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Undocumented Workers at Center of Growing Debate
Saturday, January 24, 2004 By Ted Roelofs The Grand Rapids Press
Sitting in a bare living room in an apartment on Grand Rapids' Northwest Side, "Miguel" is not sure whether it was border crossing No. 3 or No. 4.
But he recalls clearly that it was 1985, the Rio Grand, the time he and the others lost all their clothes as they swam across the river toward the United States.
He wound up in the scrub desert of Texas with just his shorts -- no shoes and no food or water for two days.
"It was very hot," he remembers, his words translated by a younger sister.
That crossing now seems far away and a long time ago.
Miguel -- who asked that his real name not be used -- appears as much American as he does Mexican. He has lived in Grand Rapids since 1990. He and his common-law wife, Maria, (not her real name) have three young children, two of them at a West Side elementary school.
He works 50 hours a week in a Grand Rapids factory that pays $7.50 an hour, a place where he says "almost everybody" is undocumented. His taxes -- federal, state and Social Security -- are taken out of his paycheck each week.
He scraped up enough money to buy a 1994 sedan that reads 140,000 on the odometer, and a battered van with 300,000 miles.
He is even able to laugh about his bank account.
"I'm broke," he laughs. "I have $30 in the bank."
Multiply his story by 40,000. That is the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in West Michigan, although no one knows for sure.
The Washington D.C.-based Urban Institute, a nonpartisan social policy research organization, placed the number of U.S. undocumented immigrants at 9.3 million. The institute's estimate, based on 2002 census data and other sources, puts Michigan's total at 120,000 to 150,000.
According to the organization, Mexicans comprise 57 percent of the total, with another 23 percent from other Latin American countries. About 10 percent are from Asia, 5 percent from Europe and Canada and 5 percent from the rest of the world.
Undocumented workers are silent but undeniable pieces of the West Michigan economic pie. They work in our factories. They pick our crops. They clean the toilets in our hotels, clean our restaurants' tables and build our homes. They do so without complaint and often with no benefits, the fear of deportation making them especially compliant employees.
One local immigrant advocate says some local manufacturers -- particularly those with low-paying and low-skill jobs -- likely would be out of business without undocumented workers.
"They really couldn't keep their operations open without them," said Teresa Hendricks-Smitley, director of the Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project in Grand Rapids.
And undocumented workers are front-and-center in a growing debate over how to deal with the estimated 8 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. President Bush stirred up the issue when he suggested earlier this month that undocumented workers be allowed to remain here legally for three years under a guest-worker permit.
The proposal has drawn mixed reviews, with critics coming from the political left and right.
Doesn't sit well with the unemployed
It received a harsh reception among the unemployed workers waiting recently outside the Michigan Bureau of Workers and Unemployment Compensation in Grand Rapids.
"I think it's terrible," said Mary Hickey, 53, of Grand Rapids, laid off from Steelcase Inc. in September after 16 years.
"They came across the border illegally. They are taking our jobs. We got enough problems already. You're just going to add to the situation we already have."
During a media conference last week in Grand Rapids, immigration activists argued that Bush's proposal detracts from two better legislative plans aimed at immigration. One, dubbed the DREAM act, would allow children of undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country more than five years to apply for college scholarships. Another would allow experienced farm workers to work in the country legally and would provide a path to legal residency.
"(Bush's plan) will not help anybody's family," said Jose Cruz, a volunteer with the Michigan Organizing Project, a social reform group.
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, credits Bush with putting a tough issue on the table. "It's at least going to start the discussion and start the debate."
"My guess is that it's a place to begin. He (Bush) recognizes there's going to be movement and discussion in how Congress wants to deal with it."
As a start, Hoekstra believes the Bush plan offers a logical way for undocumented workers to remain here -- temporarily -- and have the legal right to travel back to their home country. Under the proposal, companies would have to certify that no Americans could be found to fill the job. Workers would be required to return home after three years.
But Hoekstra says it begs a second question: What to do about the millions of undocumented immigrants entrenched in communities across America?
"How are we going to rectify or fix it? I don't know what the answer will be," he said. "When the numbers were smaller, you could kind of close your eyes and turn your back on it."
But with an estimated 400,000 more streaming across the border each year, that is less likely to happen.
A leading expert on the economic impact of immigration thinks America ignores these numbers at its peril.
George Borjas, professor of economics and social policy at Harvard University, called the Bush proposal "a terrible idea."
"It doesn't really solve the illegal immigration problem," Borjas said. "What are you going to do with the 10 million already here? You cannot really address that until you seriously stop them from coming."
