Obama proposes new immigration laws emphasizing education

For most 16-year-olds, getting a driver’s license is a rite of passage­ — one Ulises Perez never got to experience.

“One struggle that hits all of us is in high school when everyone else is getting a driver’s license,” Perez said. “As an undocumented citizen, you can’t show off your car because you don’t have one. We feel left out.”

Perez moved to the U.S. with his mother at age 4, and hasn’t seen his family in Mexico since. But an immigration reform plan proposed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday could change that.

The plan outlines a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. and calls for stricter enforcement of national borders.

“We want to see more action than just someone standing at the podium talking about it,” said Perez, a student at Carrboro High School.

Perez, a member of the Immigrant Youth Forum in Carrboro — a town that 2010 Census Bureau data says is 13.8 percent Latino — said undocumented immigrants also find it extremely difficult to get jobs.

The national E-Verify law — which went into effect in North Carolina on Jan. 1 for employers with 100 or more employees — requires employers to check applicants’ citizenship statuses in an online database.

Jose Torres-Don, a mentor at the immigrant advocacy group N.C. DREAM team, said the law has already negatively affected illegal immigrants.

“We are denied drivers’ licenses, live in fear of check points, lack access to health care and are preyed on by employers who make us victims of wage theft and poor working conditions,” he said.

But the path to citizenship could be long and costly.

Obama’s proposal — similar to the plan announced Monday by a bipartisan group of senators — would require illegal immigrants to pay fines, undergo background checks and pass tests in civics and English.

Torres-Don said he approves of the plan but has concerns about the requirements for gaining citizenship.

“They keep saying we need to learn English, pay a penalty and get in the back of the line,” he said. “That supposed line is exactly what is wrong with the immigration system and that is why it does not work. These folks are detached from our reality.”

Hannah Gill, assistant director at UNC’s Institute of Latin American Studies, said the plan would make it easier for immigrants with advanced degrees to obtain citizenship.

“The DREAM Act provisions will have great positive impact, particularly for the many hardworking and bright young people in our community who, through no fault of their own, are currently barred from many educational opportunities because of their legal status,” Gill said.

Judith Blau, director of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Human Rights Center, said she thinks the reform would benefit the economy.

“The hard thing will be getting it through Congress,” Blau said. “I’ll be dancing in the streets if that happens.”

But Torres-Don said he has seen many immigration initiatives fail in the past.

“We welcome initiative for real change but we won’t believe it until we see it,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.