In the spring of 2006, hundreds of people in Tampa — and millions nationwide — participated in protests over current U.S. immigration policy. The demonstrations seemed to catch much of the country by surprise, as the nation's growing Latino population declared in cities across the nation that they wanted to become part of the American dream, and called for legislation to allow undocumented people to no longer be declared "illegal."
Negotiations in Congress for a bill on comprehensive immigration reform broke down later that year, but were revived in 2007, with former Florida U.S. Senator Mel Martinez becoming one of the main architects of a bi-partisan proposal, only to see Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pull it from the floor when it was apparent that it could not garner enough votes to avoid a filibuster.
Since then, Congress hasn't touched the issue. Unless you count the just-concluded loud and contentious national debate on healthcare, in which there was one thing that actually did achieve bipartisan consensus: None of the 32 million Americans ultimately granted health coverage through the new bill will be of the undocumented variety.
But could things be changing? Last month, Senator Reid told another gathering of immigrant advocates in Nevada that action on the issue was coming — this year.
That followed a huge protest on March 21 in Washington, when an estimated crowd of more than 200,000 flocked to the nation's capitol to call for immigration reform. Unfortunately for them, it was the same day that the House of Representatives spent more than 11 hours debating and ultimately voting for a healthcare reform bill. That vote dominated the news cycle, and stories of the rally were relegated to the inside pages of the country's newspapers.
Though some activists at the march expressed disappointment that the rally elicited much less media coverage than anticipated, Lorena Colin with the Mexican American Coalition, was not among them. "There were at least eight members of Congress who talked at the rally even though the healthcare debate was going on," she said. Colin appeared days before the rally on the USF Tampa campus for a discussion on the rally and the state of comprehensive immigration reform.
Another guest panelist at USF was Ernesto Vargas, the Tampa field organizer for Democracia USA. He thought the march in D.C. was a revelation, but also commented on the lack of press coverage that day. "We need to work a little harder on getting the media's attention, and I hope [at] the next events we make sure the media's there and are paying attention to what we do, because this is an issue that's really important. Not just for Hispanics and the immigrant community, but the whole country."
Vargas was also there to advocate for The DREAM Act (which stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), a bipartisan proposal that has been bouncing around Congress for nearly a decade. It would create a pathway to citizenship for thousands of young students who were brought to the United States years ago as children.
Former Florida Senator Mel Martinez was a co-sponsor of that legislation, and according to Jessica Sanchez, a Central Florida organizer for Reform Immigration for America, his successor, George LeMieux, is being targeted by various advocacy groups to get behind the bill. (LeMieux's office failed to return our calls or e-mails on where he stands on the issue.)
In the House of Representatives, Chicago area Democrat Luis Gutierrez has introduced a bill that would legalize the status of millions of undocumented immigrants. Though it has over 90 co-sponsors, Colin says that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won't allow any debate on it until there's some movement in the U.S. Senate on the volatile issue.
In the Senate, last month, New York Democrat Charles Schumer and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham released a proposal on immigration reform, but have yet to file a bill.
But in an op-ed penned in the Washington Post, the two laid out what they termed the four pillars of their proposal: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for the 12 million or so undocumented people already here.
Colin — who works out of Chicago — says the Senate bill isn't going anywhere until a second Republican joins Graham in support. "We have a third and fourth Republican" waiting in the wings to support a bill, she says, but they won't come out until a second GOP Senator joins Graham.
Tampa area Congresswoman Kathy Castor agrees, saying, "The plan as I understand it is for the United States Senate to take action first. So for anyone who's particularly interested, let's see what happens in the Senate, because they've gotta get some Republicans who will play a constructive role."
And Castor also asked, "Where is Senator George LeMieux? Certainly for a state like Florida — where we have such consternation, over immigration issues, such a diverse population, he should be on record and playing a role in this, and I hope he will."
Perhaps LeMieux, labeled the "accidental" senator after he became the surprise choice of Charlie Crist to serve the last year-and-a-half of Mel Martinez term in office, has learned too well from what happened to his predecessor.
That message might be: Don't touch immigration. Republicans around the country and especially in Florida excoriated Martinez for working on immigration reform, causing him to depart as chairman of the Republican Party, and many believe it was also a factor in his leaving the seat with over a year to go.
""I really must say I leave with a sense of regret that [immigration reform] is not completed," Martinez said in his farewell address. "But I also know it's an issue that has to be addressed at some point in the future."
But the lack of any movement by Republicans is deafening.
Locally, Tarpon Springs Representative Gus Bilirakis has introduced legislation this year that would expand a Coast Guard program that collects biometric information on interdicted undocumented immigrants and checks to make sure they have not repeatedly tried to enter the country. Polk County Congressman Adam Putnam's office says the Representative believes in a comprehensive approach, saying the current system remains "disorganized, outdated, and too often ineffective."
But while advocates hope that a reform bill passes (or is at least introduced this year), they're extremely disappointed at a lack of change in the offices of Homeland Security and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) when it comes to cracking down on undocumented immigrants, and deportations.
In July of 2008, the Manatee County Sheriff's office signed a memorandum of understanding with the Homeland Security Department to join ICE's 287(g) program, which allowed deputies to identify for deportation those arrested and in jail who are undocumented.
But spokesman Dave Bristow says the sheriff's department dropped out of the program last year, saying it essentially came down to money. When asked how effective the program had been, Bristow said he couldn't really say. Earlier this month, an Inspector General report found a lack of oversight and training, and said there were not adequate safeguards against racial profiling.
So now Manatee (as well as Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties) use a program called Secure Communities. That program sends fingerprints of everybody arrested and brought in for booking simultaneously to the FBI for previous crimes, and to DHS to check their immigration status. ICE regional spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez says that since November of 2008, the program has found more than 49,700 undocumented in the country after they were charged with serious crimes, and deported 4,900.
Last month the Washington Post reported that immigration authorities have set up quotas for their agents to strive for. ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton denied that that any quotas have been employed, but did say that, "smart, effective immigration enforcement" has resulted in criminal deportations going up 19 percent in 2009, and 40 percent this year.
Though that story on quotas unleashed a torrent of criticism from some Latino immigration advocates, others said there was nothing wrong with it, such as Brooksville area Republican Ginny Brown-Waite. She chirped that, "Illegal immigration opponents are against the quota system for deportation. What a surprise that is. They want more of those freeloaders in our country. Keep the quota system, if it is in use, or increase it, or reinstall it."
Tampa immigration attorney John Ovink works with undocumented immigrants and says of the current climate, "I hate to say this, but I'm seeing positive affects of the unemployment and economic crises." By that he means that more immigrants are trying to get a waiver from the somewhat little-known 3/10-year ban.
That law says that if a person enters the U.S. illegally and has been here for 180 days, if they leave the country they cannot return legally for 3 years, and if they've been here for over a year and leave, they can't return legally for 10 years.
The law does allow an undocumented person — if they're married to an American citizen — to apply for a waiver from that ban. Ovink offers, "The economic problems are getting so bad, a lot of people are saying, let me to try to get home and get legal. … It's a gamble, but 99.9 percent of people I know have been successful."
Meanwhile, back in Tampa, activists like Ernesto Vargas and others are working on another series of demonstrations, scheduled for May 1. Though the issue is a toxic one in America, he says he won't stop organizing to support a change. "It's important we go out in the streets, we organize people, we have events, even just neighborhood events," he says. "Because once people know about this, they understand and do something." That may be a tad optimistic. But one of these years, our leaders will have to do something to recognize who actually is in this country.
Whether they'll choose to do so just months before an election in which every representative and a third of the senate are on the ballot is dubious.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2010.