Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Presidential visit to Nebraska tackles immigration issues
By Molly Mullen
Daily Nebraskan (U. Nebraska)
06/12/2006

(U-WIRE) LINCOLN, Neb. — President George W. Bush's visit to Omaha, Neb., Wednesday addressed the hot issue of immigration to a nationwide audience.

Wednesday's gathering included Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, whose comprehensive immigration reform bill has been praised by Bush.

"You see, you can make the choice in Washington, D.C., whether you want to be a leader or whether you want to kind of lay back and see how things work out, and then take a position," Bush said. "Sen. Hagel is one of the types of people that said, 'I'm going to go to Washington to take a lead on this issue.' "

The Hagel-Martinez bill includes doubling Mexico-U.S. border security as well as providing a way for illegal immigrants already living in this country to get work permits.

Scot Adams, executive director of Catholic Charities in Omaha, was with the president during his tour of the Juan Diego Center, a charity benefiting Latinos in the community. He said he took Bush to see two groups working in the center.

"The president was interested in them individually," Adams said. "He asked them about their families, their hopes and dreams."

Adams said he was surprised at the connections Bush was able to make with the immigrants at the center.

"About 25 percent of the time he spoke with them in Spanish," he said. "He was very encouraging to them. He knew the states of Mexico and asked them about where they were from."

He said the president's ability to speak with them in their native language was special to them.

"It wasn't just a show time thing, he was able to just flip into Spanish if he realized that person was struggling," he said. "This was very affirming and positive."

Adams said he was grateful for what Bush said in his speech about him and Catholic Charities as a whole.

"Catholic Charities is one of the most important battalions in the army of compassion," Bush said. "It's a center of love and compassion, a place where volunteers come to reach out to somebody who could use a little extra help, and those volunteers ask nothing in return."

Adams said he also rode in the president's limo and was very humbled by him. Adams has worked with Catholic Charities since 1976 and said he loves his job.

"The opportunity to have my spiritual beliefs be part of my daily life in such an interesting fashion in amazing," he said. "The mission of Catholic Charities attracts really cool people."

Another member of the audience for Bush's speech was Gov. Dave Heineman. During a phone interview, Heineman said immigration is a central issue, one that needs to be dealt with on the federal level.

"The key is, we need the federal government to secure our borders," he said. "We need to enforce our current laws."

Heineman said security is most important, but he has not taken any side on Hagel's bill. He still was there to greet and listen to the president.

"I think all of us Nebraskans are honored to have the president in our state," he said.

Heineman said the overall issue of immigration is up to the Senate and Congress, but he will be dealing with aspects of it on the state level, and more importantly, on the university level.

"I don't think it's fair for illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition rates," he said.

Heineman vetoed the Legislature's bill to allow children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates, although the Legislature then overrode the veto.

Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor, said the immigration debate is not out of the blue. She said every time the U.S. has seen increased immigration there is a debate on how to handle it.

She said unlike many other states, there is not a huge immigrant community in Nebraska, other than certain parts of cities around the state.

She said this affects towns with large meat packing industries more than Lincoln.

"The big issue of immigration is, 'Are immigrants filling jobs or are they taking jobs away?'" Theiss-Morse said.

In his speech, Bush said he supported the Juan Diego Center's effort to supply immigrants with the tools they need to start their own businesses.

"That's what America is all about, isn't it, one person with a dream helping others to provide an employment opportunity,' Bush said.

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