Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Interview With Raul Yzaguirre
Aired January 07, 2004 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We are getting a lot of mixed reaction to the president's new immigration initiative. We want to talk about it at least with one view from the Hispanic community now.
Raul Yzaguirre, he is the president of the National Council of La Raza, a leading Hispanic think tank in Washington.
Thanks for being with us. Tell me, did you like what you heard?
RAUL YZAGUIRRE, COUNCIL OF LA RAZA: I thought the president was brilliant and magnificent in terms of defending our tradition of immigration. He was compassionate and compelling.
Unfortunately, the proposals that he is making to the Congress don't embody that compassion. When you strip it down, what he's saying, it amounts to nothing more than a warmed-over Bracero program, unfortunately.
COLLINS: Why do you say that?
YZAGUIRRE: Well, what we're talking about is simply giving temporary work permits to either people who are already here or people who will come in. And that is not very different than what we had in the '40s, '50s and '60s, a program called Bracero program, where we imported temporary workers and abused their rights. And we saw endemic patterns of abuses that we all are ashamed of.
COLLINS: Well, let me ask you, I know you also say that this is not earned legalization. You say that this also exposes the worker to possible deportation when the green card or the temporary card runs out. Is that what you're speaking of?
YZAGUIRRE: Precisely.
You are asking people who are undocumented to come forward, declare the fact that they're undocumented, and then expose themselves to possible, perhaps even probable, deportation after a period of time. It is no pathway to legalization, to earned legalization, to regularization of their status. And it falls far short of what we had talked about before the September the 11th incident.
COLLINS: But the plan does provide incentives to go back to their home country, possibly -- we heard the president talking about starting their own business and supporting their families in their own country. It offers them retirement benefits and some new tax savings accounts. Isn't that different than what was offered before? YZAGUIRRE: No. As a matter of fact, the Bracero program also had a savings provision, which, in fact were not lived up to.
But it still amounts to sugarcoating what is not a particularly generous proposition. It's not one that's likely to attract a lot of people coming forth.
COLLINS: Mr. Yzaguirre, what were you hoping the president would offer?
YZAGUIRRE: We were hoping that he would keep his promises to offer comprehensive immigration reform that would include, indeed, perhaps a temporary worker program, but that the heart of it would be earned legalization, a pathway, so that people who are currently paying taxes, subsidizing our Social Security system, improving our standard of living, would have an opportunity to do what millions of other Americans -- other immigrants have done, become American citizens.
COLLINS: What will happen now, in your eyes?
YZAGUIRRE: It's hard to tell.
You know, we don't have a specific proposal. We have a series of concepts and broad strokes. The fact that it comes so late in the legislative calendar makes it very difficult to expect that it will pass Congress this year. So, it may be no more than a political gesture to earn the vote of the Hispanic community.
COLLINS: It is certainly something that a lot of people will be talking about in the months to come. That is for sure.
We appreciate your time today, Raul Yzaguirre. You are the president of the National Council of La Raza. Thanks so much, again, for your time.
YZAGUIRRE: My pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 7, 2004 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We are getting a lot of mixed reaction to the president's new immigration initiative. We want to talk about it at least with one view from the Hispanic community now.
Raul Yzaguirre, he is the president of the National Council of La Raza, a leading Hispanic think tank in Washington.
Thanks for being with us. Tell me, did you like what you heard?
RAUL YZAGUIRRE, COUNCIL OF LA RAZA: I thought the president was brilliant and magnificent in terms of defending our tradition of immigration. He was compassionate and compelling.
Unfortunately, the proposals that he is making to the Congress don't embody that compassion. When you strip it down, what he's saying, it amounts to nothing more than a warmed-over Bracero program, unfortunately.
COLLINS: Why do you say that?
YZAGUIRRE: Well, what we're talking about is simply giving temporary work permits to either people who are already here or people who will come in. And that is not very different than what we had in the '40s, '50s and '60s, a program called Bracero program, where we imported temporary workers and abused their rights. And we saw endemic patterns of abuses that we all are ashamed of.
COLLINS: Well, let me ask you, I know you also say that this is not earned legalization. You say that this also exposes the worker to possible deportation when the green card or the temporary card runs out. Is that what you're speaking of?
YZAGUIRRE: Precisely.
You are asking people who are undocumented to come forward, declare the fact that they're undocumented, and then expose themselves to possible, perhaps even probable, deportation after a period of time. It is no pathway to legalization, to earned legalization, to regularization of their status. And it falls far short of what we had talked about before the September the 11th incident.
COLLINS: But the plan does provide incentives to go back to their home country, possibly -- we heard the president talking about starting their own business and supporting their families in their own country. It offers them retirement benefits and some new tax savings accounts. Isn't that different than what was offered before? YZAGUIRRE: No. As a matter of fact, the Bracero program also had a savings provision, which, in fact were not lived up to.
But it still amounts to sugarcoating what is not a particularly generous proposition. It's not one that's likely to attract a lot of people coming forth.
COLLINS: Mr. Yzaguirre, what were you hoping the president would offer?
YZAGUIRRE: We were hoping that he would keep his promises to offer comprehensive immigration reform that would include, indeed, perhaps a temporary worker program, but that the heart of it would be earned legalization, a pathway, so that people who are currently paying taxes, subsidizing our Social Security system, improving our standard of living, would have an opportunity to do what millions of other Americans -- other immigrants have done, become American citizens.
COLLINS: What will happen now, in your eyes?
YZAGUIRRE: It's hard to tell.
You know, we don't have a specific proposal. We have a series of concepts and broad strokes. The fact that it comes so late in the legislative calendar makes it very difficult to expect that it will pass Congress this year. So, it may be no more than a political gesture to earn the vote of the Hispanic community.
COLLINS: It is certainly something that a lot of people will be talking about in the months to come. That is for sure.
We appreciate your time today, Raul Yzaguirre. You are the president of the National Council of La Raza. Thanks so much, again, for your time.
YZAGUIRRE: My pleasure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
