Elgin Courier News - Duckworth: Immigration Reform About "Being Humane'

News Article

By Janelle Walker

Emily Grey, executive director at World Relief DuPage/Aurora, has two stories she shares to highlight the state of immigration reform in the U.S.

One is about a beautiful young woman from a mountain village. She was kidnapped to become the "girlfriend" for a unit of armed bandits. If she resisted, both she and her family would be killed, Grey said. The family ran.

The other is a young man "who was asked at gunpoint to join a group of armed bandits," Grey said. "He served with them until he ran away from their camp and crossed the boarder into another country."

The difference between the two, she said, is that once they both escaped, one entered the U.S. legally through a resettlement program "and the other is here as an illegal."

Immigration reform needs to be looked at comprehensively, take into consideration refugee statuses, and allow people who would be killed in their home countries a safe place, said Grey and 10 others who took part in a roundtable discussion Wednesday.

Held at Elgin Community College, the discussion was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is currently running to retain her seat as Representative from the 8th District.

Included in the discussion were current ECC students who are also undocumented immigrants; Jamie Garcia from Elgin's Centro de Informacion, and others from immigrant and refugee rights organizations.

The longer immigration reform stalls in congress, the more damage it does to the country and the economy, Duckworth said.

"It isn't just about families and values … it is about fairness, being humane and being practical," Duckworth said.

By passing immigration reform, the national debt can be reduced by $1 trillion as immigrants are allowed to fully participate in the economy and helping to make U.S. workers more bilingual and multilingual, Duckworth said.

"That makes us more competitive around the world," she said.

Zwamy Vazquez, an ECC student, said she was brought to the U.S. when she was 3 but really didn't think about her status as an undocumented resident until she was a senior in high school and began applying for college.

"I did qualify, but there was one problem. I was undocumented. I was devastated

I lost hope and decided to stop trying," Vazquez said.

She was able to attend ECC for an associates degree in applied science and substance abuse counseling and after 39 credit hours carries a 3.5 GPA, Vazquez said.

She is uncertain whether or not she will be able to use that education for a future career, she said.

There are programs to allow students like Vazquez to get work visas and permanent resident status. Those programs can be costly and also take a long time to slog through paperwork, the advocates said.

A comprehensive immigration reform bill passed in the Senate last summer but has not been brought to the House floor, Duckworth said. There are enough votes from both sides of the aisle to pass the legislation, but Speaker John Boehner has not brought it up for a vote, she said.

"There is some movement to get the house leadership -- in the chamber Congresswoman Duckworth serves in -- to consider the legislation," said Fred Tsao, policy director at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

"Speaker Boehner informed in June that they are not going to touch this whatsoever," Tsao said,

It is that standoff that led President Obama to promise June 30 to fix whatever he can, within his authority, to fix the immigration system.

That is what led Speaker Boehner's discussion of suing the president over use of executive privilege, Duckworth said.

In the meantime, deportations are at their highest levels in recent history, she said.

Source