison