Mar 26, 2006 10:34 pm US/Central
Dallas Citizens Sound Off On Immigration Reform
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
While there are several proposals on the table, most politicians agree something must be done about immigration reform.
District 104 State Representative Roberto Alonzo takes a stand on a very heated issue.
"We should do a law that unites the United States not divide it," Alonzo said.
He believes that's what congress' illegal immigration control act will do.
If it becomes law, it would make it a crime to hire or help undocumented immigrants.
Saturday thousands of demonstrators gathered at Dallas City Hall. They rallied together to voice their concerns and to ask President Bush to listen to them.
Emotions were high as they chanted, cheered and waved flags.
"The reason those Mexican flags are up is because we feel pride but we also have love for the United States, because of the United States we've been able to live better lives and get better education," said demonstrator, Abigail Huerta.
"We're not terrorist, we're not criminals, we're just workers who want to get better lives for us and for our families," said Antonio Rojas.
Some politicians say family is the number one issue in the debate.
"Having talked to members of both parties, democrats and republicans, there's a lot of sentiment that we want to keep families together," said Steve Salazar, Dallas City Council.
Alonzo and Salazar say they believe in immigration reform, but they're favoring another way, the 'Border Security and Reform Bill' proposed by senators Kennedy and McCain.
"This legislation gives an opportunity for people to register with the government, to assure that they've taken care of their responsibility," Salazar said.
The councilman went on to say that the proposed reform bill would also give program participants an opportunity to be able to apply for some form of U.S. residency.
(CBS 11 News)
