Law reunited immigrant clan; bill would change it

MAGNOLIA -- Pablo Baltazar was the first in his family to cross the Rio Grande, seeking a place where his children would never have to fight over morsels of meat in a watery stew, as he and his siblings had done on hungry nights.

In the three decades since his crossing, all nine of his siblings followed, bringing spouses and children. The Baltazar clan, now too numerous to count, stretches from Eastern North Carolina, where its members started out working the fields, to Florida, Texas and Colorado.

Their family ties to Pablo, who was granted legal residency in a 1986 amnesty, have helped nearly all of them become legal residents.

"This is home," said Rubi Baltazar, one of Pablo's five children, all of whom grew up in rural Duplin County. "When I went to Mexico, I felt like, 'I don't belong over here.' "

Now, some officials in Washington say it's time to stop "chain migration," which allows hundreds of thousands of immigrants a year -- many of them poor, uneducated or elderly -- to move legally into the United States.

An immigration reform bill being debated in the Senate proposes abandoning the nation's longtime policy of giving preference to the extended family of legal residents. Instead, the proposal says, immigrants with education and professional skills should get the advantage.

"It's almost random," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said of the current family-based immigration system. "We could be bringing in a lot of grandparents, but grandparents aren't filling jobs. ... We want to make sure people are coming in because of the skills they have for this country."

The proposal would eliminate categories that gave preference to adult children and siblings of legal residents. It would place stricter limits on adult immigrants who want to bring in their parents. And, though it would still allow immigrants to bring spouses and minor children, it could increase the wait times -- already several years -- for those who are not U.S. citizens.

A guest worker program for unskilled laborers would allow foreigners to spend six years in the United States, but their spouses and children would be allowed for only two years.

Under current policies, North Carolina's foreign-born population swelled by a third between 2000 and 2005 to 7 percent of the total population. Chain migration has cleared out entire villages in Mexico. And it has turned areas of rural North Carolina into places where Spanish is the dominant language and "tiendas" replace country stores.

Mexico is the biggest source of immigrants. But family-based immigration has also helped people from around the world. Some work in the high-tech industries, sending for their siblings, elderly parents and adult children as they become established.

Family vs. economy

Immigrant advocates say the new proposal discriminates against migrants such as the Baltazar family -- poor people with limited educations.

"You can't just say you'll create an avenue for them to come and work but not take into consideration their communities," said Zulayka Santiago, head of the Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo in Raleigh. "We have to treat these individuals as humans, not as cheap labor."

Young men who come to the United States alone are more prone to drink excessively, cause drunken driving wrecks or be involved in violence, said Dr. Peter Morris, medical director for Wake County Human Services.

And though many Americans consider a spouse and children to be their immediate family, people of other cultures have a broader view.

Last week, the Catholic bishop for Eastern North Carolina, Michael F. Burbidge, said it went against the nation's core values to separate families. Some in Washington agree.