Candidates get tough on undocumented immigrants

Yawu Miller

First came media reports last week that the state contracted with construction firms that hired undocumented immigrants.

Next, Governor Mitt Romney last Tuesday announced he would seek federal powers for state troopers to arrest undocumented immigrants for being in the country illegally.

The move, Romney said, would make Massachusetts “a less attractive place for illegal aliens to come and work.”

Romney’s announcement prompted angry reactions from immigration advocates, who accused the governor of fear mongering.

“It’s the politics of fear,” said Paulo Pinto, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, following a press conference held in front of Romney’s State House office Wednesday.

During the press conference, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition executive director Ali Noorani delivered a letter to Romney urging him not to go forward with the policy.

“As our nation enters what will be an intense election season, we look to you to raise the level of discourse,” Noorani’s letter read. “Pandering to the politics of fear and hate by scapegoating undocumented immigrants who sustain our nation’s economy is the lowest common denominator of debate.”

Noorani’s call for restraint seemed to run counter to the political discourse in the state last week as gubernatorial candidates staked out positions against undocumented immigrants, grabbing headlines as they grabbed for the anti-immigrant vote.

First out of the blocks was venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli, who blasted both the Romney administration and Attorney General Thomas Reilly for not policing state contractors who used undocumented labor. Reilly came next, saying he would support Romney’s call for using state police to enforce immigration laws.

Deval Patrick was the only Democratic candidate who did not take a position in support of Romney’s proposal.

On the Republican side, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey already angered the immigrant community earlier this year with her opposition to in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high schools and her Marie Antoinette-like call for those students to attend private colleges.

“Beating up on immigrants is the strategy du jour for this election season,” Noorani said. “The amazing thing is, it’s bi-partisan. It seems to be the way to go.”

According to The Boston Globe, state troopers would have to be trained by federal immigration officials on the laws and procedures regarding immigrants as part of a pact with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

Noorani and other critics of Romney’s proposal say the measure would do little to make the state safer. Undocumented immigrants and their relatives would be less likely to report crime if they fear the police. This could actually lead to more crime, according to Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts.

“Requiring state police to do the work of federal immigration authorities diverts scarce law enforcement resources away from the work of preventing and investigating real crimes taking place in our communities,” she said during last week’s press conference.

Rose said the use of the state police would also increase the likelihood that police would profile people.

Caprice Taylor Mendez, who heads the Boston Parent Organizing Network, says she was stopped three times during a 1992 trip to California — all in the normally one-hour drive from Los Angeles International Airport to her uncle’s home in L.A.

Taylor Mendez, a Guatemalan immigrant who holds a green card, says her uncle’s car was twice searched during the drive, even though she showed the officers her green card.

Taylor Mendez says she thinks the focus on immigrants is a political ploy to take the public’s mind off of the real problems facing the country.

“[Politicians] are terrorizing U.S. citizens into thinking that the worst threat to the U.S. are people who are brown-skinned and speak with an accent,” she said. “The real threat here in Massachusetts is that our economy is sinking. Without immigrants, this state would lose population. It would lose political and economic power.”

For Romney, who is seeking to raise his visibility for a presidential run, the issue may help him stake his ground as tough on immigrants.

“He continues to play to the scene on the national level,” said Maria Elena Letona, executive director of Centro Presente, a Latin American immigrant organization. “It’s really more about politics and adding to the whole environment of fear and hatred of immigrants.”