Immigration Debate Hits The Streets of Yakima

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Story Published: May 1, 2009 at 5:46 PM PST

By Sade Malloy

Yakima -- Both sides of the immigration debate were busy earlier Friday getting their groups ready for the march. Action News asked each side for their take on the current status of America's immigration problems.

Just hours before Friday's immigration march Jesus Sosa with El Comite del Valle de Yakima was out walking the streets trying to get local opinions on immigration. Sosa wants immigrant rights and fair immigration reform.

Action News asks, "How would you describe the immigration status right now?"
"As a necessity, I think right now we're in a crisis we have so many million of people that don't have the opportunity to be fully apart of society," says Jesus Sosa, pro immigration.

Sosa believes our current immigration system is broken and that we need change. Joe Ray is part of the minuteman, he disagrees with Sosa. Ray says we've got a system, we've just got to enforce it.

Joe Ray, anti-immigration demonstrator says, "It started in the field and the backs of horses and wagon trains that's what built our country and it wasn't built by our fallen soldiers and sailors to be given away to people that aren't supposed to be here."

The minutemen say illegal immigrants are draining our social systems. Pro-immigrant marchers believe they're the backbone of our economy, and America would be in trouble without them. President Obama just recently said he doesn't expect to jump fully into immigration reform, as much as he would like.

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