Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

LAREDO - One the Rio Grande Valley’s most respected and influential business leaders says he thinks the Republican Party has lost the Hispanic vote due its attitude towards immigrants.

“The House bill on immigration has galvanized opposition and I think there is going to be a huge backlash in the Latino community,” said Mike Allen, former president and CEO of the McAllen Economic Development Corporation. “I think the Republicans have lost the Hispanic vote in the United States, I really do.”

Allen was speaking after attending a press conference in support of comprehensive immigration reform put on by vegetable and fruit producers, landscapers, civil rights groups, churches, community groups, and border businesses in Laredo on Friday.

The press conference preceded a House field hearing on border vulnerabilities and terrorism security staged by the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation.

Allen stayed to listen to most of the invited testimony at the hearing but was not impressed. “This is a sham. It really is a mockery,” he said.

Allen told the Guardian that immigration reform should not be a Democratic or Republican issue and that he viewed the subject from the point of view of economic development and job growth.

“If the House passes a bill it will kill us. It will ruin this country. Thousands of small businesses will be affected by the House immigration legislation,” Allen said.

“The big problem is finding labor and even in McAllen there’s only six percent unemployment. I am hearing complaints about not enough labor. Every country in the world is trying to attract new labor to keep their economies going. Many are looking for skilled labor but they also looking for labor to do jobs that Americans do not want to do.”

Currently, two distinct plans are under discussion in Washington, D.C. The plan passed by the Senate would allow undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for five years or more to apply for citizenship by paying fines and back taxes, and immigrants who have been in the country for two to five years to apply for citizenship at border checkpoints. The House plan has no such policy.

The Senate plan also proposes a new H-2C visa for temporary guest workers, allowing employers to recruit non-citizen workers into the United States without violating immigration policy. The House plan has no such policy.

The House plan would establish up to 700 miles of triple-layer fence at strategic points along the 1,952-mile U.S.-Mexican border. The Senate plan calls for 370 miles of fencing. Both plans call for increased border patrol staff.

Allen said he and other business leaders in the Valley were all for tighter border security. However, he said border security and immigration reform were two distinct issues.

“I’m not pro-Republican or pro-Democrat. I support the president and his plan. He’s hung in there. He wants a comprehensive bill and I think he is more aligned with the Senate version,” Allen said.

Allen said another aspect of the immigration debate that concerns him, apart from the impact the House plan might have on the business community, is social cohesion in America.

“I am afraid this is already becoming a racial issue. Most of the people I talk to don’t say anything but you can tell. It’s the feeling of people who live on the border that this hearing today is a racial issue. If you look at the people who came down here from other parts of the country, they are different,” Allen said.

Allen said he overheard the immigration issue being talked about in the dinning room of the hotel he was staying at the night before the Laredo hearing. He said the racial overtones and prejudice from visitors to the border region was clear.

“They have no idea of how the border works,” Allen said, of the people he overheard talking. “They don’t understand Mexico. They are our largest trading partner and we are kicking them in the pants.”

Allen said he was also disturbed by proposals that would penalize cities and counties if their sheriffs and police departments do not help apprehend immigrants. The legislation has been introduced by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston. Allen said he was pleased Hidalgo County law enforcement leaders wanted nothing to do with such work.

“Our police chief wants to stop crime. He is not interested in doing the federal government’s job,” Allen said. “We need to strengthen the border. We need to put more Border Patrol on there. But why should the Border Patrol be chasing somebody’s waiter or dishwasher or maid when he should be looking out for a terrorist?”

Allen said if outsiders understood undocumented immigrants they would know that they would not go near a welfare group or a food stamp because their name gets registered. “Mexicans do pay taxes. They are not on the dole,” he said.

Allen said he was very impressed with the alliance that was forming for comprehensive immigration reform. Among the groups represented at the press conference were the American Civil Liberties Union, People for the American Way, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas Vegetable Association, the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, and the Alliance for Security and Trade.

“We all want the betterment of our country,” Allen said of the alliance.

Allen said he was a “little bit disappointed” with some Texas legislators in Congress but did not want to mention any names. “We are going to give them a chance to redeem themselves. I just wish them had spoken to us before they passed the legislation,” Allen said.

Allen was named Border Texan of the Year by Valley business and political leaders earlier this year.