Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

10/17/00 News Report -- Miami Herald

A day after undocumented immigrants in Homestead and across the country rallied for amnesty, a counter-group launched a statewide advertising blitz urging opposition to the Clinton administration's initiative to legalize the status of such immigrants.

The Washington-based Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Coalition for Future American Workers on Monday released several dozen radio and print ads in Florida, arguing government should not reward illegal immigrants with green cards.

"Do you remember the promise the government made a few years ago when they gave amnesty to nearly three million illegal aliens?" the radio announcement begins. "They said they'd never do it again. They said they'd put a stop to illegal immigration. They lied."

The ads urge listeners and readers to call their congressional representatives and ask them to vote against amnesty. Similar campaigns are being planned for other markets as well, depending on negotiations on the amnesty bill. Organizers, however, won't disclose how much the advertising campaign is costing or how long it will run.

The legislation granting amnesty to about two million illegal immigrants has been tacked on to the appropriations bill to fund the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State. An estimated 6.5 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States.

FAIR President Dan Stein said the Clinton administration's proposal is a political ploy in an election year.

"The persistent use of partisan immigration amnesties in an effort to obtain partisan political gain is an unconscionable breach of faith with the American people," Stein said. "Amnesties reward law-breaking behavior and, as recent data demonstrate, encourage further illegal immigration."

But to some, FAIR is not fair at all.

"In our view, this is an extremist group," said Cecilia Muñoz, vice president for policy for the National Council of La Raza, based in Washington, D.C. "They try to portray themselves as moderate, but we consider them a hate group."

Muñoz said the Latino Immigrant and Fairness Act does not provide blanket amnesty. She said it would help immigrants who have been in the country since 1986. These immigrants, Muñoz said, have work authorizations but don't have green cards.

Currently, immigrants who have been living in the country since 1972 can have legal status -- a date set in 1986.

Last Thursday, U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said in a press conference that illegal immigration nationally increased after the 1986 amnesty. He cited numbers from the Immigration and Naturalization Service: an average net increase of 457,000 undocumented immigrants between 1987 and 1991. It then tapered off to an average net increase of 154,000 between 1992 and 1996.

Stein said the ultimate gain is cheap labor. While the economy has grown, he said salaries for workers at the bottom have remained stagnant as a result of overpopulation from immigration.

Yet the AFL-CIO in February called for the amnesty of millions of illegal immigrants and an end to sanctions against employers who hire them -- a change in its policy. Unions realized they could not represent illegal immigrants because employers intimidate them with deportation.

On Sunday, some 300 undocumented immigrants risked being detained and deported to support the amnesty bill at a rally in Homestead.