E-mail a friendAngelica Salas
airdate December 6, 2005
At age 5, Angelica Salas crossed the border illegally with her 14-year-old aunt to rejoin her parents. On one failed attempt to cross the border, she was apprehended by border authorities. Today, as executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Salas educates the public on issues affecting immigrants. A leading spokesperson on federal immigration policy, she helped win in-state tuition for undocumented immigrant students and established day laborer job centers that serve as a model for the rest of the nation.
Angelica Salas
Tavis: Tonight a look at the President's new immigration proposals with Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. The nonprofit group was established back in 1986. She is a Mexico native who came to this country at the age of five, following her parents' attempts to find work here in the U.S. So you know these stories intimately, don't you?
Angelica Salas: Yes, I do.
Tavis: Nice to have you here.
Salas: It's a pleasure.
Tavis: Tell me more about your story right quick before we get into what the President had to say last week.
Salas: Well, I'm very typical in terms of, my parents came to work, first my father, then my mother. My mother worked in the garment industry for many, many years. My father did all types of jobs, laundry, grooming at the - racetrack, and then doing is construction work, and has been. And they wanted for me what they couldn't offer in Mexico, an opportunity.
And an opportunity for themselves. And so we've been in this country since the early '70s. They were able to legalize their status; so were we. We lived many years without immigration documents, but we considered the United States our home, and this is where I have my child, and where we plan to contribute, and where we're going to be here for the rest of our lives.
Tavis: Let me start right there because this is an old formulation; it is an old and tired question. But I want to give you a chance to respond to it, given your personal story of having come here at the age of five.
How do you respond to people who say that we appreciate the fact that you and so many millions of others love our country, think the United States of America is a great place, and that we can offer you things that your home country can't offer you. But at the end of the day, that's not our responsibility, but it is your responsibility to not enter this country illegally.
Salas: Well, I think that we are the labor force of this nation, and that we come to this country because we are being offered jobs, because there is a labor market that requires our services. And that we're coming here as so many other immigrants have in the past, to build the nation. And so that we believe that we are part of - really the foundation of this country.
And to try to close the door to us, or to now the new immigrants, is really going against American values and American history. That we really have to actually put forth what we deserve as workers, and workers in this nation. Many people who contribute their entire lives, and that what, all they're asking is for dignity, respect in the workplace, and legal status so that they can actually formally be integrated into this nation.
Tavis: Maybe you have the answer because I don't know the answer. I've been trying to figure this out. Maybe you can help me, Angelica. I'm trying to figure out who is doing the complaining these days. Who's complaining about these immigrants coming? And I ask that question against the backdrop of running into people all the time, who I see taking advantage of the immigrants.
They're nannying our babies; they're parking our cars; they're manicuring our lawns; they're busing our tables, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. So that everybody seems to be taking advantage of the immigrants. So who is complaining about the immigrants coming over here legally or otherwise?
Salas: Well, there's a very well organized vocal group of anti-immigrant forces in this country, that have actually really pushed forward for more restrictions of immigrants, more restrictions in legal visas, and certainly more punishment in order to make life so difficult for immigrants, they believe they would then go back home. And I think that the vast majority of the American population understands that our immigration system is broken.
That there's an agreement on both sides of the parties, Democrats and Republicans, on business, labor, on civil rights organizations, that we need to change this current system. And yet there is a group that's very vocal, that really uses a lot of, I would say, very racist and very xenophobic language, in order to push forward what I consider backwards policy recommendations. Which really got us to where we're at.
For 20 years, the anti-immigrant forces have actually pushed forward policies that are harsh on immigrants, who really seal our borders. It's a border blockade, yet what do we have? We have more than 11 million people who are undocumented in this country today. So their policies are not working. What we're saying is we need to look at it differently.
We need to legalize the people who are here, almost 11 million individuals. We need to create legal channels by which people can come in, unify families. In many instances, people are separated from their families for 10, 15, 20 years. That doesn't make sense at all. And we need to really look at enforcement in a way that is really workable. And we have laws that can be enforced, not what we have now, which is, from our perspective, very chaotic.
Tavis: The President last week goes to Arizona and Texas, two border states that deal with this immigration issue. Tell me two things. One, whether or not you think the President is right to address this issue. It is a very important issue. Is the President right to address the issue, number one? Does he, obviously he has a right, but is he right to address it? And number two, is he addressing it in the right way?
Salas: Well, the first thing, of course, he needs to address it. We're very happy that he's making this a priority, that he's making immigration reform a priority. Is he doing it right? No, not now. What he is saying is, let's use the same old tired strategies that we used in the past 20 years, enforce the law, make it really, really hard for people to come into the country. And then towards the end, he talks about a guest worker program, which basically says that people have to report themselves to then deport themselves.
What that means is that they're supposed to sign up for a guest worker program, in which they will have visas for three years, and up to six years if they're renewed, and then they have to go back home. But I say, but home is the United States. What home? For many people, there's nothing to return back to.
And what he's doing is actually trying to incorporate those individuals who have lived here 15, 20 years, into this particular system. It just does not work, and it is not going to work. And so he's right to address it. He just still doesn't have the right solution.
Tavis: All right, so what is the right solution, as you see it?
Salas: Well, the right solution, legalize the people who are here in this country. Provide them a path to citizenship; integrate them into this nation. Then change our legal immigration system so that families can be reunited, especially families who have been separated for so many years. Enforce worker rights, so that we don't have so much exploitation in the workplace. And then we also believe there needs to be legal channels by which workers could come into this country.
Tavis: Okay, so, let me just do this right quick. Taken to its logical extension, if people in Mexico and around other parts of this region of the world know that you can come here, and that there's a process where you will eventually, after you stay here long enough, be allowed to become a citizen - doesn't that really say to everybody, come one, come all? And how many people can we absorb, whether they're coming from Mexico or any place else?
Salas: I'd like to remind people that the majority of Mexicans, the majority of Salvadorians, of Africans and Asians, are in their home countries. Not everybody wants to come to the United States. What we're saying is we want to assist them. But if we have the jobs and we need the workers, then the people can come in legally without actually risking their lives. We've had over 3,000 people who've died since 1994 crossing that U.S.-Mexico border, 300 last year.
I don't think that any policy that leads to death is something that we should be accepting. So, no, people are not going to come simply to get legal status. They want to work in their home country and make their home country better. For those people who do want to come, then we say, let's do it legally. Let's not put people in the hands of coyotes, of smugglers who really are just taking advantage of these folks, and let's not put them in the hands of unscrupulous employers once they are in the United States.
Tavis: From the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights here in Los Angeles, Angelica Salas. Nice to have you on the program. This debate of course will continue, and we'll keep talking about it as you will continue your work. So nice to have you on the program.
Salas: It's a real pleasure to be here with you.
Tavis: Glad to have you here. Up next on this program, Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry. Stay with us for what I'm certain will be a fascinating conversation we'll do with Halle in just a moment. Stay with us.
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