El Pasoans Fired Up As Obama Preps For Immigration Debate

EL PASO, Texas — President Obama is promising to take up the issue of immigration reform and possible amnesty for those illegally in the United States as early as next month, and that has many fired up on both sides of the issue.

Fernando Garcia is an immigrant rights advocate and he is thrilled the president is following through with his campaign promise to address immigration reform in his first year in office.

“We have been waiting for this moment for many, many, many years…We were not sure if they were telling us the truth. Now that we are seeing our president is coming forward with a plan that is energizing our communities,” Garcia said.

At the Border Network for Human Rights, several undocumented immigrants were rejuvenated by the latest news.

One 19-year-old community college student said she wants to be a doctor. At the age of three, her parents moved her from Juarez to El Paso in hope of a better life. But she fears deportation every day.

“I can’t be sure walking down the street because I’m afraid they will ask me for my papers. I feel like an outsider. It would be kind of harsh to throw me back over there where I’ve never been,” she said.

But not everyone agrees that amnesty is the solution. Armando Cardoza calls himself an anti-immigrant rights activist.

“You just can’t give them a free ride. You can’t say, you’ve been in this country all these years so we’re going to look the other way,” Cardoza said.

Garcia, who is organizing an immigration rally for May 1, said he expects the fight to get very ugly. Cardoza said he and others plan to protest at that rally against immigration reform.