Congressmen debate Immigration reform, its affects on Montana agriculture

By ANGELA WOOLETT, For The Prairie Star
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 2:31 PM MDT

For the past couple of hundred years, the sign at the Statue of Liberty, which reads, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...” has beckoned people from around the world to become Americans.

Now Congress and President George W. Bush want to tighten the reigns on that.

Out of control illegal immigration has caused our nations' lawmakers to begin working on legislation to limit whom may be here, how long they may be here and what they may do when they are here. The question is, will any of it work? And if it does, how will immigration reform change our country?

Montana does not have the same problems with illegal immigration that southern border states, like Florida and Arizona, have. In those states, boatloads and van loads of people from Mexico and Cuba risk their lives to enter the United States under the dark of night everyday. However, Montana's agriculture industry provides work for immigrants all the time. Some may even be here illegally.

President Bush has asked Congress to create a Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill to address all aspects of “our broken immigration system,” reported the White House Web site, www.whitehouse.gov. He wants lawmakers to figure out a way to secure our borders; create a temporary worker program that would establish a legal channel for foreign workers to enter our country in an orderly way for a limited period of time; enforce immigration laws at the worksite; remove the status of illegal immigrants who are already in our country; and help newcomers assimilate into our society by learning our history, values and the English language. Both Houses of Congress have been working on this idea for a few years now.

The most recent legislative action to capture the media's attention is the passage in May of the Senate's bill for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Many bills about this subject exist, but this one is currently receiving advanced legislative action. The “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006” published May 25, gives illegal immigrants who have resided in the United States for more than five years the chance to apply for citizenship, but first they must pay fines and back taxes. Those immigrants who have been in the United States for more than two years, but less than five, would be subject to different restrictions.

Employers would also be allowed to bring foreign workers into the country with a “blue card.” Those workers can stay for six years, then must return to their home country for at least one year. If an employer is found to have undocumented workers, the employer will be fined. The Act also increases the number of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and provides for 370 miles of triple layered border fencing.

Montana Sen. Max Baucus voted in support of the bill, however Sen. Conrad Burns voted in opposition. Burns' communications director James Pendleton explained Burns has “no problem at all” with legal aliens and welcomes them as they are the_ “backbone of this country.” However, Burns does not support amnesty for _illegal immigrants who are breaking the law and will be rewarded for doing so. “For those who have done the right thing then to have people who are here _illegally hop in front of them in line is just flat wrong,” said Pendleton. “Conrad voted against it (the Act) because of that he felt it gave people cuts in line.”

In a statement provided on Burns' Web site, the senator said he supports aggressive border enforcement and the increase of border patrol agents. He said he is “committed to ensuring that anyone who enters this country illegally does not advantage or benefit toward citizenship.”

As far as legal immigration goes, Burns said he has voted to improve and streamline legal channels of immigration because many of these programs provide valuable services to Montana. However, he said he believes any efforts to reform immigration will simply not work unless the United States seals its borders.

Montana's agriculture industry provides many jobs for foreign workers. Pendleton agreed this is necessary because producers need to have sources available to do their jobs and harvest their crops, he said. However, he said Burns feels that those workers need to be here legally and following the rules.

Sen. Baucus voted in favor of the Senate Immigration bill because it strengthens the nation's borders. “I voted for the Senate Immigration bill because it strengthens our borders by beefing up enforcement, and immigrants are required to pay their taxes and learn English,” explained Baucus. “The bill isn't perfect, a lot of compromises were made but we did pass common-sense legislation that does not provide amnesty for illegal immigrants.”

Although the House of Representatives has not taken action on this particular bill, it has worked in the past on immigration reform. Rep. Denny Rehberg said he supports increasing border security and has backed stringent standards for attaining government identification. He has also voted to allocate more resources, including military, to border areas to stem the rate of illegal immigrants into the United States.

Rehberg said he also supports building a fence on the southern border. Like Burns, Rehberg is opposed to granting amnesty to those that are here illegally and opposes any “reward” for violating immigration laws. “It's an insult to the millions of legal immigrants that work hard and play by the rules,” said Rehberg.

Osmar Torres of Billings, Mont., knows a lot about immigration. He owns Awzwolt Consulting Services, providing foreign workers to local businesses that are hiring. His job includes human resources and international and national recruiting. In addition, he is a green card holder, not an American citizen.

Torres travels all over the world finding people who are willing to come to America and work on farms and ranches. He is a contractor for growers and laborers, bringing them together in one common goal. “They come for more possibilities of work,” said Torres.

Currently, foreign workers come to the states on non-immigrant visas. Although he said most of the workers he provides come from Mexico, many come from other countries. In most cases, the foreign workers can make much more money here working a seasonal job than they do at home working all year, said Torres.

Originally from Argentina, Torres earned a degree in International Business Management in Sydney, Australia. He has been in the United States for the past 13 years.

Torres does employment consulting for local workers also. Americans are not willing to do the work, he said. Torres said he always finds Americans to fill jobs first, but many times they do not even show up for the interview. And if they do they are not qualified, or only work a few days and quit. American employers are becoming frustrated with this lack of work ethic and are seeking help from outside the nation's borders.

In his opinion, Torres said foreign workers are better employees than local Americans. “They hire foreign workers because locals don't want to do the work,” he said. “They (locals) call in sick; they are lazy; they are whiney.”

Torres said the foreign workers he finds are always there and only work for the company with which he has connected them. In the long run, it is more cost-effective to hire foreign workers because there is not as much turnover and less time is spent retraining employees. Immigration reform would not change the way Torres works because he follows the law. In addition, he does not believe granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is the solution to the problem. Torres said he believes if the laws do go into effect the way the Senate has suggested, it could be good for the nation's economy because the illegal immigrants will have to pay taxes and pay their own healthcare.

The reason there are so many illegal immigrants is it is very difficult to get a green card, Torres explained. Immigrants either have to be sponsored by somebody or be highly skilled with jobs available in their field to obtain a green card, he explained.

For example, Torres' family is in Australia and Argentina. If he were an American citizen, his parents could get a green card in six months, but it would take more than seven years for his siblings to get theirs.

“I strongly believe it's [amnesty] going to go away,” he said. “It's just very political.”

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