Immigrants nation’s foundation, not scourge
by Roxanna Latifi, reporter

    Immigrants built the United States. The Irish, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and a world of other ethnicities have been coming to work in the

   United States for as long as laborers were needed.

   However, immigrants haven’t always been welcomed.

   Many continue to believe immigrants have no right to be here.

   Even with legal procedures to become an American citizen, many think migrant workers and their families “are taking over our country.” But these “outsiders” are no different than a German family whose ancestors migrated to the United States. Both came to work and make an honest living here, far better than what they could in their native lands.

   So what’s the difference? I suspect the generation, color of skin and time.

   At one time, immigration wasn’t an issue because our forefathers were still forming a new nation. Families from around the world rushed to the unseen lands of the Western world and settled. As generations have evolved, people whose ancestors came here just as the migrants do today apparently have experienced a change of heart.

   Controversy over immigrants exists in Utah, where the Latino community makes up 19 percent of Salt Lake City’s population. Some area residents, disturbed by this growing Latino population, say they feel like foreigners in their own country and worry the Hispanics are usurping jobs.

   Well, I assume the American Indians felt similarly when the Europeans came along, threatened their way of life and massacred their tribes.

   The migrant worker is the one who takes jobs that Americans tend not to want. In America, you can get a better education, so people take office jobs rather than labor jobs. Migrant workers are willing to break their backs.

   The economic value of these migrant workers matches what we need and how fast we need it. Many migrant workers build our highways, clean our homes, hotels, schools and offices and bus our tables in restaurants. America needs the migrant worker.

   While some immigrants break the law hoping to find work in America, many U.S. officials choose to look the other way. Surely, INS officials could investigate any job site and make an arrest. However, the government tends to consider the advantages of cheap labor and decide to take care of other business. But, deeply disturbing, some government officials look the other way only when it is convenient for them. Once the labor is done, who gets a phone call? Yes, you guessed it: Immigration.

   So what’s the answer? Presidents Bush and Vicente Fox of Mexico met in Washington to discuss immigration dilemmas. The Senate extended the deadline for illegal immigrants to apply for visas by one year. Bush admits immigration is a complex issue and said finding a solution Congress will accept will be a battle of its own.

   Fox hopes for a speedy resolution.

   “We must find the resolve, the necessary act, and act quickly so that we can find shared solutions to these common problems,” he said.

   While we sit by and let Congress settle the issues of immigrants, one thing is sure: both presidents agree that the majority of these migrants are hard-working people.

   “Some parents in Mexico are worried about where they are going to get their next meal,” Bush said. “They are willing to walk across miles of desert to do work that some Americans won’t do, and we’ve got to respect that, it seems to me, and treat those people with respect.”