Arizona Immigration Debate Spreads To Ohio

Thursday,  July 29, 2010 7:59 PM

Updated: Friday,  July 30, 2010 8:55 AM

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CINCINNATI — Six-year-old twins Lydia and Marlena were born in Ohio.

They are Americans, as is their mother Nora. Their father is in this country illegally.

"I wish I could've done it the right way, but they wouldn't let me," said the man, whose last name is Zavala.

Zavala lived in Honduras until he was 16 when he took a bus to Mexico, and smugglers helped him cross the border.

Now, his dream to come to a land of possibilities could become a nightmare, reported ONN's Lot Tan.

Tan asked Zavala if he's afraid that he could get sent away and never see his daughters again.

"That breaks my heart man, I'm telling you," Zavala said.

"I would hate to have to give up my life here to go back to another country to be with him, but I would do it if I had to," added Nora.

New laws, like the one in Arizona, would target people who are in the United States illegally.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones and State Representative Courtney Combs support the controversial law that allows police to stop and verify the immigration status of anyone suspected of being here illegally. In fact, the two advocate that Ohio adopts a similar law.

"It'll make you safer," Jones said. "Right now, coming across the border, 18 to 20 percent are criminals already, kidnapping legal citizens, taking them back to Mexico."

Last month a Quinnipiac poll showed 45 percent of Ohio voters would like the state to pass a law similar to the one in Arizona.

Combs said the bill is designed to be put on the ballot as a referendum for a statewide vote. He expects voters could get their say in November of next year.

Opponents of the bill say it's profiling and racist.

"The effort and enthusiasm behind Courtney Combs and Sheriff Jones for this is unjustified," said Jason Riveiro with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Riveiro called the efforts misguided.

"No, it's not racist. No, it's not profiling. It's already the law. The federal government can make these stops and it is the law," Combs said.

Combs and Jones have made two trips in the past three years to observe the Mexico border in Arizona and they fear illegal immigration is leading to more violence in the U.S.

"No, not true," Riveiro said. "He would have us to believe that immigrants are higher prone to commit crime and that is the same excuse that has been used across the century for every new immigrant population that has come here."

While the two sides may have their differences, they seem to agree that immigration reform is definitely needed.

For Riveiro, that means finding ways for people to become U.S. citizens.

"Allowing for pathway to citizenship for people willing to pay fines, people willing to pay taxes, willing to go through a system and go to the back of the line," Riveiro said.

"We realize there are needs in this country for documented workers that come here to do the work and then go home. If they want to become citizens, put them on the path to citizenship in the right way, the legal way," Combs said.

An idea many illegal immigrants, including Zavala, hope happens soon.

"I bet you if Sheriff Jones would have to do the same thing, he would do it. I bet if you had to do the same thing for your family, you would," Zavala said.

Despite their opposition to illegal immigration, Jones and Combs do no support deporting all illegal immigrants.

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