Monday, December 25, 2006

Better than Monday Night Football:Chico Streaming on Immigration

Jeff Berkowitz: But, do you want twenty-five to thirty million [additional illegal immigrants]; is Professor Chiswick right? Do you have the potential to have twenty five million additional illegal immigrants coming here and do you want that?

Gery Chico: I suppose there is a supply and demand element to this issue and I don’t know that twenty five million people can be sustained in the U. S.
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Tonight’s City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs, airing throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV], features Gery Chico, former President of the Board of Education for the Chicago Public Schools and 2004 Illinois Democratic Primary candidate for U. S. Senate. You may also[Watch the show with Gery Chico here].
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with tonight's guest, Chicago Power Player Gery Chico , State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston] and Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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For more about tonight's show in the City of Chicago,including a summary of topics discussed, background information about the featured guest, Gery Chico, and partial transcripts of the show, see here.
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This week's suburban edition of Public affairs features Chicago Tribune columnist, Medill School of Journalism adjunct professor, MacArthur Foundation consultant and urban affairs expert John McCarron. See end of this post for a "Public Affairs," suburban airing schedule [There is a special airing of the show this Tuesday night at 9:30 pm on Comcast Ch. 19 in ten suburbs including Winnetka, Kenilworth, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Bannockburn, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods, Deerfield and Ft. Sheridan]
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Jeff Berkowitz: Professor Barry Chiswick, he has studied this area a lot, he is at the University of Illinois at Chicago- a distinguished economist who has been working on migration studies, immigration issues for the last three decades. Professor Chiswick sat in the chair you are sitting in, debated this issue with University of Chicago economist Hoyt Bleakley [Watch May 7, 2006 show with Chiswick-Bleakley here].
and one of the things he said is if we adopt McCain-Kennedy [immigration reform legislation], he assures us that within five years to seven years, we will have twenty-five million additional illegal immigrants. Do you understand that kind of thinking?

Gery Chico: I would imagine that…his thought is that it makes it far more attractive for people from economies that are not as robust as the U. S. to come here.

Jeff Berkowitz: With the idea that—people don’t want to call it that “A” word, amnesty—but some form of forgiveness will occur and so if we do this now…for people who are here now, not only are we not going to seek to push those illegal immigrants out of the U. S., but we’ll set up a system so that “within ten or eleven years if you go thru all these procedures: tax checks, abiding by the law- no criminals, etc., you’ll become a citizen,” people outside- not just in Mexico, but in South America—will say, “I can go the legal route or I can just enter into the United States and in 10 years, they will do the same thing." I mean, you understand incentives, you are in business, you are in law, and you know people react--

Gery Chico: Yes, Yes

Jeff Berkowitz: It is not a totally irrational thing to predict, is it?

Gery Chico: No, in fact, it is human nature to want to better yourself. So, right, what do you do about it?

Jeff Berkowitz: But, do you want twenty-five to thirty million [additional illegal immigrants]; is Professor Chiswick right? Do you have the potential to have twenty five million additional illegal immigrants coming here and do you want that?

Gery Chico: I suppose there is a supply and demand element to this issue and I don’t know that twenty five million people can be sustained in the
U. S.

Jeff Berkowitz: Well, say it is ten to fifteen [million illegal immigrants]. Do you want that and is that a concern to you of adopting this guest worker forgiveness program?

Gery Chico: Well, I am not sure if it is forgiveness. There is a certain element of work going forward that you have to do in order to earn that and keep that status.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, do you put people who are here illegally ahead of people who have tried to work the system legally-they didn’t come to the U. S. and they are trying to enter now as a legal immigrant.

Gery Chico: Sure.

Jeff Berkowitz: And, is that bad because you are favoring somebody who broke the law as opposed to somebody who is playing by the rules?

Gery Chico: One of the problems I think there is which makes this a multi-faceted problem—besides the weak economy south of the U. S., is the U. S. Homeland Security system. You can die waiting in line to get your legal permission to be in this country. It simply takes too long. And, there is no incentive for the U. S. Government right now to move any faster. It is a real conundrum because—

Jeff Berkowitz: Why is there no incentive? Business pushes hard. They think that these individuals [guest workers or legal immigrants] are necessary.

Gery Chico: Yes, but the Congress sets arbitrary, artificial limits as to how many people can come in from different countries in what work categories and so before you know it you are running up against a wall—one place or the other. Furthermore, you can appear to have all the openness that you like, but if the Congress only appropriates so much money for Homeland Security to operate this program [legal immigration], you’re going to have those lines on Jackson Street that you see everyday when you go to downtown Chicago. It’s a real conundrum and if you are going to deal with this problem, deal with it in all of its facets and let’s solve this thing once and for all.

Jeff Berkowitz: So you admit there are these issues, you admit there are these concerns, but you are saying address them all and somehow it will work out.

Gery Chico: It is the way you would deal with a problem in your home—and I would—you don’t deal with it piecemeal.

Jeff Berkowitz: Let’s go over to education—something you spent a good part of your career focusing on as President of the Board of Education [of the Chicago Public Schools]—six years working with Paul Vallas…
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Gery Chico , as was recorded on Dec. 10 and as is airing tonight[8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Chico program here]. ***************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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