After New Bedford immigration raid, voices call for mercy and justice

The March 6 roundup of illegal migrants brings immigration reform's ethical conflicts into focus.

from the March 16, 2007 edition

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The real question raised in New Bedford is whose interests are being best served by the current policy, he says.

"We need to ask, Who is not getting a job at this leather factory because of illegal immigration? Who is paying extra taxes for these social services that they'll inevitably create?" he asks. "This isn't a preschool exercise with good guys and bad guys – this is about weighing priorities."

Supporters of illegal immigrants agree that compliance with the law is important. But they also note that there are millions of jobs Americans will not do, which is why the immigrants come.

"In order to have compliance with the laws, those laws need to be just and humane," says Carlina Tapia-Ruano, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington. "That broken [immigration] system is in fact compelling individuals to enter the country illegally because there is no legal mechanism for them to enter."

That brings the issue back to Capitol Hill. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) of Colorado, an advocate of immigration enforcement, says he's not sure that there are enough votes to pass a compromise bill.

"The problem is that there is so little trust on either side," he says. "People say if we do the enforcement part first, we'll never get the guest-worker program. And I know that I'm very skeptical of the administration's commitment to be consistent with enforcement" if they get a guest-worker program.

In the meantime, in New Bedford and small communities around the country, there's frustration with Washington.

"We go all over the world to protect families," says Scott Lang, mayor of New Bedford. This raid only "wreaks havoc in New Bedford" and doesn't do anything to move the debate forward, he adds. "Those kids are US citizens. Taking parents away from them makes no sense to prove a point."

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