The cross-border migration of Mexican workers into the U.S. is a perennial and difficult issue. The severity of the issue is heightened when it involves the loss of human life.
American employers, in a wide variety of industries clearly recognize the value of Mexican immigrant workers. No secret, Mexican immigrant workers play an increasingly vital role in our U.S. economy.
Current immigration policies are antiquated and fail to recognize the importance of Mexican workers to the national economy. Newcomers are good enough to do America’s dirty work but are not welcome here. Few other groups of immigrants are more exploited, intimidated, used and discarded.
HR 4437 proposed by Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) should deeply concern our community. HR 4437 does not provide for a creation of a comprehensive, accountable guest worker program that would ensure a strong viable workforce to meet the demands of our growing national and local economies. Rather, HR 4437 greatly fuels anti-immigrant sentiments, contains no guest worker provisions; makes felons of illegal immigrants; broadens the definition of immigrant-smuggling to include faith-based institutions and immigrant advocate organizations and furthermore creates an unfair system that punishes immigrants and children.
Like the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) the HCCW opposes initiatives that call for tougher border security as the only appropriate immigration reform. We further concur, that any legislation must be governed by the principals of: protecting our economy and that of our nation’s small businesses; providing for a strong accountable guest worker program; protecting our borders based on humanitarian principles and reuniting families, the cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy.
Immigration laws must provide ways for Mexican workers to enter and remain in the U.S. in both temporary and permanent status with protections to assure that they be given the dignity and respect they deserve and have earned.
*Provided by Maria Monreal-Cameron, a first generation Mexican-American, with enduring love and eternal gratitude to courageous and visionary Mexican immigrant parents.
Adelante Juntos,
Maria Monreal-Cameron
President and CEO
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