In his view, unskilled undocumented workers hurt the cause of labor and other low-income workers by driving down wages for low-skill jobs. That might benefit certain U.S. businesses. But in the long run, Borjas believes it will make things tougher on the working poor.
"It's an infinite supply of cheap labor. Who doesn't want that?"
Solution: Penalize companies
He believes the best way to stop that is to enact serious penalties against companies that knowingly employ undocumented workers.
While that could push some companies out of business, Borjas believes it would encourage others to implement improved manufacturing techniques rather than rely on cheap, unskilled labor. (See the accompanying story for more on how Borjas thinks immigrants impact the U.S. economy.)
There is no agreement on the impact of undocumented workers on the U.S. economy. According to a controversial report by the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, the average Mexican immigrant -- legal or illegal -- costs taxpayers $55,200 over a lifetime.
But a 1994 study by the Urban Institute found immigrants and refugees pay roughly $28 million more in taxes than they consume in services.
The institute also found nearly all male undocumented immigrants -- 96 percent -- are part of the labor force. In West Michigan, it is a poorly kept secret where many undocumented immigrants work.
But local immigration raids have been sporadic in recent years, actions aimed at illegal workers rather than companies:
To Hoekstra, the unspoken reality is, "we have immigration laws that we are not enforcing, and everybody knows it." That is no surprise to Martha Gonzalez-Cortes, director of migrant services for Michigan's Family Independence Agency. She attributes these look-the-other-way policies to the "power of lobbying groups" that include agriculture, industry and the hotel-restaurant business. "Those are the industries most tied to this most vulnerable piece of the labor force," said Gonzalez-Cortes, the eldest daughter of migrant farm workers and former director of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan. "It's true of West Michigan. We could easily be a microcosm for the rest of the country." Dispelling the welfare myth Gonzalez-Cortes understands the hostility some Americans harbor for undocumented immigrants. But she said it is a myth that undocumented workers flood across the border, only to feed off our welfare system. They are ineligible for cash assistance or food stamps as well as most Medicaid services. Medicaid does pay for certain "emergency" medical procedures, including child birth, she said. Because most have few resources to fall back on, they work, or go back home. She is skeptical that tougher border-patrol plans will stem the tide of undocumented immigrants headed this way. As long as desperation and poverty rule their lives south of the border, people will find ways to get across, Gonzalez-Cortes said. "I don't think that militarization of the border is effective. It just makes the underground network more effective." While Hoekstra considers the Bush immigration proposal a good first step, Gonzalez-Cortes is skeptical. For starters, she said it provides no clear path for citizenship or legal resident status. Without changes, she doubts many would file for guest-worker permits. "What you have created here is a whole class of indentured servants," she said. "I wouldn't do it if I were an undocumented worker." She, too, has no obvious solution for what to do about the millions of undocumented workers already here. Given the political climate, Gonzalez-Cortes sees no repeat of the amnesty enacted in 1986 that allowed 3 million immigrants to apply for citizenship. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed the politics of border issues overnight. "I know that's the hope of the undocumented community. But 9/11 ended that discussion," she said. Bush touched on the issue again in his State of the Union speech Tuesday, but he made clear the proposal includes no amnesty for this group. Short of amnesty, Gonzalez-Cortes suggested this community could be granted an immigration status that would allow them to remain here legally. In the meantime, she noted, the nation continues contradictory policies that consider parents criminals and their children -- by virtue of birth in the United States -- citizens. "It's sort of like, 'You belong, you don't. You're human. You're not.'" The 1998 raid of Northland Evergreen tree nursery in Ottawa County put one young mother and her 2-month-old baby in the middle of this bind. The mother was given the choice of leaving her infant, a U.S. citizen, with relatives. She took her baby back with her to Mexico. Sitting in their dark living room as evening comes, Miguel and his wife cannot imagine making that choice. Except for cartoon caricatures of his children, the walls of their home are bare. The living room has just two pieces of furniture. In the background, a smoke detector beeps insistently because of a low battery. The clock on the wall is stopped at 9:16. This is no life of luxury. But Miguel does not complain. "I try to be happy all the time. It is not good if you are sad." He is reassured that their children, ages 3, 6, and 9, are citizens who will grow up with the right to vote. Miguel hopes they take advantage of opportunities he never had in Mexico. "I am real happy living here," Miguel says, listing some of the jobs he has had since arriving. They include work at a plant nursery, a factory in Walker, picking celery, and his current factory job. With just $30 in the bank, he cannot afford to stop. "My hope is that my children have a better life." � 2004 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission Copyright 2004 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved. |
