Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo, other than personal use, must be obtained from BARRIOZONA,
Call 480-983-1445 or e-mail admin@barriozona.com with your request
2008: The End of the Road for Unauthorized Immigrants?
By Eduardo Barraza
BARRIOZONA
January 3, 2008
The hopes of millions of people living in the United States without legal documents were indefinitely deferred in 2007, a
year that will go down in history as one of the most hostile toward undocumented immigration. In contrast, those who
fiercely oppose any measure to legalize the estimated 12 million of undocumented individuals claimed partial victory in the
wake of 2008, a year that will be dominated by presidential campaigns, candidates and what promises to be an intense
election.
The immigration war —hardly just a debate any longer— has been carried over into the New Year amidst a dangerous
atmosphere of antagonism, resentment, and verbal aggression toward those who live, work and consume in the U.S.
without a visa, permit, or any sort of legal status. Consequently, unfinished —and irreconcilable— immigration
businesses that were postponed in 2007, predict nothing but a lingering and prolonged struggle between immigration
advocates and opponents to legalization.
States, counties and cities have been left wandering by the federal government in a messy maze of local laws that aim to
accomplish —with limited and inadequate resources— what the powers of Washington have not. Local governments,
especially in border states like Arizona, have tried to mend an outdated national immigration system using legislative
“patches” here and there. Evidently, these laws enacted at the State level have been largely ineffective, and have instead
hurt budgets and resources but more importantly the trust of large sectors of the population.
Since the issue of undocumented immigration has been snowballing for years, the current state of the problem has
escalated to almost unmanageable proportions, especially at local levels where in spite of aggressive laws, nothing has
proved to be essentially effective. These laws have caused unintended effects and have moved the pressure to other
areas, thus creating other “holes.” This type of “patching-holes” legislation is not what the national immigration situation
requires. Conversely, some of these unplanned effects are jeopardizing the economy, the progress and the social
relations of many counties, cities, and states.
Nevertheless, politicians from all government levels have seen the great potential of such an explosive issue in the
undocumented immigration. Seizing the resolution power of this overwhelming crisis cannot only translate in votes, but
also, in this decisive year of 2008, in winning their way to office, and at the federal level, particularly the race to the White
House. Thus, the topic of illegal immigration will become and integral and important part of the presidential candidates’
platform. Understandably, the eventual and inevitable immigration reform was placed on hold last year to be used as a
political platform where politicians can benefit the most from it.
In the mean time, millions of people, thousands of students, entire communities, and virtually the whole nation, has been
left suspended from a hanging thread that no one knows how much more it can resist.
Copyright © 2008 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Grassroots Journalism
www.barriozona.com
|