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W A S H I N G T O N, April 23 -- It is possible to be a well-informed, well-read American and still have no idea what some of your neighbors consider to be the biggest news story in years. Did you know that in late December, in one of his final acts as President, Bill Clinton signed into law a modification of a short paragraph in immigration law known as 245i? Does it sound like major news? Probably not. It wasn't covered at the time by the network news. Or the New York Times. Or the Washington Post. But in just a few weeks, word of mouth, and coverage in some smaller media outlets popular in these communities, had spread the news item like wildfire. Attorneys and advocates, legitimate and less than legitimate, were being flooded with phone calls from desperate people wanting to know if they qualify for 245i.
Illegal immigrants exist in the shadows of my world and yours. The most recent census estimates that there are 9 million of them living in the US right now. We may think of most of them as migrant agricultural workers and certainly many are. But there are far more of them who are working in cities and suburban communities. Perhaps it is the person who drove your taxi this morning? Or is working on a construction site nearby? Or cooked your meal at a restaurant last night? Or cares for your elderly relative in a nursing home? Or your child in a daycare center?
Perhaps they entered this country illegally. Or more likely, they entered legally, but have overstayed that temporary visa. These estimated 9 million illegal immigrants drive up the costs of health care and public education. And without a policy that will either send them home or convert their status, those expensive problems are likely to continue to skyrocket.
No matter how they arrived, they are now "out of status." And for most of them, this law provides the only viable opportunity to become legal that has existed in years. Going home and reapplying for legal entry is simply a question many will not consider. The long delays, some upwards of 10 years, especially for unskilled laborers, make that option especially unappealing.
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