April 6, 2006

StreetTalk

by Carol Rosen

What do you think about the current immigration legislation that’s being discussed in the United States Congress, specifically House Bill HR4437?
(Asked at Almaden Center)


“It’s kind of a complicated question. We certainly need guidelines; we don’t want to flood the country with people, but at the same time there are complications. During World War II, if we’d had less complicated immigration laws six million people wouldn’t have been killed. But these people are here and most of them are producing [working]. We should have amnesty and legal work permit statutes.”

Dennis Wolf, 53
Almaden
CFO


“Well, I think if it passed a lot of our politicians would be in trouble at some point, because they’ve hired some of these people work for them. All of our ancestors were immigrants. I’ve heard parts of the proposal and fines and fees will accomplish nothing because the majority of [illegal] immigrants in this country can’t afford to pay. We need to figure out how to handle this situation. They’re going to be here and work here. We need to give them some legal status in our country.”

Cathy Schisano, 52
Almaden
Homemaker


“I have mixed feelings, I don’t know if that law is a little too strong. The people coming in illegally are breaking the law and something more needs to get done. The laws need to get stronger so they send a message. It’s not fair to people who are coming in legally. The illegals need to follow the system and come in legally.”

Gail Johnson, 52
Almaden
Sales manager


“It’s not so much the illegal immigrant as the terrorist aspect. I’ve known people that work with companies making unmanned aerial vehicles that are used by the border patrols. [These vehicles] allowed the patrols to see armed paramilitary drug smugglers come across the border in large numbers. I like the president’s idea of work visas because we need to know who is coming in to our country. ”

Louise Edwards, 51
Almaden
Para educator


“I don’t like it [the law that makes illegals felons] because people who come into this country are people. The United States is a country of immigrants. Everyone has the right to be here. We do need some controls, but I don’t think immigrants should be felons.”

Rosemary Defilippis, 22
Almaden
Junior, San Jose State and a secretary


“I think it’s political, it’s more politics than reality. The vast majority of people who come here are looking for honest work. What they are doing in an illegal way might be slightly wrong because it’s through illegal channels, but it’s not that big of an offense. And, making people who help them felons is not only wrong, it’s problematic because it basically turns the public into police. I think we need to police our borders. There are far greater dangers of who is going to come in than Mexican day laborers. If someone wants to make an argument that Al Qaeda can come in, we have to make ALL our borders stronger, not just the southern border.”

Andy Daniel, 45
Almaden
Enginee