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Thursday, September 21, 2006
Immigration: what’s the story here?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What do you see here? This is a story from the weekend paper by Russ Bynum of the Associated Press. The Georgia community of Stillmore, population about 1,000, “has become little more than a ghost town since Sept. 1 when federal agents began rounding up illegal immigrants,” he reports. About 120 illegals were arrested by federal agents, while “hundreds” more fled. “The sweep,” Bynum writes, “had the unintended effect of underscoring just how vital those workers were to the local economy.”
“Trailer parks sit abandoned. The poultry plant is scrambling to replace more than half its work force. Business has dried up at stores where Mexicans lined up to buy food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.” The poultry plant is Crider Inc., which employes about 900. The company president said that when federal agents inspected the plant’s records in May they found about 700 suspected illegals. When asked to prove their status as legals, only about 100 kept their jobs. The writer notes that “the raids came during a fall election season in which immigration is a top issue.”
To replace the vanished workers, Bynum reports, “the poultry plant has limped along with half its normal work force” and “increased its starting wages by $1 an hour to help recruit new workers.”
In Congress, meanwhile, the U.S. House is expected to vote today on tougher enforcement measures, with language offered by U.S. Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.) clarifying the authority of state and local police to enforce federal immigration law. The Senate has also voted to take up a House-passed bill to build 700 miles of fence on the border with Mexico. Both should pass. Enforcement first, as U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, Rep. Tom Price and others say.
The Associated Press story is presented because I think it will illustrate how differently we see the illegal immigration issue. I read it and am appalled that 700 of 900 workers may have been illegal and that, even with substanial prior warning, feds were still able to round up 120 illegals in a community of less than 1,000 — clear evidence that immigrations laws have no meaning. But I’m curious from others: What is the message you draw from the Stillmore story? And, if you’re empowered to fix what you see, how do you do it? My prediction is that liberals and conservatives see at least two distinctly different stories here.
