[movermike] movermike: The Face of The Immigration Problem

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by movermike:
The Face of The Immigration Problem
http://www.movermike.com/posts/1212686829.shtml


   [121261904829148600.jpg]

     Abdias Cortéz is one of the former Del Monte employees caught in
     immigration limbo. She awaits a court hearing next year on her
     request for political asylum, saying drug traffickers and gangs
     have made it unsafe for her to return to Acapulco, Mexico.

     L.E BASKOW / Portland Tribune

   Almost a year ago I posted [1]St. Johns Del Monte Plant Raided

     A federal raid on a large North Portland food processing plant (Del
     Monte) Tuesday ended in the arrests of 167 workers, intensifying
     Oregon's immigration debate, tearing apart families, unnerving
     employers and sparking new calls for U.S. leaders to rewrite the
     nation's immigration laws.

   Steve Law in the Portland Tribune brings us up to date on those
   arrested in [2]A year after raid, lives still on hold 

     But many of (the those not deported), especially women with
     children, are still in Portland awaiting federal immigration and
     other court hearings.

     As the women await their fate â some for hearings not scheduled
     until 2009 â they are not permitted to work. They canât earn money
     to feed their children, often the very reason they crossed the
     border to come here.

   Law writes that they are dependent on friends and charities for
   sustenance. Some are earning money by conducting cooking classes. Law
   doesn't say that any are getting federal or state benefits, like
   welfare or food stamps, although I suspect they would get emergency
   health care.

   You know I've carried many posts about immigration urging something be
   done about the borders. However, my heart goes out to these people
   when I read about Abdias Cortéz

     ...who has two young children that were born in the United States,
     and they donât want to go to Mexico, she said. âIf Iâm deported,
     Iâm going to have to go myself, without them.â

   If she is deported, she will not be eligible for reentry to the U.S.
   for a decade.

   No way in hell is this country going to deport 12 to 20 million
   people, many of whom will try to file for political asylum. We will
   spend millions adjudicating all these cases. Either seal the border or
   do away with the border. Maybe, we should be the United States of
   North America and have a common currency.

References

   1. http://www.movermike.com/posts/1181714132.shtml
   2. http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121261354001265900