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OF great relief to hundreds of thousands of Filipino
illegal immigrants in the US is the reported offer by San Francisco
of a “safe haven” to undocumented foreign workers within its
city borders.
A news item appearing in one
paper the other day quoted San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom that the
city is launching a campaign, assuring “illegals” that they are
safe from immigration arrests.
There are an estimated 2.7
million Filipinos in the US, of whom 2.2 million have legal papers.
The rest, or about 500,000, are undocumented aliens or “TNTs” (tago
ng tago).
The US immigration service
estimates that there are over 12 million undocumented workers in the
US, 33 percent of whom work in the service industries and the rest
in other economic sectors.
California hosts the largest
number of illegals—2,830,000—with Texas coming in second with
1,640,000. Other states with thousands of illegal aliens are
Florida, Illinois and New York .
San Francisco is not alone in
offering a “sanctuary” to illegal immigrants. New York, Detroit
and Washington have a similar initiative. The illegals in San
Francisco, says the report, will be given access to jobs in public
services, schools, health clinics and other city facilities.
Rick Oltman, national media
director for California for Population Stabilization in Santa
Barbara, says the drive “could actually be a boon for other bay
area cities if it drew illegal immigrants out of their communities
and into San Francisco.”
The campaign has provoked
negative remarks from the conservatives who claim that the illegals
have violated immigration laws and should be deported. Some sectors,
however, favor their presence for helping develop the US economy.
“They serve a purpose in
America. They do the job that we don’t because of poor wages,”
they explain.
The illegals have been found to
be more highly educated than those before them. One-fourth are said
to have a college education. As a group, however, they are less
educated than other sections in the US.
The increasing number of illegals
has become a major issue that is being addressed by the US Congress.
There is a legislative proposal to “criminalize” illegal entry
into the country.
Congress also wants a policy
shift from a family-based to a labor-based admission of immigrant
applicants. This means that only foreigners with the appropriate
talent and skill will be admitted to work in the US. It does away
with the family-based policy which encourages family reunification
or promotes family ties.
The family-based policy has been
responsible for the immigration of thousands of Filipinos with
relatives who have become naturalized US citizens. Most of the
naturalized citizens were soldiers in the US Army during World War
II and those who enlisted in the US Navy after the war.
The three US presidential
candidates—Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee,
and Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (rivals for the
Democratic nomination)—have different views on immigration policy.
McCain is for tightening US ports
of entry to control the inflow of illegal immigrants. Obama is for
strengthening border security through better technology and more
personnel. He favors the faster conversion of legal immigrants into
US naturalized citizens.
Clinton has a kinder perspective
of the US immigration problem. If elected president, she will make
family ties or reunification her guiding principle.
The San Francisco campaign of
welcoming illegals, notwithstanding the fears of some sectors, is
the first initiative of its kind to be taken by a US city. It is a
policy with a human face—one that looks at illegals not as
criminals but honest, educated, hardworking people struggling to
build a good future in what is regarded as “a land of promise and
opportunity.”
The US has evolved into a country
of immigrants. The Filipino illegals in its fold have been fired by
a sense of enterprise to work and contribute their talents and
skills to its economic development.
It is distressing to see Filipino
illegals being deported to the Philippines in handcuffs by US
immigration, as happened in the past several months. They deserve a
more decent and humane treatment.
agr0324@yahoo.com
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