Coming to America: Melting pot starts to boil

Immigrants can't count on open arms

March 18, 1996
Web posted at: 5:15 p.m. EST

From Correspondent Charles Bierbauer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- At a recent ceremony, 100 newly naturalized Americans from 37 countries pledged their allegiance.

"Welcoming new citizens is one of the most important things that we do as a nation," Doris Meissner, commissioner for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, reminded them.

But others say that not all immigrants get such a warm welcome these days. America's melting pot has come to a boil.

For two centuries, the United States has attracted the "poor, huddled masses, yearning to breathe free," but the Statue of Liberty's promise has become weathered by changing times.

The door was open when the nation still had frontiers to explore and expand. The United States still admits 800,000 immigrants a year -- more than any other nation -- but it has been selective about newcomers since the beginning of this century.

Ninety-percent of immigrants now are Latins and Asians, and racial and ethnic suspicion awaits them as it did those who came earlier.

"You just have to think back at the tremendous strife that existed in the late 1880s when Irish Catholics began to come into the big cities, or when Eastern European Jews began to come over. These are universal phenomena," Meissner said. (196K AIFF sound or 196K WAV sound)

Congress is wrestling with legislation that would make it harder to enter this country.

"What we fear is that the hot button issue of illegal immigration is being used as a pretext to cut legal immigration," said Frank Sharry with the National Immigration Forum.

The last immigration reform did not stop the problem of illegal aliens; more than 4 million people are here illegally. Lawmakers say that this time the law will be tough on an employer who exploits and profits from hiring illegals.

"If he does, and he is knowingly doing it under this bill, he is going to be ready to close up shop," said Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyoming.

An amnesty provision in the 1986 law made many illegals legal. And students and tourists overstay their visas. One way or another, immigrant numbers are growing.

Abdi Rahman, a Somali, was granted political asylum, and he's thankful.

"Given what happened in Somalia, I would have been in a refugee camp somewhere in Kenya, if I was alive," he said.

He would like to get his brothers and sisters out of a refugee camp. But Rahman faces an increasingly daunting task. The process of legal immigration is lengthy and controversial.

Two issues officials face: Who and how many people should qualify under the quotas for family visas? (77K AIFF sound or 77K WAV sound)

"Under the proposed legislation, brothers and sisters who are waiting in line to join their U.S. citizen relatives for 10 or 15 years would be unceremoniously cut off," Sharry said. (111K AIFF sound or 111K WAV sound)

Another issue also is up for debate: Do immigrants make or take jobs? The evidence is mixed.

"We're not talking about fortress America. We're not talking about putting up the gates. We're just talking about being fair to American workers who are struggling to get ahead," said Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

For many, coming to America is a long-sought dream.

"It's been eight years waiting just to come over here. But anyway, it pays (to wait)," one immigrant said.

Next in our series on immigration

On Tuesday, meet Dr. Nabeel Kouka, a legal immigrant who describes her struggle to reach America. CNN'S Mary Ann McRae examines how legal immigrants are unwittingly caught in the often-acrimonious debate over how to curb illegal aliens.

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