Posted on 05/18/2007 8:13:25 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Day laborers stood in the shade of a palm tree hoping for work and dreaming of a life out of the shadows on Friday, a day after U.S. Senate leaders struck a deal on immigration reform that would allow millions of illegal immigrants a shot at becoming legal.
The agreement would create a temporary worker program, set up a merit-based system for future immigrants and give legal status to some 12 million undocumented immigrants, if it survives what is expected to be a highly charged debate in Congress in coming weeks.
It allowed the day laborers in Phoenix the chance to imagine a life above board for the first time, and a moment to mull over the finer details of what any deal might mean in the months ahead.
"The first thing I want to do is to go home and hug my wife and children," said Hermilo Sanchez, 44, a Mexican who left his wife and nine children in the dirt poor state of Chiapas two years ago to find a job in the United States.
"The youngest, a little girl, was born after I left and I have never held her," he said, chatting in Spanish as he waited in a sun-baked parking lot for contractors to roll up, looking for muscle for landscaping and other low skill tasks.
If the proposal makes it through the Senate, he feels he should be in the clear. Under the plan, a new Z visa would be created for illegal immigrants who can prove they arrived in the United States before January 1, 2007.
It would also create a temporary worker program that would allow workers from Mexico and other countries to work for two years and then require them to go home before they could return.
For Rogelio Cruz, a devout church goer and father of four from Michoacan, Mexico, it raises the hope of escaping a world of irregular work paid at $7 to $8 dollars an hour while in constant fear of deportation.
"I want papers so that I can get out of this hole," he said, tucking a polo shirt neatly in to his slacks, and burning with a quiet indignation he's felt since he arrived in the United States six years ago.
"I want to work an eight-hour day, as God sees fit, without problems with either the immigration authorities or the police or anybody," he said. "Everyone should have the right to that in this life."
'REALLY WILLING TO WORK'
Many Hispanic residents of Phoenix tuned in to the AM radio show, "La Voz del Migrante," "The Migrant's Voice," on Friday, where callers mulled over the nuances any reform might have for business owners, or couples where either the husband or wife already had a work permit.
The day laborers seemed uncertain exactly how they would benefit from the reform as they discussed the possible deal on Friday.
Plans include a points system for immigrants, a complex calculus for eligibility that factors in their length of time in the country and their skills.
"I've only been here for two years, so I'm not sure how many points I will get," said Jose Hernandez, 30, a soft-spoken laborer from the city of Monterrey, a couple of hours drive south of Texas.
"I have had some education, but I'm really willing to work, so I hope they take that into account," he said, as the temperature reached 98 F (37 C) in the shade.
Others mulled over the cost of fines, expected to be around $5,000 dollars, that they will have to pay to sign up for legal status and work in the United States.
"$5,000 is a fair bit of money, but if it allows you to come and go legally, it's worth it," said Jose Leyva, 22, a native of Mexico City, who arrived in Arizona three years ago. "After all, I paid the coyote (smuggler) $3,000 to walk across the desert."
Unidentified marchers laugh during an immigration rally in Los Angeles May 17, 2007. The rally was held as a response to the Los Angeles Police Department's action at a May 1st rally, when they used force to disperse the crowd. A deal between leading senators would grant millions of undocumented immigrants lawful status, but other reform advocates warned any celebration was premature. Picture taken May 17, 2007. (Staff/Reuters)
Day laborer Juan Carlos Vazquez expresses his reaction to the immigration reform proposal Friday, May 18, 2007, outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles. Illegal immigrants and advocacy groups sharply criticized the Senate's immigration reform proposal, saying the provisions are overly harsh and will drive many people deeper into the shadows. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Yep, keep dreaming, Jose'.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) (2nd R) shakes hands with Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) as U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (L) and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez look on during a news conference on immigration reform legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington May 17, 2007. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES)
When all is said and done we’ll be needing more illegals to do the jobs the previous illegals won’t do.
All I need to know on the Immigration Bill is that the Admiral of Chappaquiddick is for it. Ergo, I am against it.
ROTFL!
I want that for you too, Rogelio, but America is not required to make our borders obselete in order to give you an eight hour/day job that pays well. The Mexican government should be doing that. Yet it refuses to do so.
That pic turns my stomach. These people should be excommunicated from the republican party.
Everyone please pass this on to everyone you know. I and many others called our Senators all day on Friday and they are beginning to cave.
Please! Everyone begin bombarding your Senators first thing Monday morning at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.
Just call the Senate Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and they will connect you to the office of your Senators.
Thank you in advance for fighting for your country this weekend.
I had to get up and turn the TV station because Bill (I’m looking out for you) O’Reilly is sounding like La Raza cut a big check for him.
He sits there and calls it unfair, it is amnesty and the flood will continue, America will never be the same etc. Then turns around and says it don’t get no better so we should see it as a good thing.
Since when are the criminals the ones that decide what is fair and legal??
I feel like I am living in a Lewis Carroll novel when I read this garbage.
Turns my stomach too, but let me amend your second line: These people should be excommunicated from the republican party. executed for treason against their country.
There, fixed it.
A public example of traitors would go a long way towards repairing the perspective of public servants. (Public 'servants,' how shamefully laughable has that term become?)
Teddy K earned his brass when he commanded the SS Oldsmobile. It sunk on its maiden voyage, but he managed to save half his crew. (But unlike McCarther, he did not "return".
Held in such high esteem he ran for President in 1980.
I heard him say the same thing last night. He’s looking out for us alright!
The people who hire day laborers need them for very short term jobs. They are not looking to put people on legitimate payrolls. I suspect the good 8 hr/day jobs these folks dream of may not be as pleantiful as they dream them to be.
The AFL-CIO will see to their every need
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.