Jose Perez is funny, charismatic and intelligent. He’s an immigrant whose native tongue is Spanish- but don’t think you can pull the wool over his eyes when speaking English around him- he can understand and lip read some English.
His Job is similar to that of a postal worker. He works through any kind of weather condition if he can help it – rain,sleet and snow. Every morning he arrives to work at 8am- where the competition is tough. In this business, you have to be willing to be aggressive -and the payoff: monetary gain. You see, Jose goes to work at a Day Labor site in Denton,Texas. He stands on the site with many others and waits for prospective employers to pull in and hire him for a project. Usually he gets hired for a day but sometimes employers will need him for ongoing projects. For Jose, this is life.
I spoke to Jose about his take on illegal immigration in the United States. This is what he had to say.
Along those same lines I bring you “The Great Immigration Debate.” After all, humor is a necessity if we are to understand the many angles of illegal immigration. And with humor lies the truth – magnified and exaggerated.
CFIR is a grass-roots organization formed by citizens who are concerned over the impact of illegal immigration on the United States. They are a non-partisan organization who “call for our borders to be secured by quickly providing for more border patrol agents, erecting a fence, employing technology, upgrading the electronic employer verification system and enforcing employer sanctions. For the abolishing of all non-emergency benefits to illegal aliens, particularly bestowing citizenship upon children born of illegals in the U.S.”
From this site you can learn why Americans have opposing views on immigration. The site contains reasons why illegal immigration hurts the USA. As well as the existing legislative bills that aim to restrict the leniency the USA has over illegal immigrants in our country.
If the CFIR is too conservative for you- the Americans For Legal Immigration (ALIPAC) is more news oriented and less opinion based.
Trinity Presbyterian Church created the agency in 2003. It has been “recognized” by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and has certified counselors on staff.
Opening Doors Immigration Services (ODIS) is a non-profit center assisting people in Denton County and surrounding areas. They deal with:
Immigration advice
Assistance in filing petitions for family
Adjustments of status
Citizenship applications
People who fall under the Violence Against Women Act
They do not handle employer based petitions/renewals or any Temporary Visas: Student Visas or Travel Visas.
You can walk-in for a free consultation Monday evenings 7:00pm-9:00pm and Saturday mornings 9:00am-12:00 noon. Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00am to 6:00pm are reserved to answer telephone calls and for prearranged appointments which are made by caseworkers.
Justice for Our Neighbors, JFON, was created by the United Methodist Church. Their mission is to provide free legal services to immigrants and to welcome them into their community. They promote theological education and cross-cultural community building. More information can be found on their website- including how you can become a volunteer for the JFON.
You can visit one of their many locations across the DFW area:
Dallas, Texas Peace and Justice Immigration Center
Southeast Dallas Cooperative Parish Shalom Zone
Urban Park UMC
6670 Military Parkway
Dallas, Texas 75227
Tel.: 214/381-0901
Refugee Services of Texas
4113 Junius
Dallas, TX 75246
Tel.: 214/821-4883
Fort Worth, Texas
Polytechnic UMC
1310 S. Collard St.
Fort Worth, Texas 76105
Tel.: 817/534-3293
Refugee Services of Texas, Inc
1010 W. Rosedale
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Tel.: 817/877-5467
America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts.
I went to the West End Marketplace in Downtown Dallas to discuss immigration with Dallas residents. These are the views of only several people- there are hundreds of opinions out there. I neither support or oppose these opinions.
I would like to mention some interesting things I came across while conducting these MOS (man-on-the-street) interviews. Those who were willing to talk to me were mostly of the younger demographic. Those who didn’t want to be on camera were mostly of the older demographic. There was also a handful of both the younger and older demographic who stated they had no opinion.
Studies done by theCato Institute and the National Immigration Forum found that there is a split between views over whether or not people preferred less immigration (immigration in total- not just from the Latino community):
There is an interesting split in thought here, with the
greater voiced opposition apparently being based upon abstract
belief formed by the mass media, and the greater voiced support
coming from personal experience with immigrants
As for myself- this is what I was able to gather after spending the day in the West End Marketplace.
Sanjay S. Mathur obtained his Bachelors at Texas A&M University and his Doctorate at Southern Methodist University. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is known as the Dallas Immigration Attorney.
He can help you with:
Business/Work Visas
Family Visas
Detention and Deportation
Asylum and Torture
Violence Victims
DALLAS LOCATION Turley Law Center 6440 North Central Expwy Suite 610 Dallas, Texas 75206 (214) 378-8880
