Secretary-Treasurer -- SEIU 32BJ -- About the Union

Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies might want to think that immigrants are a burden to the taxpayers ["Study: Immigrants add $10.6B to LI Economy," Oct. 28], but the Adelphi University study clearly shows what many Long Islanders already know: Immigrants are good for Long Island business and good for the economy. They generate some $10.6 billion in economic activity, which created more than 82,000 jobs in 2006. As the rest of us, they pay taxes that run our schools, infrastructure and public programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

Immigrants and their families are an important part of our community life and cultural fabric and as older workers retire and leave gaps in our workforce, they will not only be helpful, but indispensable in keeping our economy strong.

Hector Figueroa

Editor's note: The writer is secretary-treasurer of the building service workers union 32BJ SEIU.

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The US Census Bureau released data showing a decline in the number of immigrants arriving to the US. “Despite this year's drop in immigration levels, America is the land of opportunity for millions of immigrants, and for America these immigrants are a way to keep our economy strong.

Immigrants represent more than 15% of our workforce and generate $700 billion in economic activity a year. However, our broken immigration system is fueling an underground economy that undermines standards for working people. Congress should bring our immigration system into line with our economic interests and humanitarian values by adopting immigration reform that creates a path to citizenship for 12 million hardworking taxpaying immigrants”

Hector Figueroa,
32BJ Secretary Treasurer

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Re ''New Jersey's Immigration Crackdown'' (editorial, April 16):

There is no question that those who commit crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But allowing local police authorities to act as quasi-immigration enforcement wades into dangerous territory.

The actions against immigrants seen lately in towns and cities across New Jersey should give all of us pause. Rounding up the people who clean New Jersey's offices and homes, take care of the sick and elderly, and do a host of other jobs important to our economy is not the solution to the our nation's immigration problem.

Divisive enforcement-only measures misuse taxpayer dollars and spread fear in our communities. They also scare immigrants, making them less likely to report real crimes.

These measures haven't worked in other places, and they won't work in New Jersey.

Hector Figueroa
New York, April 17, 2008

The writer is the secretary treasurer for 32BJ S.E.I.U., one of the biggest private-sector unions in the country.

That the callous killing of an immigrant worker — and routine accidental deaths of immigrants who work in often perilous conditions — receive hardly any attention from the government and public is a horrifying commentary on our attitude toward immigrant workers.

Your Aug. 12 editorial “An Abundance of Cruelties” came just two days after the Bush administration, in the face of failed Congressional reform, issued new “enforcement only” measures that will make a bad situation worse for immigrants and their families. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants are here for the same reasons as generations before them — to build a better life for themselves and their children. They contribute greatly to our economy.

Immigrant workers build our homes, pick our food and care for our elderly. But somehow we can’t find the will to fix the broken immigration system so people are treated with dignity, or even mourn the loss of a human life. For a country whose legacy is built on freedom, justice and human rights, Americans should all be ashamed that we’ve hit a new low.

To the editor:
In "Metro Green Hopes to Clean Traffic Scene," [The Stamford Times, July 13] Zoning Board President Phyllis Kapiloff states, "We've got to do whatever it takes to get fewer automobiles on the road." Unfortunately, Metro Green will do just the opposite and further clog our already congested roads.

Contrary to the developers' claims, W&M Properties' Metro Green development will not ease traffic in Stamford, and may in fact create serious congestion problems on both I-95 and local roads. In order to assess the transportation impacts of the Metro Green project, traffic engineer Brian Ketcham recently conducted a traffic study and found that W&M's analysis is dangerously shortsighted. As a result of the developers' refusal to account for future growth in the South End or the project's reliance on I-95, there could be major gridlocking on local roads and increased traffic on I-95. Adding insult to injury, the developers have failed to propose any meaningful traffic mitigation for the roads around the project site. Traffic generated by Metro Green could have serious consequences for quality of life in Stamford.

32BJ SEIU members, who work in commercial and residential buildings around Connecticut, including Stamford, are concerned about the city's growing traffic problem, and what it means for residents. Metro Green developers should put the safety and health of Stamford residents first. And Stamford residents should get involved by speaking out at future zoning board meetings.

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