Thank Immigrants for the Contributions They Make

THANK IMMIGRANTS FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS THEY MAKE

By Jonathan Scop

[This article was published in the Portland Tribune, September 3, 2004. Jonathan Scop is an immigration attorney residing and practicing in Portland. He is the pro bono coordinator of the Oregon chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He attended Hastings Law School in San Francisco. He lives in North Portland.]

A dark side of human nature arises when, faced with tough economic conditions or rapid social change, we search for “others” to become scapegoats for a variety of ills. Some of these tendencies have had horrific results, such as Adolf Hitler’s rise in Germany. “Majorities” of Americans have railed against the waves of Catholic, Jewish, Chinese, Irish or German immigrants.

While it is no longer acceptable to overtly disparage particular minorities, immigrants continue to provide an easy target, being blamed for such wide-ranging problems as terrorism, a sagging economy and environmental degradation (Immigrants take toll on American life, July 30).

Over the past decade, politicians have made immigration a hot-button issue. Polls show snapshots of Americans’ responses to questions about immigration enforcement, but there is near unanimous agreement that our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. Americans want a system that is safe, orderly and consistent with historical values of fairness and equal treatment under the law. Furthermore, most Americans favor the idea of earned legalization for those who have worked hard, paid taxes, stayed out of trouble and are attempting to learn English.

It’s puzzling then to find claims that immigrants simultaneously take our jobs and flood the welfare rolls. New immigrants continue to fill jobs that native-born Americans don’t want. Every year, Oregon nurseries are forced to import guest workers through costly programs, merely to fill positions posted at competitive wages. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently pointed out that one of the brightest hopes in salvaging Social Security and Medicare is a significant number of young immigrant workers who will provide funds for aging baby boomers.

Undocumented workers, even those working with fraudulent Social Security numbers, pump billions of tax dollars into federal, state and local coffers, and get no individualized help in return; the National Research Council states that the average immigrant pays nearly $1,800 more in taxes than he or she costs in benefits.

As for welfare, it’s time to set the record straight. Undocumented immigrants have never been eligible for any need-based benefits except emergency medical care in some instances. Ironically, as an attorney I see just the opposite. Since 1996, it’s been almost impossible for legal immigrants to receive any public benefits.

A cynical scenario involves a young, native-born Oregonian who, along with a couple of children from a previous relationship, is completely supported by her undocumented Mexican husband. To have a slim chance of legalizing and keeping the family together, under current laws he must return to Mexico for months or years. While he’s gone, the young mother and her children survive with welfare, food stamps and the Oregon Health Plan.

Jim Ludwick, author of the July 30 article, asks rhetorically whether Oregonians have an obligation to “accommodate” everyone who wants to live here. Of course not, just as Oregon has no duty to accommodate immigrants from California, such as Ludwick and myself.

Immigrants are not taking a “toll” on America; they are America. Immigrants are not asking for red carpets of any sort; they’d merely like an opportunity to raise healthy, secure families, to contribute to society, to live the American dream.