The ongoing attacks of Mexicans in Port Richmond, Staten Island are deplorable, but somewhat unfathomable when the attackers are identified as black youths. Staten Island as a borough is not known for racial or multi-cultural tolerance. When David Dinkins won the New York City mayoralty in 1989, the then predominantly white borough of Staten Island freaked out and seriously considered seceding from New York City.
When the 2010 census data is published, it will further reveal the extensiveness of the foreign-born population of New York City. Queens County is the most diverse borough with immigrants from the four corners of the world. It will provide us with further empirical evidence that Staten Island is becoming as diverse as other boroughs in the City.
In the 1980s and 1990s, when the economy was humming and unemployment was fairly non-problematical, the city and the country had more tolerance for immigrants. They were not seen as a threat – there was no need to make immigrants a scapegoat for the weaknesses of the American economic system.
The unemployment figures after the meltdown on Wall Street in September 2008 have remained staggeringly high. Despite the Obama stimulus package of nigh $800 billion and signs of renewed economic growth, the extent of job creation has been insufficient to markedly reduce those perched on the swollen unemployment rack. There has been a correlation linking the rise in unemployment to the rise in the virulent anti-immigrant sentiment manifested not only among blacks in Staten Island but by large numbers of whites in Arizona, Texas and elsewhere.
The last Congress made an attempt to find common ground and pass a comprehensive immigration bill that would "seal" the border and regularize the status of approximately 12 million undocumented residents in America. Moderates at the time from the ranks of the Republican Party, like John McCain, earnestly tried to arrive at a compromise bill that would satisfy the "seal"-the-border advocates and the advocates for bringing undocumented or illegal residents out of the underground economy.
The previous immigration debate vividly portrayed the high level of polarization extant in the society, which has worsened since the election of Barack Obama. Right wing talk show hosts mobilized listeners to stop the compromise legislation and to demand sealing off the border as a pre-requisite for any immigration reform.
Long before the collapse of the economy in 2008, the right in America was totally unsympathetic to granting "amnesty" to those who they defined as lawbreakers. They argued for expulsion and any atonement would only encourage a new wave of undocumented immigrants. Even though President George W. Bush was in support of comprehensive immigration reform, the Republican Party rebelled against his leadership and when the legislation got to the floor of the Senate could not muster the 60 votes necessary to end the filibuster.
Barack Obama recently reiterated his commitment to having the United States Congress pass comprehensive immigration legislation. The liberal consensus is that the 12 million undocumented residing in the country would receive authorization to work, providing they were devoid of a criminal record, paid up all back taxes and paid a fine for entering the country illegally. They would not pre-empt other immigrants waiting for their visas and would be forced to wait their lawful turn. In addition, the undocumented immigrants would have to become proficient in English.
The Republican right, like elements in the Tea Party, is not willing to accept any soft landing of undocumented residents, and even John McCain, who is running for re-election to the Senate, has abandoned his previous principled position and is now a strong advocate for "sealing" the border and in favor of states like Arizona bypassing the federal government and imposing legislation to remove undocumented workers and families. The battle lines have hardened and it is too late in the life of this Congress to bring that kind of tempestuous legislation before the November election.
Like most contemporary debates, facts take a back seat, and journalists and newsmakers simply ad infinitum recite worn platitudes that have no basis in reality. Right-leaning journalists and politicians are fond of repeating the notion that the federal government is not doing its job in policing the borders. The number of border patrol guards has increased exponentially and has reached 20,000. There are not enough men in China to seal the massive landmass that makes the United States and Mexico contiguous. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency in the Department of Homeland Security, has embarked on a series of initiatives to make the borders of the United States safer than heretofore.
There are approximately 12 million undocumented residents in the United States but ICE and the federal government have become quite adept at deporting illegal aliens on a massive scale. In 2001, the United States government deported 116,464 persons who entered the country without proper papers. Throughout the 21st century, those numbers have dramatically increased. In 2006, 288,834 persons were removed from the United States. In 2007, that figure jumped to 343,041, and in 2008 to 356,739.
The federal government has become a deporting machine. One of the ICE initiatives is targeting the deportation of criminal aliens. This program entails removing not only people who are here unlawfully, but includes permanent residents who have committed violations of the law. This initiative is not limited to those presently serving in federal, state or local prisons, but encompasses anyone who is a permanent resident and committed a crime before or after the 1996 law. If that individual travels outside the country, the integrated law enforcement database serves as an all-knowing dragnet.
In 2006, 67,850 criminal aliens were deported. In 2007, that figure more than doubled to 164,296. Again in 2008, ICE boasts of deporting 221,085 criminal aliens back to their respective countries.
The massive increase of ICE enforcement capabilities has not influenced the debate on comprehensive immigration reform. Policymaking is an emotional business and easily gets buried under mountains of facts. In this case, it has to do with the "mythology" of sealing the border. Federal authorities, through the use of intelligence, through the use of cooperating with foreign governments and the use of advanced technology, have made it more difficult for those who cross the borders without proper papers to find a nesting place.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform is not necessarily a burning issue in the 2010 November election. But even if the Democrats manage to hold on to a majority in the House and Senate, the economic climate is such that until the unemployment numbers plummet below 6 percent, it is unlikely for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. There is the likelihood that, as we have observed on Staten Island, attacks on immigrants, the new scapegoats, will continue to mount throughout the economically besieged America.
