Revisit Stance on Immigrants
The Denver Post
September 9, 1999

Isn't it ironic! We, a nation largely of immigrants, have built walls, passed laws and beefed up our border patrols-all to keep immigrants out. California even passed a constitutional amendment depriving illegal immigrants' children access to public education. Fortunately, that didn't accord with the egalitarian constitution created by America's thoughtful founders.

Now, California and other agricultural states are desperate for farm laborers. Despite forbidding deserts, barbed wire and armed guards, illegal immigrants are pouring across our border with Mexico to fill agribusiness' huge demand for workers. And, states are looking the other way. Agriculture is, after all, a huge part of their economies.

And, that's not all. Our tight labor market can't meet the insatiable demand for computer whizzes in Silicon Valley and across the United States. Companies are searching the world for skilled personnel to develop the software and hardware that keep them competitive.

It's ironic that, just as we heard a blizzard of anti-immigrant rhetoric from many of our elected officials (usually running for office), those same politicians were about to face a huge and unmet demand for both skilled and unskilled labor. Today, many of them are asking the federal government to relax immigration laws so that their businesses can find the workers they need so desperately.

In the past, immigrants from Europe and Asia came to America as miners and railroad workers. Towns like Pueblo were built by immigrants who filled the huge labor needs of the steel mill. Way before that, Africans were forced into emigration to be slaves on American tobacco plantations. For as long as I can remember, immigrants from Mexico and Central America have picked fruit and vegetables, pruned vineyards and herded cattle on the farms and ranches of the West. Today, we couldn't go to Colorado's mountain resorts if workers from Latin America didn't come here to staff the hotels and restaurants.

Maybe it's time to rethink our position on immigration. Yes, the United States needs to protect its borders. Yes, we have an obligation first and foremost to employ our own citizens. With that in mind, however, our booming economy cannot fill from within all the jobs it is creating. Never in my lifetime have enough American citizens wanted to work in the fields. What's more, our current laws simply aren't working. It's time to look anew at our attitudes and policies on immigration.

Let's start with our attitudes. Immigrants have always endured prejudice from those who came before them. I hope-and believe-that we have moved some distance from those attitudes, but we have farther to go. Sure, people will come here to work as long as there is unemployment at home and plenty of jobs in the United States. But, let's not forget that the need is on both sides. We have a responsibility to provide a work environment that respects all employees. That's not too hard to come by if you're the bright young Indian engineer who started Hotmail. It's very tough to find if you're picking lettuce or cleaning hotel rooms.

Today, we need the flexibility to meet our employment needs for both skilled and unskilled jobs. Employers now must demonstrate their need, and this should continue. The law, however, must allow for rapid assessment of that need and a quick response. After all, the peach harvest can't wait 6 months while someone decides if there are insufficient American citizens to fill the labor demand. Perhaps that flexibility should kick in when our unemployment rate drops below a certain point.

Our policies also should require those employing immigrants to provide at least minimal housing and health care. If we need their labor to succeed economically, these workers shouldn't have to sleep in homeless shelters or cars. Nor should they have to worry about medical care for work-related illnesses or injuries.

We're talking about common sense and human dignity. Often in American history, we have needed immigrants at all levels of the skill ladder. If we need them for our economic well-being, we should help to ensure theirs as well. That is surely the dream that has brought so many productive immigrants to America.