Reform the old 1965 Immigration Law; Frightening deportation ‘en masse’ will hurt the economy and families
By Dr. Marivir Montebon
Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself had admitted that New York City will collapse without illegal immigrants, that is, if they were deported en masse. In a Senate hearing in 2006 in Philadelphia, Bloomberg testified that although these immigrants may have illegally crossed the borders or overstayed their visas, “Our city’s economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true for the nation.”
New York – Caution and care must be used before applauding the scary atmosphere created by President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral promise of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
First, the lack of reforms on the 59-year-old Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 by the members of Congress, has spawned problems on immigration – ranging from overstayed visas and the massive flow of immigrants coming in from the borders. Thus, if there is anyone needing to do their jobs to create a sound immigration policy, it’s the well-paid US legislators.
Mass deportations are costly for the government, detrimental to the economy, and will tear families apart.
In deep conversation with lawyers and the Church: Immigration issues in the US are about us, we are all immigrants. Only the native Americans aren’t. We need to tackle the issue with care and compassion. In photo are lawyers Cris Godinez and Licelle Cobrador, with Fr. Julian Jagudilla during the presentation of my doctoral studies in Queens.
I am sharing this research study on immigration which I finished in 2020 for my master’s degree in Religious Studies thesis at the HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership. The research became my guide post in 2024 when I finished my doctoral studies with related research on immigration and media reporting in HJI which espouses racial and cultural respect and understanding as an academic institution.
The pervasiveness of immigration-related problems in New York, the most culturally and racially diverse city, not only in the country but in the world as well, could not be overemphasized.
People from all parts of the world come here to work and take a shot at their dreams - whether they are artists, professionals, teachers, construction workers, or athletes. In short, New York is a world stage for people’s dreams. But it is also a haven for immigration issues like overstayed visas, human trafficking, labor exploitation, and a myriad of interrelated problems experienced by its huge population of 19.4 million. The 2018 Census data ranks NY population as fourth, with California as the largest in population, followed by Texas, and Florida.
The Census Bureau (2018) noted that 3.3 million of the 4.4 million foreign-born residents in the New York State live in the city. Foreign-born immigrants comprise 38% of the city’s population and 45% of its workforce, the biggest working immigrant population in the US. High concentrations of immigrant population are found in Queens and Brooklyn. (Stringer, Scott. (2017, January 11). Our Immigrant Population Helps Power NYC Economy. Retrieved on January 22, 2020 from https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/ourimmigrant-population-helps-power-nyc-economy/)
While mainstream media paint bias against undocumented immigrants as free riders of the American economy, reality points out otherwise. Immigrants comprise the bulk of the working population, with only less than 5% as unemployed. With their toil, they bring food on the table for their families, while many businesses employ them because their labor costs were much cheaper.
Immigrants as workers and consumers are essential elements to a robust economy. (Multimedia artwork by the late Pacita Abad)
Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself had admitted that New York City will collapse without illegal immigrants, that is, if they were deported en masse. In a Senate hearing in 2006 in Philadelphia, Bloomberg testified that although these immigrants may have illegally crossed the borders or overstayed their visas, “Our city’s economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. The same holds true for the nation,” he said. (Hefling, Kimberly. (2006, July 6). “Economy would fail if immigrants deported.” Retrieved on January 25, 2020 from https://www.theeagle.com/archives/bloomberg-economy-would-fail-if-immigrantsdeported/article_5d091cae-cbf8-5d21-8d58-714dba5ee11f.html)
For the thousand nameless, faceless immigrants that run the most vibrant economy in the US, issues on cheap and dispensable labor, workplace abuses are easily imaginable, making undocumented immigrants vulnerable.
For 2018, the Census Bureau noted that NYS’s number of births in the state surpassed deaths by 61,371 and new immigrants were 70,375. There is an increase of 131,746 in population by birth and new immigrants in NYC last year. (Arnold, Chad. (2018, Dec. 19). “Leaving New York: Steepest in the US.” Retrieved Jan. 25, 2020 from DemocratandChronicle.com https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2018/12/19/leavingnew-york-population-loss-steepest-u-s/2362167002/)
The New York City Mayor's Office for Immigrant Affairs have engaged actively in fortifying services for immigrant communities by making services accessible to all, regardless of immigration status, which includes legal assistance.
At this point, there is only a wise guess on how many undocumented immigrants are there really. The city’s chief demographer at the planning department Dr. Joseph Salvo noted that the upcoming 2020 census may not clearly paint the demographics in the city because of “fear” since undocumented immigrants live with relatives who are permanent residents, naturalized citizens, or natural-born citizens. “They may not participate in the census because of fear,” Salvo opined. (Robbins, Liz. (2018, March 28). “New York has 7 Billion Reasons to Worry About a Census Question.” Retrieved from the New York Times on January 26, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/nyregion/census-citizenship-questionundocumented-immigrants.html)
Salvo’s opinion makes sense. Undocumented immigrants in New York share the same roof with their friends or relatives who are legal immigrants or natural citizens. They are woven into the socio-economic fabric of society as workers in the construction, agriculture, service, and healthcare industries.
What is of urgency right now is the long-overdue action of legislators to craft reforms in the old Immigration and National Act of 1965. The border crisis is a specific beast to be dealt with here and now. A solid legislation so wanting could solve that. The 1965 INA is broken and must be reformed to address the border crisis.
Franciscan priest Fr. Julian Jagudilla of the Migrant Center of New York said, we welcome strangers, but we need to have a sound immigration program. Right now, government must issue a moratorium of allowing immigrants at the borders to come in until a legislation is in place.
I interviewed two immigration lawyers in my doctoral study. One said that the US must have a needs-based immigration system to match industry with labor needs. Unlike Canada which upgrades its immigration law to organize its society, American legislators aren't doing anything substantial, but instead focused themselves on political bickering.
A needs-based immigration law is long overdue. Deportation en masse? That will have a dire consequence on the economy, being costly, and being violative of the rights of working people who are running the economy and modestly putting food on the table for their families. That will not solve our immigration crisis – because the duty to pass reforms are in the hands of legislators. Their deadline was yesterday. #
(Cover artwork is by the late FilAm artist Pacita Abad)
