Lafayette Journal and Courier

Immigration reform debate hitting close to home
By Curt Slyder

April 1, 2006

Carlos Ortiz is a reformed illegal alien.

Originally from Mexico City, Ortiz crossed the border near San Diego about 15 years ago.

"I wanted a better life," he said.

After living in California for a while, he relocated to Lafayette. Wanting to turn his life around, he applied for U.S. citizenship.

About eight years later, he was naturalized as a citizen in a Fort Wayne ceremony on Jan. 13.

Now Ortiz bristles at the thought of people who come to the United States illegally without plans to become citizens. "People need to respect the laws of the country," he said.

In Washington, D.C., federal legislators have recently been debating several proposed pieces of legislation to deal with the growing problem of illegal aliens. This week, the congressional fight has touched off protests and a plenty of debate around the country.

Though there have been no protest rallies in Lafayette, there's been plenty of debate.

And there's plenty at stake: The most recent information from the U.S. Census Bureau said 6.2 percent of Tippecanoe County's population was Hispanic in 2004, an increase of nearly 21 percent since 2000.

"I have no problem with people who are here legally," said Jim Frazier of Lafayette. "God bless them. I hope they prosper."

Frazier thinks the answer lies with employers.

"Enforce the laws on hiring illegal aliens," Frazier said. "It's against the law to hire illegal aliens."

George Horwich, a professor emeritus of economics at Purdue University, has a different take.

"Don't turn every employer into a cop," Horwich said.

"We should fine all present illegals, try to assess and collect their back taxes and introduce a citizenship track for them which requires a workable knowledge of English and American history," Horwich said. "Reasonable exceptions can be made for the elderly and infirm."

Stepping up border security is the solution to more illegal aliens entering the country, Horwich said.

The Rev. Rubén Menez is pastor at Lafayette's First Hispanic Baptist Church. He said current illegal aliens should be given the opportunity to become citizens.

"The U.S. needs these people to help the economy," he said.

Illegal aliens should take the necessary steps to become citizens, Menez said. But too often it's not an easy process.

JoAnn Vorst is director of the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy, an agency that teaches academic and life skills to people in the community wanting to better themselves, including numerous people from other countries.

Vorst said local communities need to do more to help encourage illegal aliens to become citizens and to integrate into local communities.

"They really want to learn English," Vorst said. "They want to make a difference in the community."

Many immigrants form their own miniature communities consisting largely of others from their countries, Vorst said. She said they live paycheck to paycheck and don't become involved in the larger community out of a combination of fear and just not knowing how.

Legislation is not enough, Vorst said. "There needs to be a road map."

Ortiz said illegal aliens should be given work permits and watched closely.

"If you break the law, you should go back," he said.

Simply deporting all illegal aliens would hurt the country, Menez said. A lot of them are working jobs that other Americans would not take, he said.

"What would happen if all the illegal Hispanics go back?" Menez asked. "Who would do these jobs?"

While he agrees it would not make sense to send them all back, Horwich disagrees with Menez on jobs.

Many immigrants work to build houses, Horwich said. If they leave, housing construction might slow down. That could lead to the rise of prefabricated housing.

"The economy adjusts," he said.

Even with all the talk going on in the nation's capital right now, one Purdue associate professor of political science thinks new legislation won't happen very soon.

"The system is broken, but it's been broken for a long time," said professor James McCann. Nothing has happened recently to create a reason to solve it quickly, he said.

McCann thinks legislators will continue to watch the debate, make it an issue in the upcoming congressional elections, then begin to bargain for a solution.

But McCann thinks some type of immigration reform is inevitable.

"The status quo will change," he said.