September 1, 2005
Lincoln Star Journal
Don Walton

Lincoln, NE--Speakers at rally call for comprehensive immigration reform.

Immigration reform should include a pathway to citizenship for workers who are contributing to the economy, a statewide coalition argued Wednesday.

"A majority of Nebraskans value immigrant contributions to our state (and) support comprehensive immigration reform," said Darcy Tromanhauser, immigration coordinator at the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest.

That means more than increased border security to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, coalition members told about 75 people at a noon rally in front of the Denney Federal Building.

Immigration reform ought to provide an opportunity for "immigrants who are in this country working, paying taxes and learning English" to acquire citizenship, Tromanhauser said.

Most Nebraskans recognize immigrant worker contributions to the economy and to communities throughout the state, she said.

Joe Avila, a carpenters union organizer who was born in Mexico, said immigrant workers are building Nebraska's highways and schools.

"They make a tremendous contribution to our society and to our culture," he said.

Avila, a U.S. citizen, has lived in Lincoln for 30 years.

Stacy Rulla-Parroquin, a Spanish teacher at Bellevue West High School, brought five of her students to Wednesday's rally.

Immigrant children should have access to in-state college tuition rates in Nebraska "so they can go to school and fulfill their dreams," she told the rally.

"I want to see all my students have the same opportunity, no matter where they are from or where they were born," Rulla-Parroquin said in an interview.

"These are hard-working kids who have overcome obstacles" of language and culture, she said.

One of her students wants to be a drug enforcement officer, she said. Another wants to be a doctor. And they should have those opportunities, she said.

"Freedom must ring in the hallways and classrooms of every school in this state," said Jerry Hoffman of the Nebraska Coalition for Educational Equity and Adequacy.

Nebraskans are community-oriented and fair-minded, Appleseed Executive Director Milo Mumgaard said in a written statement.

"They don't want enforcement without the other elements of a real solution. They want a system that is fair to the families and people they see working hard to be a part of this state."

Tromanhauser said the timing of the rally was not related to Sen. Ben Nelson's recent announcement of an immigration reform plan strengthening border security and cracking down on illegal immigration. The initiative stirred considerable criticism from immigrant advocates concerned about some of Nelson's rhetoric and the lack of any provision dealing with illegal immigrants already living and working in the United States.

"This was planned well in advance of that," Tromanhauser said. "This is the opening effort in a campaign to bring out the mainstream voices across the state."

Tromanhauser declined to take a position on Sen. Chuck Hagel's immigration reform package, which includes a pathway to legal residency for undocumented workers and their families. Hagel's bill would require illegal workers to pay a $1,000 fine.