Felicia Persaud
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 8, 2012: There is a lot about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s politics that I don’t agree with but one I can’t help but applaud is his show of support for the undocumented, who have found an ally in the billionaire mayor.
Like Rudy Guilani before him, Bloomberg has proven he is a realist, unlike the many Republican lawmakers we see running around trying to scapegoat the “illegals.”
This weekend, Bloomberg will be hosted on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria and has no qualms in staying that he does not believe undocumented immigrants pose a crime risk. Good for you Mr. Mayor!
“The undocumented have very low crime rate. Why? Because they’re scared to death they’re going to get arrested and deported,” Bloomberg said of the more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants who call New York home.
But Bloomberg did not stop there. He reiterated the argument that advocates have made for years – that undocumented immigrants do pay taxes and are not just unemployed and living on the system. About 75 percent of undocumented immigrants in New York pay taxes, said Bloomberg.
And, as he told Zakaria, undocumented immigrants do not put a strain on public schools or hospitals because they tend to leave their children in their home countries and are generally young and healthy.
Mayor Bloomberg, like many rational people, continue to advocate for immigration reform that includes more visa programs for highly skilled workers, guest-worker programs and green cards for graduates with advanced degrees.
The mayor is right on the money. But will politicians in Congress and the Senate act anytime soon? Not before November, that’s for sure.
President Obama has vowed to push for comprehensive immigration reform if he gets a second term in office. But the President has made these promises before and given his dismal deportation record, one can’t blame the Latino and immigrant community for distrusting him.
Yet the alternative – Mitt Romney and his insane self deportation policy – is not the answer and immigrant voters know they cannot waste their vote on the multi-millionaire who once used undocumented labor on his yard but now refuses to even mention the word – immigration!
Immigrant advocates need to revisit the street rallies this summer that once called attention to this issue. It has to be forced on to the front burners of the politicians who need the immigrant votes.
Once upon a time, tens of thousands took to the streets in protest, calling for immigration reform. We have to use this summer to return to that brand of advocacy that has seemingly taken a back seat.
Let’s mobilize and make this the summer of immigrants and immigration reform so our votes are not again taken for granted this November by politicians who make promises but never deliver.
The writer is founder of NewsAmericasNow, CaribPR Wire and Hard Beat Communications.
