Missed Opportunity to Reform U.S. Immigration Laws

County isn’t being realistic about immigration law
The inability of Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill has left us with the status quo – a broken immigration system that fails to address the driving force behind migration – jobs, jobs that are vacant because no one wants to do the work or jobs that are filled by workers that don’t have proper documentation. 

The search and desire for a better life, not only for oneself but also for one’s family, is universal. On our honeymoon, my wife and I were visiting Guadalajara, Mexico during the World Cup soccer games. While sightseeing and shopping downtown, a humbly dressed man approached us and asked for money so he could eat. We were also hungry, so we invited him to join us for lunch. He accepted, but asked if he could bring along his wife and son. We said sure, and told him to meet us at a nearby restaurant. The couple looked like they were in their mid-30s and their son was around 10. We sat down, ordered our meals and had lunch with this family. If you have ever seen a hungry child eat, it’s a sight you don’t soon forget. The family was from a rural village and had traveled to the city to look for work, but so far had been unsuccessful. 

Hunger is a powerful motivator. A fence along the border won’t stop someone from crossing it if there are opportunities to work and eat on the other side. That is the problem we face when it comes to our immigration policies – our inability to keep pace with the demand for labor and our futile efforts to control it by implementing legislation that is difficult to enforce. The solution which the Senate bill tried to address was a balanced combination of enforcement and opportunities for both employers and foreign workers. 

Earlier this year at a town hall meeting with Congressional representative Zoe Lofgren, community leaders discussed the impact of current immigration policies on the economy, communities, families and students in Santa Clara County. 

Tim Chiala, director of farm operations at George Chiala Farms in Morgan Hill, shared with the group that the anticipated shortage of laborers has caused many farmers to scale back their harvest. Last year across our nation, many growers plowed their un-picked crops due to too few workers. 

Immigrant workers who once crossed the border with minimal resistance to pick crops then returned home in the off season can no longer afford to make the journey. The cost to hire a smuggler (coyote) has skyrocketed due to increased enforcement along the border. I don’t endorse human trafficking, but what used to be just the cost for basically a ride has turned deadly now that the stakes have risen. How many times have we heard of immigrants dying in the dessert or trapped in some trailer in the middle of nowhere?

Opponents argue that these undocumented workers should get in line like other immigrants and enter the country legally. Chances are, however, that if they could afford to pay the fees, which have recently increased, provide the necessary documentation and comply with other immigration requirements when they arrive legally, they won’t be working the fields. 

If there is a lesson to be learned from last year’s spinach E. coli outbreak in the Salinas Valley and the tainted pet food we imported from China, it is that we cannot afford to lose our capacity to produce and monitor our food supply here at  home. The Senate bill’s provision for a guest worker program would have allowed a legal labor pool for these jobs. 

What about the immigrant workers already here? With an estimated 11 to 12 million undocumented individuals living in the U.S., if national security is the number one priority for enforcement, then allow immigrants to come out of the shadows voluntarily with an incentive – legalization. During 2006, Immigration and Custom Enforcement made 3,667 worksite arrests nationwide. Do the math. We clearly do not have the resources or political will to identify these immigrants any other way. 

The Senate bill proposed the creation of a Z-visa that would provide undocumented workers legal status and over a period of time could eventually lead to permanent residency and citizenship. However, opponents of earned legalization, or the vilified term “amnesty”, argue that we should not reward individuals who break our immigration laws. That’s on the surface. The real issue with legalization is that it would provide workers with rights, protections and mobility to seek better paying jobs and other opportunities. 

Legitimate concerns stem from the first amnesty program of 1986 that underestimated the impact economic mobility of immigrants would have on communities. However, with new and improving technologies in systems of employee identification and better communications among federal departments this time around unconstrained growth of jobs would be greatly reduced. 

The defeat of the immigration bill was a missed opportunity for not only growers, but all employers to meet their needs for workers and for workers to come out of the shadows.

One thing is for certain. This cyclical national debate on immigration that we’ve been having since the birth of our nation will return and reignite heated and passionate arguments on both sides of this complex issue. 

Mario Banuelos has lived in Morgan Hill for

19 years. He has served on the South Valley Dayworker Committee and is a member of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. He is married and has four children. Reach him at

mb*******@ch*****.net











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