ASU participated in a nationwide discussion about immigration reform through forums held at various colleges and universities Friday.
Experts at the ASU forum, held in the PBS television studio at the Walter Cronkite School, discussed a proposal created by a bipartisan group of eight senators, known as the “Gang of Eight,” and issues with the current immigration system.
The proposal, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, focuses on reforming current legislation on border enforcement, legal and provisional immigrant programs, interior enforcement, and non-immigrant visa programs.
Moderated by former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, the panel of experts provided a range of viewpoints on the issue. The panelists included Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA; Lisa Magana, ASU associate professor at the School of Transborder Studies; Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery; attorney Daniel R. Ortega; and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith.
Magana said the first step toward reforming immigration was changing border enforcement and how border security was assessed. The policy cannot carry out the social aspects of “legalized immigration,” such as the visa system and registered provisional immigration program, until then, Magana said.
“Building a big, triple-layer wall across all of Arizona is physically and environmentally impossible and also it’s a lot of money,” Magana said.
Magana said such a wall would not fix the problem of visa overstayers, either. She said 40 percent of undocumented immigrants are visa overstayers, rather than those that cross the border illegally.
Assessing border security through apprehension data is not effective and can be unreliable, Magana said, citing that people can be apprehended multiple times and that other factors can influence if quotas are reached, like a “tanked economy.”
Smith said increased border security was not about keeping the wrong people out, but letting the right people in.
“We talk about workers, but we need to talk about producers — the people that will start small businesses,” Smith said.
Montgomery said border security was necessary and if visa and immigration reform could be addressed, other security issues such as drug trafficking and terrorism could also be addressed.
The panel stressed the importance of a balance within the bill that allowed for multiple issues with immigration to be addressed at once.
Jacoby compared the proposed legislation to a circle:
“If you pull it too far away from the center of the circle, it can’t pass,” Jacoby said. “If labor is not happy, they are not going to support it and a lot of Democrats won’t support it. There is this pressure to stay in the center of the circle, no matter what you think the right answer is.”
The bill would also reform the current immigration visa system and add more types of visas and phase out others, such as an increase in worker-based visas from the current 15 percent, Jacoby said.
“One of the greatest things the United States has going for it is that the best and the brightest and the hardest workers from all around the world want to come here,” Hamer said, “To not take full advantage of that is, in my opinion, economically criminal.”
Priscilla Gibson, 78, who “has been working with immigration all [her] life,” said that the forum was vital to hear and the proposal important to pass.
Representatives of ASU’s School of Transborder Studies Sandy Martinez and Patricia Corona said it was nice to have different perspectives. They said they were honored to have the opportunity to be involved in such an important and crucial issue for the state.
Contact the reporter at zhillenb@asu.edu
