DATE=03/22/02

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=US/IMMIGRATION

NUMBER=5-51308

BYLINE=CHRISTINE ELLIOTT

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: One of the issues President Bush is expected to discuss (discussed) with his Mexican counterpart today (Friday) is immigration and proposals to provide legal status to millions of undocumented Mexican workers in the United States. V-O-A's Christine Elliott has more on the issue and a survey released this week by a Washington-based research group on undocumented immigrants in the United States.

TEXT: The Pew Hispanic Center reports there are nearly eight-million illegal immigrants in the United States. Almost 60 percent are from Mexico, and another 15 percent are from other Central American countries.

The center's director, Roberto Suro, says Mexico and the Bush Administration are interested in reviving talks on providing legal status to these immigrants. He says there are two basic issues the governments need to address.

/// SURO ACT ///

One would be an effort to find a way to give legal status to undocumented people who are already here. And the other would be a way to regulate future flows, either through some kind of temporary worker program, or a way in which people could come and work here, and earn the right to stay long-term.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Suro says some immigration advocates want to make all undocumented workers legal.

/// SURO ACT ///

The advocates of a complete legalization program, or a full amnesty, would say you want to wipe the slate clean -- you want to take everybody out of the shadows, and legalize everybody, and, sort of, start fresh.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Suro says others advocate only legalizing workers who have been in the United States for a certain number of years, and have shown their desires to become permanent residents.

/// OPT /// In 1986, the U-S Congress passed an Immigration Control and Reform Act that gave amnesty to illegal immigrants who could prove five-years of residency. The act also imposed sanctions on employers who hired illegal workers, in an attempt to deter illegal immigration. But by 1992, according to some estimates, about 250-thousand undocumented people were entering the United States each year. /// END OPT ///

John Wahala (Wuh-HAH-lah) a researcher with the Center for Immigration Studies, says offering legal status to undocumented immigrants sets a bad precedent.

/// WAHALA ACT ///

Although they may be hard-working, and although they may be contributing to the economy, they have broken U-S law by coming here without the consent of the U-S government.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Wahala says the Center for Immigration Studies believes the government should create new policies to help the Immigration and Naturalization Services, or I-N-S, do a better job.

/// WAHALA ACT ///

The I-N-S might be one of the worst agencies for inefficiency. And legalizing a lot of illegal immigrants would put even more burden on the I-N-S, and would further damage its ability to administer the law.

/// END ACT ///

Michele Waslin (WOS-lynn), a senior immigration policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group, says focusing only on the I-N-S does not take into account the demand for illegal workers.

/// WASLIN ACT ///

Just simply reorganizing the I-N-S does nothing to solve this disconnect between labor needs and immigration laws. And we need a reform of the entire immigration system, so that our economic needs and our immigration policies are in tune with one another.

/// END ACT ///

Roberto Suro from the Pew Hispanic Center says he believes, in the next nine-to-10 months, Congress will begin debating the issue in depth. (SIGNED)

NEB/CE/TW