BONITA DAILY NEWS

February 22, 2006

Social service providers to march against immigration law

By Janine Zeitlin

Workers from Southwest Florida plan to march today against a federal immigration proposal that those working with illegal immigrants say could block them from doing their jobs.

The morning march to protest the measure to make illegal immigrants criminals is expected to end at U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s Fort Myers office.

“We just want to show people that we’re not terrorists. We’re not criminals. We hope to gain respect as workers,” said Luis Ibarra, president of United Latino Immigrants of Florida.

The Arcadia group expects more than 1,000 people to participate in the protest that comes in the wake of similar demonstrations across the country.

The bill intends to fortify borders and stop illegal immigrants from working through an employer verification database passed by the U.S. House in December. Opponents say it will make it harder for immigrants to become citizens and impale the economy.

Lucas Benitez, a leader with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, said the local workers rights group planned to send representatives. Showing concern is especially vital with existing anti-immigrant sentiment, he said.

“Now more than ever it’s crucial to show how important immigrants are for the economy and the United States,” Benitez said.

A spokesman for Nelson said the Florida Democrat opposes the measure yet to go before the U.S. Senate for a vote because it’s too harsh and that he OK’d the workers’ decision to convene at his office.

The bill (HR-4437) includes a definition of alien smuggling to include anyone who “assists, encourages or directs” an illegal immigrant to reside in the United States. The language concerns educators and social service providers who help illegal immigrants every day.

Barbara Mainster, executive director of Redlands Christian Migrant Association, said agencies providing services to immigrants without asking about status could be affected.

“It’s not our responsibility. It’s not required and we don’t do it,” said Mainster. Immokalee-based RCMA provides education and child care for migrant and low-income families in 20 Florida counties.

“How can I do my job without getting into trouble with the law?” asked Brigita Gahr, who works with students and parents, many of whom are here illegally, in her post at Florida Migrant Interstate Program.

The program coordinates migrant education services statewide.

Monica Fish, executive director of the Immokalee Friendship House, worries the bill could impede the homeless shelter’s work.

“We don’t ask, ‘Are you illegal?’ We’re based more on just the rights of the human at the immediate time,” she said. “That would make us not be able to do our job according to our mission.”

The measure was referred to a Senate committee in late January.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, voted in favor of the measure in December. Lawmakers will likely meet to work out “unintended consequences” that could have an impact on nonprofit organizations, said Jeff Cohen, Mack’s chief of staff.

Security played a part in Mack’s vote, Cohen said.

“In today’s day and age, doing what we can to protect our security is of paramount importance. That legislation was part of the equation,” he said.

Mack opposes illegal immigration and amnesty programs, he said.

“There’s a process by which people come to this country and people should respect that process,” Cohen said.

But Florida’s economic engines — tourism, agriculture and construction — lean too heavily on illegal labor to get rid of the workers immediately, a Nelson spokesman said.

“You can’t just take 10 to 11 million workers out of the U.S. economy at one time,” Dan McLaughlin said. “Think of what would happen to Florida if you immediately and overnight criminalize them all.”

The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group, estimated nearly 11 million undocumented people were living in the U.S. in 2005.

McLaughlin said Nelson supports strengthening borders and possibly giving some kind of temporary status to workers already here but the senator thinks the measure passed in the U.S. House is “is overly harsh.”