EDITORIAL

April 4, 2006

El Comercio - Original Article (Spanish)

Marchers Protesting Harsh Anti-Immigration
Measures Cross the Brooklyn Bridge Into
Manhattan, Saturday, April 1.

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The photographs of this weekend's marches in New York make eloquent portraits of the situation of illegal immigrants in the United States, who now detect a hardening of the already restrictive policies of recent decades, in a country that has been characterized since its inception by the welcoming of great waves of migrants that are now an integral part of its identity and diversity.

On the one hand, the protests in several U.S. cities don't reflect badly on the people of the United States, who according to recent surveys largely, support some kind of legal status for undocumented workers, especially since they take jobs that Americans themselves refuse to do.

However, the laws now being negotiated in Congress are heading in the opposite direction: The law approved by the House of Representatives contemplates building a wall along a long stretch of the Mexican border, turning undocumented people into criminals and sanctioning those who help them; whereas the plan being debated in the Senate includes a temporary worker program and leaves open the possibility that undocumented immigrants, after paying a fine, could eventually obtain residency and nationality.

'An Eloquent Portrait.'

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Ecuadorians, just like the millions of citizens coming from other countries in Latin America, live the consequences of U.S. decisions on immigration; it is estimated that about half of the 3 million [Ecuadorian] compatriots who have immigrated to different parts of the world are concentrated in the United States. While it is true that many of these have succeeded in legally integrating themselves into U.S. society and are eligible for social benefits, the well-being of the rest depends on what is decided there in the coming days.