Listen live 
High Plains News
Immigration in Garden City
GARDEN CITY, KAN.
(hppr) -
(sound of laughter)
This sounds like a normal classroom enjoying a funny moment, but it's actually an English as a second language class composed of immigrant students from Latin America, Laos, Vietnam, Somalia and others. There are 32 students in all, almost half of them are Somali.
(Sound of reading together)
The ESL class is an adult learning course at Garden City Community College. The make-up of the class can be seen as a cross-section of the immigrant and refugee population and workforce in Garden City, KS. Hector Martinez serves as the director of the Adult Learning Center. Martinez knows both legal and illegal immigrants the main struggle for each is the same, learning the system and how to assimilate into American culture, but legality is a heated issue.
Martinez: Once we identify the persons or people that are illegal I think we stereotype those images or those people and we try to avoid them.
How best to handle the subject of illegal immigration. That's a major topic for November's elections. Martinez is an immigrant himself, and thinks the immigration system is in need of reform. He supports speeding up the application process for immigrants, but also says the economic situations in the immigrants' home countries must improve before a real drop in illegal immigration can be expected. However, there are already undocumented immigrants working in Garden City and the rest of the country that must be considered.
Martinez: They need to have an immigration reform where they take into consideration the number of years they've been working and paying taxes.
Finney County Attorney John Wheeler is a lifelong resident of Garden City, where he says a substantial, firmly entrenched Hispanic community has existed in the town.
Wheeler: Now we have the privilege of dealing with more people who are moving into our area who are new to our nation as well. Some of them we are aware are not here legally, and we have many that are here legally.
At the local and county level legal status is not an issue. Wheeler says residency status is only given attention if the person in question is convicted of a crime. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is then contacted. There have been instances of illegal criminals being deported and then re-entering the United. At that point, they're considered aggravated felons. Wheeler says that we are overlooking the dangers of major criminals like drug lords and members of syndicated crime rings crossing our borders.
Wheeler: Welcome to our communities. They'll be here in no time at all.
Wheeler thinks that immigration reform must take place at a federal level and should first handle the number of people crossing the borders illegally. He says identity theft is a common crime among undocumented immigrants, which greatly affects those whose identity is stolen.
Unless new laws are passed the police department in Garden City will not change how it conducts business. Sergeant Michael Reagle says the priority of the police department is protecting everyone in this community they do not ask to see papers or proof of citizenship.
Reagle: We're not going to ask you whether you're a legal resident of this country. If you call us and need our help we'll show up and do what we're supposed to do.
Reagle emphasizes that illegal immigrants should not afraid to call the police if a crime has been committed. For HPPR, I'm Lindsey Fields.
© Copyright 2009, hppr
(2008-09-19)
null
(sound of laughter)
This sounds like a normal classroom enjoying a funny moment, but it's actually an English as a second language class composed of immigrant students from Latin America, Laos, Vietnam, Somalia and others. There are 32 students in all, almost half of them are Somali.
(Sound of reading together)
The ESL class is an adult learning course at Garden City Community College. The make-up of the class can be seen as a cross-section of the immigrant and refugee population and workforce in Garden City, KS. Hector Martinez serves as the director of the Adult Learning Center. Martinez knows both legal and illegal immigrants the main struggle for each is the same, learning the system and how to assimilate into American culture, but legality is a heated issue.
Martinez: Once we identify the persons or people that are illegal I think we stereotype those images or those people and we try to avoid them.
How best to handle the subject of illegal immigration. That's a major topic for November's elections. Martinez is an immigrant himself, and thinks the immigration system is in need of reform. He supports speeding up the application process for immigrants, but also says the economic situations in the immigrants' home countries must improve before a real drop in illegal immigration can be expected. However, there are already undocumented immigrants working in Garden City and the rest of the country that must be considered.
Martinez: They need to have an immigration reform where they take into consideration the number of years they've been working and paying taxes.
Finney County Attorney John Wheeler is a lifelong resident of Garden City, where he says a substantial, firmly entrenched Hispanic community has existed in the town.
Wheeler: Now we have the privilege of dealing with more people who are moving into our area who are new to our nation as well. Some of them we are aware are not here legally, and we have many that are here legally.
At the local and county level legal status is not an issue. Wheeler says residency status is only given attention if the person in question is convicted of a crime. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is then contacted. There have been instances of illegal criminals being deported and then re-entering the United. At that point, they're considered aggravated felons. Wheeler says that we are overlooking the dangers of major criminals like drug lords and members of syndicated crime rings crossing our borders.
Wheeler: Welcome to our communities. They'll be here in no time at all.
Wheeler thinks that immigration reform must take place at a federal level and should first handle the number of people crossing the borders illegally. He says identity theft is a common crime among undocumented immigrants, which greatly affects those whose identity is stolen.
Unless new laws are passed the police department in Garden City will not change how it conducts business. Sergeant Michael Reagle says the priority of the police department is protecting everyone in this community they do not ask to see papers or proof of citizenship.
Reagle: We're not going to ask you whether you're a legal resident of this country. If you call us and need our help we'll show up and do what we're supposed to do.
Reagle emphasizes that illegal immigrants should not afraid to call the police if a crime has been committed. For HPPR, I'm Lindsey Fields.
© Copyright 2009, hppr
