AAI in the News: Speech leaves both sides of debate uneasy

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Speech leaves both sides of debate uneasy
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By Oscar Avila
Tribune staff reporter

May 16, 2006

President Bush drew a few boos Monday night from the organizers of this
month's massive immigrant march in Chicago when he proposed sending
National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Likewise, the founder of the Chicago Minuteman Project said he nearly
gagged when he heard Bush say he supported granting legal status to many
of the nation's 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants.

As these first impressions show, both sides of the contentious debate
over illegal immigration, which has publicly played out in Illinois in
recent months, had reason to grumble after the televised speech.

Afterward, Illinois activists said they must now decide whether they
support an immigration reform plan that might not give them everything
they want.

Juan Salgado, a co-organizer of the massive May 1 march that drew
hundreds of thousands to Grant Park, called the speech a positive first
step, particularly Bush's explicit commitment to some form of
legalization. But Salgado, who gathered with dozens of
immigration-rights advocates to watch the speech at a West Side
restaurant, said he still wanted more "clarity" about who would be
eligible.

That debate puts these advocates in a bind, several said. When they hold
a regional summit on Saturday, they must decide whether to officially
back a limited legalization plan backed by Bush and a bipartisan group
of senators. Some said they will not compromise and prefer to stick with
their demand that legalization be granted to all illegal immigrants.

"I think it's important for Congress to pass something, but it's also
important for us to have something that is workable and fair for
everyone," said Tuyet Le, executive director of the Uptown-based Asian
American Institute.

On the other side of the issue, Rick Biesada, co-founder of the Chicago
Minuteman Project, said he is glad that Bush plans to dispatch more U.S.
personnel to the border.

But he said "amnesty" would send a bad message to legal immigrants and
U.S. citizens who play by the rules.

"The speech was nothing but a publicity stunt. He is trying to appease
everybody and pander to everybody," said Biesada, who helped patrol the
border last year as part of the volunteer group. "He has to make the
hard decisions. These people entered the country illegally. They should
not be rewarded."

Although Illinois is hundreds of miles from the border, the issue of
illegal immigration resonates here. The Pew Hispanic Center estimated
that about 400,000 illegal immigrants live in Illinois, the
sixth-largest population in the country.

Both sides said Bush's speech makes it more urgent that they stay
active.

Members of the Illinois Minuteman Project held their largest rally to
date last week at House Speaker Dennis Hastert's district office in
Batavia.

On Monday night, two busloads of immigrant advocates left Pilsen bound
for a day of lobbying lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday.

"We still have the opportunity and the need to keep the pressure up,"
said Jose Artemio Arreola, a march organizer who watched the speech with
his colleagues.

"This is not over."

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oavila[at]tribune.com

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