No easy answers likely in immigration debate

JESSICA L De VAULT, Staff Writer

Demonstrations by Hispanics and their supporters in the Upstate and across the nation have sparked renewed interest in the national debate on immigration.

On April 10, an estimated 1,500 people gathered at Greenville's City Hall, one of many similar rallies supporting immigration reform.

Three days earlier, the state Senate approved a resolution asking Gov. Mark Sanford to block illegal aliens from receiving social services.

Prior to the demonstrations, the presence of illegal immigrants in Spartanburg County was the proverbial elephant in the room, rarely mentioned outside of national media coverage. But as the Hispanic population in Spartanburg County continues to increase (it's now at 2.8 percent) both supporters and opponents of illegal immigrants are becoming more vocal.

Ethnic tension

The words "immigrant" and "Hispanic" have become synonymous with the Mexican people who illegally cross the border. Hispanic immigrants, however, come from a number of locations including Honduras and Cuba.

Yet, in Spartanburg County, some residents feel it's the Mexican presence that makes jobs hard to come by.

Sandra and Tim Blackwell believe illegal immigrants not only flood the job market, but also overrun the construction industry -- an industry in which Tim makes his living.

Tim, a construction framer with 20 years experience, said work is difficult to find because illegal immigrants were charging considerably less to do the same work.

It's past competition when prices are totally undermined, Tim said.

Sandra agreed.

"I think they need to be legal before they work here and pay taxes," Sandra said. "They come here, they go apply for financial assistance, they give them food stamps and housing, then they undercut our prices by half, and send half that money back to Mexico."

The Blackwells say they've been struggling to pay the electric bill and are fed up trying to compete for jobs with illegal residents.

In an attempt to stand for their own rights, the family went to the rally in Greenville in hopes of finding like-minded people protesting against illegal immigrants.

They didn't find any people protesting on their behalf, and they left more frustrated than ever.

"If they were fighting for their rights here, why can't they fight for their rights in their own country," she said. "I feel like our country is selling us short."

Both say they have no disdain for Hispanics, but they feel that it isn't fair to lose work to illegal residents.

"When they say they are taking jobs nobody wants, I feel like they're calling me a nobody," Tim said. "I don't want to persecute these people, but it's a real strain on the people of America."

Wilfredo Leon, the organizer of the protest and publisher of a Latino newspaper, said he's grown weary of hearing those views on immigration.

If someone is unable to find a job or loses a job to another individual, that person may not have had the goods and productivity the employer wanted, Leon said.

"That's called competition," Leon said. "This is a free market. On one side you cannot support a free market and on the flip side oppose competition.

"It doesn't make sense."

Leon is convinced that there are plenty of jobs for everyone, and that the economy needs the Hispanic community to function.

"If you go to the unemployment security office you'll find a list of jobs that are not filled," he said. "It may not be what you're specifically looking for, but the jobs are there."

Someone to blame?

Laying the blame of job loss on immigration is something that can be traced back to the Civil Rights movement, Leon said.

"Back in the days of Martin Luther King (Jr.), back in the days of the end of slavery a lot of whites were saying, 'Geez, if we do this (free the slaves), we're going to have less jobs for the white people,' " he said. "That is not true. Its' time for those people to stop using those kinds of lines of thinking."

When asked to take a look in the classified ads or take a trip to the employment commission's office to find a new line of work, Tim Blackwell is offended.

"They're asking me to take 20 years of my life and say that don't mean nothing," he said. "Let's just give your job to somebody else. Let's hand it to somebody else because we felt sorry for them."

Politics over policy

The Blackwells said they've written their Congressman on this issue, but unreturned phone calls brought more frustration.

"The people that live here are going to have to stand up and make a difference," Tim Blackwell said. "Because I assure you that the people who are paid to take care of our better interests aren't doing that."

However, Leon said that leaders in Congress are moving from the political right and etching their way toward a central viewpoint on immigration.

"That is happening because of one reason only," Leon said. "When thousands of Latinos and supporters exercised their protest and asked the government to be fair, they could not ignore the marches.

"They would be committing political suicide."

Jessica L. De Vault can be reached at 562-7216 or Jessica.devault@shj.com.