Local response to immigration reform splits predictably

  • By Jerry Cornfield and Noah Haglund Herald Writers
  • Thursday, November 20, 2014 8:24pm
  • Local NewsLocal news

EVERETT — For Juliana Perez, the immigration plan that President Barack Obama announced Thursday could help right a long-standing injustice.

As a tax-preparer and notary public who works with the Latino community, Perez sees it year after year. While she arrived in Everett legally from Panama 26 years ago, other immigrants didn’t have that opportunity. They toil away in obscurity as undocumented workers.

“These are families that are part of our community,” Perez said. “They are working, they have a home. They have children who were born here. Yet the only thing holding them back is the legal status in the country.”

The president’s plan promises to benefit not only undocumented families, she said, but employers and the economy.

Perez’s appreciation for the president’s action was widespread in Latino communities, but created predictable partisan rifts.

“When it comes to fixing our broken immigration system, the American people want a permanent solution, not a quick fix,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Spokane, a member of the House leadership team. “They want the most effective solution, not the most expeditious one.”

The plan would give up to 5 million undocumented immigrants valid U.S. work permits and temporary relief from deportation.

The largest group that stands to be affected are 4.1 million parents who are in the country illegally but whose children are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. In Washington, an estimated 70,000 to 90,000 could benefit. The president also is trying to ease the visa process for foreign high-tech workers.

Those cheering and jeering President Obama’s proposals on immigration did agree Thursday on one thing — Congress isn’t off the hook.

The president’s plans can be erased by his successor. Any lasting reforms require congressional action.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene issued a statement supporting Obama’s decision, “in light of House Republicans’ consistent failure to act on immigration reform.”

“The only long-term solution to fix our broken immigration system is for Congress to fulfill its responsibility to pass legislation,” she said.

Many Republicans denounced Obama’s move as an abuse of presidential power.

Pedro Celis of Redmond, a Republican who lost to DelBene in this year’s election, said the focus should be on whether Obama has the power to make such changes. He’s also a legal immigrant from Mexico who found success in the high-tech world.

“The issue here is does he have the authority to deal with illegal immigration” in this manner, Celis said.

“He should be working with Congress to make all this happen,” said Celis, a former chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. “He’s kind of baiting Congress to do something. I hope Republicans use this as a rallying point to work on legal immigration laws.”

Short of shutting government down, there may be little that Congressional Republicans can do right away to counter Obama’s move because they have almost no fiscal leverage over the federal agency that enforces immigration laws.

More than 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, the Pew Research Center estimates. About two-thirds of them come from Mexico or Central America.

The center estimates the number of illegal immigrants in Washington state at 230,000.

Gov. Jay Inslee called the president’s proposals “humane, necessary reforms” that will assist families and support the state’s economy, especially the agricultural sector.

“The plan will also increase border security and enforcement where it should be — against criminals and individuals who would pose a threat to our national security,” he said in a statement.

Up to 90,000 men and women in Washington could benefit from the president’s plan to allow parents of children born in the U.S. to gain temporary residency, said Rich Stolz, executive director of OneAmerica, the state’s largest immigration advocacy organization.

“That could mean parents of children in our schools not living in fear of being separated or deported,” he said. “That’s a significant change in the lives of thousands of Washingtonians.”

Stolz said that federal laws must still be changed because actions taken by Obama can be reversed by a future president.

“Everything he is doing is of a temporary nature. We still need Congress to act on comprehensive reform,” he said.

Nina Martinez, the Everett-based chairwoman of the nonprofit Latino Civic Alliance, a statewide advocacy group, said the law could have a huge effect on workers locally. That included people working in Snohomish County’s service industry, as well as agricultural workers in Skagit and Whatcom counties.

“I want to praise Obama for taking the leadership to protect millions of hardworking families who have suffered way too long with an immigration system that is clearly broken,” Martinez said.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Regional search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.