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When it comes to the issue of illegal immigration in Indiana, it seems the only consensus is yes, it’s an issue. How extensive it is, how best to address it and even whether addressing it should be a priority are far from clear. Leaving a solution to federal lawmakers remains the best course.
The Journal Gazette’s Angela Mapes Turner looks at the debate in a two-part series that began Sunday and concludes Thursday. She found that determining how many illegal immigrants are in Indiana is a challenge in itself. Residents who are in Indiana in violation of federal law are understandably reluctant to stand up and be counted, so the best figures available are estimates.
A representative from the Pew Hispanic Center this year put the number at close to 100,000, but others believe it’s closer to half that figure. There are also people in education and social service agencies who believe many illegal immigrants have left Indiana because the state’s crackdown on driver’s licenses has kept them from obtaining the identification they need to work. Job losses have also contributed to the decline, they say.
Neither is there consensus on the role of illegal immigrants in the workforce. It was business representatives who protested the loudest when a bill was considered in the Indiana General Assembly last year.
Steve Smith, director of agriculture for Indiana-based Red Gold Co., said that the U.S.-born labor force does not fill the need for all agricultural jobs.
“Indiana will be considered an unfriendly place to work, and workers will simply go elsewhere if state laws are enacted that would be perceived as predatory,” he said.
That’s worth noting in the current economic environment. The debate over illegal immigration inevitably breeds confusion with legal immigration and refugee resettlement. Not all immigrants are in the U.S. illegally, of course, and refugees arrive in the community under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State. It would be wrong for a passionate and misplaced debate over illegal immigration to make the state and northeast Indiana unwelcome places for refugees and legal immigrants.
Some communities, in fact, are courting foreign workers. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is looking to expand his city’s sister cities program in hopes of attracting foreign investment.
“The cities that don’t try to attract as much high-skilled talent as they can, they wither,” Justin Heet, a demographer with the Sagamore Institute, told the Indianapolis Star.
Such efforts are at odds with the clamor for a crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants. After Hoosier lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to reach agreement on a bill last year, an interim study committee met five times over the last three months. Again, they reached no agreement.
That’s a strong signal that the debate is best left to federal lawmakers. Indiana lawmakers have plenty of challenges ahead in the upcoming session. Those that are clearly their responsibility and those that clearly have an effect on Hoosiers’ lives are the ones they should address.
