New Haven Independent

Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens under the Jones Act of 1917, after which they could be conveniently drafted to fight in World War I. Over the years about half the population of the island migrated to the U.S. mainland — all without the need for papers. But they faced discrimination just like all previous immigrants. One group that sprang up to address that was the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which has been defending the rights of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. since 1972. One of its founders, and current president, Cesar Perales, was a panelist.

“Should we [Puerto Ricans] take part in this debate over immigration?” Alverio asked Perales. “Should we play a leadership role?”

Yes, he said, to applause from many in the audience.

“We’re the Latino group that’s been here the longest in the Northeast,” Perales said. “We’ve established roots here; we’ve become educated. We’ve become a much stronger community, and we’ve learned how to deal within American society. And I think we need to use those skills, those experiences, to defend the rights of other Latinos who share so much with us, our culture and language. We understand Latinos better than others. We inter-marry in large numbers, and so I think, more than anyone else, Puerto Ricans have a responsibility to speak out when injustice is being done to the recent immigrants.”

Philip Berns is an immigration attorney from Stamford. He gave a primer on the issue, saying that a 1996 law — the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act — made it impossible for almost all undocumented immigrants to legalize their status. “Our immigration system is broken. Most Americans believe if you do everything right, you can immigrate legally; that’s not correct. Americans believe if you’re here and you do everything right, you can legalize yourself; that’s not correct.”

He said under current law, immigration violations are a civil violation similar to jaywalking. The House passed a punitive bill that would make undocumented immigrants felons, try to deport them, and build a wall along the U.S./Mexico border to try to keep more from coming. The Senate bill would create legal job categories for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants now in the U.S., and a “path to citizenship.” The two versions are so far apart that achieving a compromise version this year is highly unlikely. Berns said he thinks it’s more likely that a reform bill might pass next year.

Alverio asked if the immigration issue is bringing Latinos — Puerto Ricans and those from other countries — together.

Perales said not necessarily. “Any time after Lou Dobbs (an immigrant-bashing show host on CNN) is on TV, I get lots of emails from Puerto Ricans asking, “Why are you defending ‘those people’?”

Berns added, “I don’t see people getting riled up about ‘all those Albanians’ or ‘all those Poles’ who are in the U.S. illegally — and there are a lot of them. Some people say they are against illegal immigration, but it’s those Colombians or Mexicans.” Others in the audience agreed there was a racial or ethnic component to the opposition.

After the two presentations, the floor was opened for questions and comments. One man said until we address the issue of global poverty, illegal immigration will continue. A young woman asked if there are alliances being built between Latinos and African Americans, some of whom feel threatened by the loss of low-paying jobs to immigrants who will work for even lower wages. (Perales said there is some movement on that front.)

This was the sixth forum sponsored by the Progreso Latino Fund. In his greetings to those gathered, Foundation CEO Will Ginsberg (pictured above) said the foundation has developed many traditions since its founding in 1928, and that the forums are an exciting new tradition.