Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Immigration as a vital topic in Latin America

While the U.S. government grapples with the future of immigration reform, several Latin American countries are facing their own immigration debate. According to an article in yesterday’s Miami Herald:

“Driving the changes (in immigration in Latin America) are concerns echoed in the current U.S. immigration debate: that undocumented workers take jobs from locals, raise the crime rate and drain tax dollars through their use of public school and health systems.

In the same vein, business groups in the region have been opposing new laws that might limit uneducated, low-cost laborers from migrating to countries that need them -- just as in the United States.”

Unlike the U.S., however, immigration reform in some Latin American countries has been successfully enacted:

  • Argentina passed a proposal four years ago granting illegal immigrants access to public schools and health clinics
  • Costa Rica approved a plan allowing Nicaraguans to gain citizenship
  • Chile’s government is considering their own proposals that would help illegal immigrants

Image- BBC News (A Brazilian immigration official take a picture of a U.S. tourist in 2004)

Sources- Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist, Miami Herald

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