In the 1940s, if you were an illegal immigrant picking oranges in California or apples in New England, you might have called yourself one of “los libres,” the free ones. Sure, you had no legal rights; but you also weren’t beholden to a boss employing you under a guest-worker program, controlling your ability to remain in America.
Today, between 8 and 14 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. as “los libres,” fearing deportation daily. Yesterday, President Bush announced his plan intended to help those people: a temporary guest worker program that would give foreign workers the legal right to live here. Conservative critics call it amnesty; advocates say the plan panders to employers seeking cheap labor. Some welcome it as a humanitarian step forward.
Guests:
Siobhan Gorman, staff writer for The National Journal,
covering justice and homeland security
Michelle Waslin, senior immigration policy analyst, National Council
of La Raza, a Latino advocacy organization
Reverend Robin Hoover, founder of Humane Borders, a Tucson-based volunteer organization that provides humanitarian assistance to people crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.