Immigration Issues Prove to be Complex

State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, told an audience at the Tiger Bay Club meeting on Thursday that immigration is a federal issue and that Congress needs to develop and enforce immigration laws that work.

Attorney C.J. Czaia agreed. The federal government needs to deal with the issue.

Part of the problem, they agreed, is that the issue is so politically charged that most politicians don't want to risk their chances of re-election by doing the wrong thing.

But the pair agreed on little else.

Czaia, who co-founded Unidosnow.org, said the states need to stay out of the federal issue. Bennett said he will continue to push for state laws unless the federal government comes up with a solution.

"I would love to leave it to the federal government," Bennett said after the meeting, held at . "But they won't do anything. The only way to get them to do something is to pass enough state laws that they have to deal with it."

Bennett introduced an Arizona-style bill requiring law enforcement officers to question anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally, it comes to the immigration debate.

Thursday's debate at the Tiger Bay Club illustrated the ideological chasm when it comes to immigration issues.

The speakers couldn't even agree on the description of those targeted in recent legislation aimed at allowing states to enforce federal immigration policy.

Czaia said illegal immigrants is a misnomer. The people who come into this country are not illegal, he said, and most people come to the United States legally. While there are undocumented workers, businesses and the general economy depend on them. He sees the policy debate as a civil rights issue as well as an economic issue.

Bennett was not swayed. He continued to refer to "illegal immigrants." He sees the issue as a way to protect the borders, jobs and the country's resources.

"People say what about the food in the fields?" Bennett said. "We don't have to depend on illegal immigrants for those jobs. We have unemployed Americans who have so many benefits that they are not willing to take minimum wage jobs. Cut off the unemployment and they will take those jobs."

While Czaia described a country built by immigrants, Bennett took a more personal tact, likening the country to his own home, where strangers have to be invited in and have to follow his rules.

"Should someone break in your house and then stay and you be expected to feed them? Provide them with health care?" Bennett said. "I think not."

After listening to the back and forth on issues from racial profiling to concerns over the Mexican border versus the Canadian border to "anchor babies" and entitlements, one audience member said the debate needs to change.

"I am distressed and ashamed by how our nation has undertaken this debate," said Mary Ruiz, President and CEO of Manatee Glens. "We've been focussing on what we disagree on and not what we agree on."

Ruiz talked about the global economy and the country's need for a robust workforce and for people who speak different languages.

Common ground did include a solution for children who were brought into the country and have lived here their entire lives. Both Czaia and Bennett said that federal legislation should include the Dream Act or something similar, which allows those children who grew up in the United States to become citizens if they join the military or earn good grades and go to college.

"The kid who comes into this country or is even born here and they find out that mom and dad came here illegally, I don't know how to handle that," Bennett said. "That's why we need a strong federal policy."

While Bennett agreed that someone who serves in the U.S. military should be able to stay in the country, he said all other illegal immigrants should be forced to leave immediately.

Czaia said children who have never known any other country should be given the opportunity to stay in the country and become citizens whether they serve in the military or get accepted into college.