Our Huddled Masses Yearning to be Free

A current hot, political issue that seems not to have caught fire in Hawaii is the debate over illegal immigration. This is ironic since immigrants, legal and illegal, constitute about 17.6 percent of our state's population making us fifth highest on the list (though the actual number, about 220,000 people, puts us squarely in the middle). Maybe we're less concerned because here it's hard to tell the immigrants from the citizens, or because our local culture is more welcoming. Whatever it is, the passage by Congress of a tough immigration bill last December seemed to escape much notice here. Among other things, this legislation hopes to stem the flow of illegal immigration by treating illegal immigrants as felons. It would require employers to confirm the authenticity of their employees' social security numbers or face fines up to $25,000 per violation. It authorizes the building of a 698 mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border at a cost to taxpayers of $3.2 million per mile. So what is it about immigrants that has Mainland people so concerned?

Not surprisingly, it starts with economics: the fear is that illegal immigrants take jobs from citizens, that they drive and hold down the wage levels, and that they're a burden on local welfare and healthcare resources. A recent study in California (which occupies the top spot as the state with the most immigrants both in terms of numbers and percentage of population) has dissected and deflated these myths. It reports that illegal immigrants have not increased unemployment for citizens, have not suppressed wage scales, and do not disproportionately burden social welfare programs. The study found that immigrants produced a net positive economic benefit to the country, and that our economy would face a large negative impact if we did not have immigrants willing to perform jobs that citizens disdain at the low wages businesses can afford to pay.

Personally, I can relate to the debate because my parents were both immigrants. I know the reality my mother faced when, fresh off the boat from Shanghai, she had to figure out how she could remain in the U.S. legally. Though my father entered the U.S. legally, at some point he fell out of status as he pursued his own American dream, and he likely would have been deported back to China but for having by then a set of children who were native-born Americans. I think about the people who advocate that the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants should not be afforded the benefit of U.S. citizenship, not be allowed to attend public schools, not be eligible to obtain drivers licenses, and I wonder where my siblings and I would be now if we'd been born under such laws. As it is, we've lived the immigrants' American dream and hopefully have made our own net positive contributions to our country, just like most other immigrants, past, present and future.

The U.S. Senate will take up the issue in the coming months and a law may eventually result. While we in Hawaii may fully embrace our immigrant population, we still need to keep track of this legislation and its potential impact on our community. Hopefully those who value immigrants for their contributions, and not those who despise them as lawbreakers, will carry the day.

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