A Less Flawed Guest Worker Program?

DALLAS (By Ruben Navarrette Jr.) - With undocumented immigrants, Americans still can't decide whether they want them coming or going. It's one thing to gripe about how foreigners are flooding schools, laying waste to the neighborhood and pretty much ruining Western Civilization. It's another to face the grim prospect of having to mow our own lawns, clean our own homes and care for our own children.

Which brings us to Arizona. There a posse of concerned citizens has concocted the Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, a proposed ballot initiative intent on making the state inhospitable to undocumented immigrants. But Arizona is also home to a group of congressional representatives intent on letting undocumented immigrants legalize their status while rolling out the red carpet for shipments of guest workers.

Backers of both proposals insist they have the overwhelming support of average Arizonans. If that's true, then the state needs more therapists. How can people want fewer immigrants -- and more -- all at the same time?

The Arizona initiative, which has been dubbed "Protect Arizona Now," requires state and local government employees to check the immigration status of anyone seeking public services. It also requires residents to show proof of U.S. citizenship when voting.

Before the measure can make it onto the November 2004 ballot, its supporters need to collect 122,612 signatures.

That should be a breeze. The measure most likely will sail through despite the fact that its opponents include both major political parties, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, and every Republican member of the state's congressional delegation.

Like California's Proposition 187, which sought to deny undocumented immigrants education, health care and social services, this initiative really is ghastly. It punishes undocumented immigrants for the inability, or unwillingness, of the United States to control its borders. It would create a permanent underclass unable to access social services despite the millions of dollars that undocumented immigrants in a state like Arizona contribute each year in property, sales and Social Security taxes. If approved, it would likely be struck down as unconstitutional -- as was its California cousin -- on the grounds that the state has no business trying to enforce immigration law, that being the responsibility of the federal government.

That's what this is about. It's not really about voting or social services. Those are just the entry points. The architects of the initiative want to make Arizona so unwelcoming to undocumented immigrants that the foreigners pack up and leave. That's why the measure's supporters all but promise that voting for the initiative will end illegal immigration and all the social ills it supposedly brings with it.

Luckily, three Republican members of the state's congressional delegation -- Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake and Sen. John McCain -- have what they think is a better idea about how to improve the nation's immigration policies: Guest workers.

Kolbe insists that the idea of shipping in immigrants to work in various U.S. industries is a crowd-pleaser at town hall meetings back home in southern Arizona.

"The one issue on which I get spontaneous applause every single time I raise it is when I say that we need to have guest worker or temporary worker legislation," said Kolbe during a conference call.

"People understand the problem ... and the strain it puts on our law enforcement and health care facilities, and they want a way to regularize that flow."

Republican lawmakers understand that it never hurts to score points with big business, and that one can rack up a lot of good will by serving up cheap labor on a silver platter.

The first to apply for a waiter job was Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who recently proposed his own guest worker bill.

Now Kolbe, Flake and McCain have proposed The Border Security and Immigration Improvement Act. Unlike the Cornyn proposal, this bill lets workers change employers. That's essential if one is to avoid exploitation. It also allows workers to come out of the shadows for a substantial period of time, up to six years with extensions.

Best of all, workers can eventually apply for legal status -- without having to leave the country. The Cornyn bill requires that workers leave after their stint on the job, which can last anywhere from one to three years.

I detest guest worker programs. They're a shameful example of corporate welfare that almost always leads to one group of people taking advantage of another. Still, the Kolbe/Flake/McCain bill is better than most. It deserves a hearing.

Not so the proposed Arizona ballot initiative, which only serves up ill will and division.