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| Some 300 people turned up to a meeting in Worthington to discuss immigration issues. Immigrants fear they will be targeted as a result of Gov. Pawlenty's immigration proposal. (MPR photo/Mark Steil) |
Worthington, Minn. — The crowd had a chance to question a panel of state lawmakers, city officials and a representative from the Mexican consulate in the Twin Cities. Worthington resident Antonia Pineda put a sharp point on one of the audience's concerns.
"Governor Pawlenty's proposal, that's very harsh on the immigrant people," said Pineda. "And it also hurts the economy in Minnesota and the immigrant population working in it."
The governor wants to establish a special law enforcement team to investigate illegal immigrants. He also wants a crackdown on the phony documents industry, and harsher penalties for employers hiring undocumented workers.
All of those ideas are creating worries in the southwest Minnesota city. Immigrants and lawmakers wonder what sort of impact Pawlenty's proposals will have on the city if they become law.
The local economy is central to the discussion. Several people at the meeting said Worthington's largest employer, a meatpacking plant, needs the immigrant work force to stay in business. No one has a figure, but it's widely assumed some of the immigrants in Worthington entered the U.S. illegally.
For the president of the local meatpackers union, Michael Potter, there's a straightforward way out of the predicament.
"We would like to see the legalization of some of the unproperly documented people that are here today," says Potter. "We feel as though that the state or the federal government should set up a program to make that possible and make that happen."
Several speakers painted a picture of lives lived in fear under the current system. Some complained local police were overly aggressive in searching for undocumented workers. They said the tactics encroached on their civil rights.
Ex-Marine Rodolfo Martinez said he and a friend were leaving a park when a Worthington police officer approached and asked questions about their immigration status.
"To me, I felt me and my other friend were being violated. We were being questioned without any probable cause or anything. What can we do to change that? Because this is what these people are afraid of," says Martinez.
The Worthington police chief said the city has a complaint system set up to handle incidents like this, and urged Martinez to try that forum. The government officials listening to the discussion said there are no easy answers to the complex issues surrounding immigration.
State Rep. Doug Magnus said the current system forces people into the shadows of society, beyond the aid of law enforcement and other services most people take for granted.
"Too many people are living underground, are afraid to come out and do anything," said Magnus. "They're afraid to not have any police protection, they're afraid to not have any medical needs covered, they're just afraid to come above ground and be good productive citizens here for our area."
Magnus said the immigrant work force is important to a region which has seen substantial population declines. State Sen. Jim Vickerman said several meatpackers in the region depend on the new workers.
"We need you. We need you in the schools, we need you in the town, we need you in this business," said Vickerman. "And I'm going to do everything I can to make your life easier here."
But Vickerman said at the same time, everyone must obey the law.
His argument of economics and enforcement illustrated the difficult course politicians are steering on an issue of national importance. The group in Worthington vowed to keep election-year politics out of their approach to the immigration issue. The audience liked that. For some, their future may depend on it.
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