The invisible ones

By Charles Sowell  

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 12:53 p.m. (0)

Many of the talking points in the current immigration debate are patently untrue, said a panel of experts on immigration issues during a presentation at Furman University Tuesday night.

One current hot-button item, anchor babies, and proposals to change the U.S. Constitution to remove the clause relating to automatic citizenship for anyone born in this country is a case in point, said Amy Shelley a panelist and an immigration attorney who practices in Greenville.

“The fact of the matter is something on the order of 90 percent of the families where one parent faces deportation all leave and take their children with them,” she told about 150 people who packed Furman’s Burgiss Theatre to hear a panel discuss a cross cultural perspective on local immigration issues.

Foreign-born citizens, like panelist Oscar Hoyt, who have made a place for themselves through naturalization find themselves caught up in the fallout of a explosive streak of xenophobia that has gripped the nation since the attacks on America in 2001.

Hoyt, who is a Texas A&M educated engineer, was born in Mexico City and grew up there. He related an incident that happened at a local restaurant to illustrate his point.

“I was waiting in line and talking to my daughter in Spanish since they get little chance to speak our native tongue when a man standing in line behind us ordered ‘Speak English!’ ” Hoyt said.  “I almost lost it, but kept control of myself.”

Another popular myth surrounding undocumented aliens is that they don’t want to learn English and that signs in English and in Spanish help Hispanics avoid learning English.

Kinneil Coltman, a panelist and director of diversity and language services for Greenville Hospital System, said interpreters and signage in two languages is required by law and is designed to protect patients.

Her case in point was an account where a hospital staff on the West Coast let the husband interpret for his pregnant wife at an emergency room. It wasn’t until later that the staff found the woman’s problems with her pregnancy were because the husband had kicked her in the stomach.

Contrary to popular belief, undocumented aliens do pay taxes, contribute to Social Security and are infrequent visitors to hospital emergency rooms, Coltman said.

“I’ve seen statistics that indicate undocumented aliens pay something on the order of $7 billion dollars a year in Social Security taxes,” she said. “Because they are using bogus identity cards they never have a hope of collecting any benefits.”