The wrong message

LITTLE ROCK — I strongly disapprove of President Barack Obama’s recent rule change that now grants certain illegal aliens the right to remain in the U.S. and to apply for work permits.

I find this extremely disturbing in light of the fact that now U.S. citizens and people desiring to come to the U.S. legally will have to face extra pressure from this new group of individuals with work authorization. Legal immigrants looking to come to the U.S. under employer sponsorship must have an employer file a “labor certification” form to determine if there are no otherwise qualified U.S. citizens that can perform the job.

By granting illegal aliens work authorization, they can bypass the labor certification processes, as they are now, for purposes of obtaining a job, as good as a U.S. citizen.

I am Hispanic, and graduated with a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Arkansas in 2007. In 2011, I became a legal permanent resident of the United States through a National Interest Waiver petition based on my work in nanotechnology, advanced degree and track record.

I did not have the sponsorship of any employer, organization or family. I did not qualify for any sort of work permit on the basis of being enrolled or graduated from college alone.

I find it extremely disheartening that this administration and advocates of so-called immigration reform continue to put the cart before the horse and reward illegal behavior and grant aliens benefits before those legal immigrants who have taken the time and effort to get employer sponsorship for a work visa or residence, or build a track record to apply for permanent residence on their own merits.

What message is this sending to those in the process of becoming legal residents or pursuing jobs here in the U.S. legally? Why would employers bother to go through labor certification when illegal aliens with work authorization can take the job without the need for the employer to spend money on fees or forms?

This decision sends the message to those pursuing work here legally and to those wanting to come from abroad legally, that they are going to be passed over in favor of individuals who have not taken steps to follow the law or to mitigate the system other than to demand their rights. And while the answer is not deportation or jail, one has to wonder: If the cost of jailing or deporting illegal aliens is prohibitive, what is going to be the cost of having these individuals file their paperwork?

Th e re i s a f i n i te number of immigration workers who are already looking at cases of legal and illegal immigrants (with priority given to illegal aliens in the process of deportation). So, wouldn’t granting illegal aliens work permits (which is a physical document that will require a photograph and fingerprints taken—like a driver’s license) add an extra burden on the system, immigration workers and legal immigrants who will have their legitimate cases further delayed in favor of illegal aliens who will have their processes expedited?

There is a solution, but it is not this, as from the very mouths of these illegal alien students, they have said that they will not stop until they get nothing less than U.S. citizenship. The least that could be done is to ask these students to hold themselves up to the same standard that legal immigrants are subject to.

Ask any employer if they are willing to hire anybody who does not have work authorization, and ask any legal immigrant how hard it is to get that authorization.

This is an absolute outrage, and only the first step that will encourage illegal aliens to pursue nothing less than U.S. citizenship and to push U.S. citizens and legal immigrants out of jobs here in the US.

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Jose Fernando Aldana lives in Fayetteville.