Javier Anaya has lived in the shadows
more than half his life.
He was 13 when his mother called for him to join her in
California. She had left Mexico City - for more money and
bigger and better dreams - the year before in 1990.
Anaya rode a bus to the
border. A van was waiting for him in California. His mother
was inside. It was dark and he was scared, but they made it.
Anaya and his mother moved to Memphis in 1997 to be with
family. She works odd jobs with a temp agency - cleaning
houses, working in factories. Anaya, who quit school after the
eighth grade, works in construction and as a car mechanic.
They live quiet lives in the shadows with hundreds if not
thousands of other illegal immigrants in the Memphis Metro
area.
"Mostly, people are scared," said Anaya, 27.
"That's why they don't call police."
People like Anaya and his mother are called illegal aliens
by some, undocumented immigrants by the politically correct.
Attorneys and others who work with these immigrants say most
of them are scared to be seen or heard for fear of
deportation. And gaining legal status is nearly impossible.
But some local experts say President Bush's new immigration
proposal might help people like Anaya and his mother gain
legal status - if only temporarily.
The proposal would create a "temporary worker program" for
the estimated 8 million undocumented immigrants living in the
United States. "Guest worker" status would last three years.
It is not clear whether extensions would be granted.
Immigrants would have to find employers to sponsor them.
"This proposal takes people out of the shadows," said
immigration attorney Greg Siskind of Memphis.
"You feel like a fugitive when you are operating without
(legal) status. (Illegal immigrants) don't want to report
crimes. They don't want to be a part of society . . . .
"This doesn't go toward solving the problem of illegal
immigration, but it does bring common sense to the system."
Some disagree.
"The biggest problem with the proposal is that it's not
made clear whether there will be a realistic path to permanent
legal residency," said David Lubell of Nashville, state
coordinator of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Coalition.
"We could end up with a system that has a lot of potential
for abuse. A system that puts temporary workers at the mercy
of their employers because those workers are dependent on
those employers for their legal status."
Anaya thinks fear of deportation will keep illegals in the
shadows, regardless of Bush's proposal.
But others say fear will do the opposite.
"This way they could work more and they can feel more
comfortable - if they have to go to the doctor, to school,
whatever," said Hector Mendoza, editor of La Prensa Latina who
came to the United States from Mexico in 1999.
"It is a hard life without legal status. . . . They are
afraid to be here, but they want to work."
Jose Chavez not only wants to work, he wants to become an
American citizen.
He and his wife, Maria, left their home in Chihuahua,
Mexico, in 1996 and came to Memphis. During the next three
years, their five children left Mexico and joined them here.
They crossed the Rio Grande on the Texas border with their
passports, but they didn't have work visas.
Jose and Maria work nearly 60 hours a week painting houses.
The children paint on the weekends. The family is working with
Siskind Susser Immigration Lawyers to obtain permanent status
here.
Jose has a work visa. His wife and children are
undocumented.
"It is very hard because you always live with this fear,"
he said through an interpreter.
"It is a great sacrifice because when you leave Mexico, you
leave everything behind. You don't have peace. You are always
afraid. You live afraid."
Jose, who has bought a house in Raleigh, said Bush's
proposal would be wonderful.
"I think it would be a great relief to my countrymen,
because you will work with more energy because you know nobody
is going to come and take you away from your job," he said.
- Erin Sullivan:
529-5880
.gif){kind=spacer}
