Job opportunities undocumented immigrants crowd the binational border area to take can give a worker a hard shot at success, or even disappear, even for a worker who always acts responsibly, as President Obama told Americans in Las Vegas an immigrant must if they are to avoid encountering obstacles on the path to citizenship. Is the comprehensive immigration reform plan that is still under debate, though Obama counts on enough bipartisan support for passage, not complete?
The new Mayor in the southwest town in San Diego, Bob Filner, joined the immigration reform cause in his mayoral role by undertaking a stepped plan to improve relations with Mexican officials and organizations so leaders on both ides dedicated to signing committed workers onto their work rolls can add together efforts done to close the gap between the countries market economies. Making use of a new Border Affairs office opening in February at the EDC/DEITAC office in the Via Corporativo business center in Tijuana to give Mexicans a clear path across the border lands that have recently become no mans lands that ruined the morale of Mexicans who found out over a dozen of their country people died at the hands of border patrol and customs officials, one in San Diego after taking a tazer, and many who through rocks near the southwest border, can turn the border area into a work sanctuary after federal legislation cuts down the use of short cuts immigrants take to gain citizenship. But only if the federal legislators do not shun taking up a straightforward policy for looking after the workers with visas, or with settled plans to convert to an American, who are let in to San Diego at both the old and improved San Ysidro an Otay Mesa crossings and the new eastern crossing that will be built in Otay Mesa.
The common trials Mexican immigrants experience working too few hours to earn a living, or doing long hard work in a short time, after coming to the U.S. southwest to work, stand in the way of progress towards achieving the American Dream, and become deep rooted parts of immigrant life in San Diego. Mexicans how take a low wage job at a town hotel, out in the tomato fields in Coachella, or at the future Sherman Height Wal-Mart labor union members rallied against last year to gain concessions on 45 minute truck trailer unloadings might find that they are worn out by the U.S. labor market before they can find their way up Obama's rungs on the ladders to success, and join the middle class. These workers, in the past, have had to join together with unions to avoid getting counted out.
Many might, in the future following immigration reform, make the best out for their working conditions, and get ignored by the law officials who value only their undocumented status and the model citizen acts done to pay taxes and pass background checks. Learning English will help them improve opportunities to "earn" citizenship. Making their own money doing model work might not help.
Immigrant worker advocates in San Diego have asked for speedy comprehensive reform for the system Obama called "out of date" and "broken" in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The 2010 year in the first Obama term was their high time to enact reform. But, the same people, members in the San Diego Immigration Rights Consortium and Alliance San Diego, will voice their concerns over immigrant's actual experiences working with new legal guarantees only for protection against employers who retaliate against them after they exercise their labor rights.
San Diego is waiting to give immigrants a work path to citizenship. Labor union members joined together with Filner and civil rights leaders in public on January 22nd to ask the legislature to pass reform.
Hard working immigrants deserve to have the experience earning a living in a good job Filner said during his State of the City Address on January 15th everyone living in San Diego deserves. Not end up hard up. Obama is right.
Do they have to stand at the end of the line? A place at the end of the line behind legal documented immigrants is a misplacement if an undocumented immigrant earns the new country' respect by taking the opportunity to pitch in on making the American economy productive, working long hours or earning more for the work effort done for a San Diego enterprise than all but the rare documented immigrant does.
Good jobs are no kind of government mandate. All workers must prove they are fit for the job.
Opportunities to succeed in San Diego, however, can get wasted of the U.S. legislature passes immigration reform that puts immigrants on the hot seat until they earn citizenship, but does not give officials the responsibility of measuring the immigrants' work merits proved in the U.S.. Green cards are a start on a traditional path to citizenship that makes Mexican hard workers welcome in this country. Officials who do not take notice on an immigrants work merits before making the green card decision can leave them out of their work on giving foreign workers citizenship, and hope in the American Dream.
A firm colorful examination on truth.
This article is a telling commentary for Post Edition, an every other Wednesday collection of pure citizen voice. The other Wednesdays are days for developing news, called Open Commitments.
To read earlier telling commentary, read
Filner defies court of public opinion on marijuana
A family's own money gives recovery a push
No going half way on rebuilding district schools
Stepping up work on city growth
Affordable housing residents yield on parking minimums
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