Left to Debate

In April we chronicled the growing struggles this city has with a reported 58,000 illegal immigrants ("You Are Here," by Melissa Hankins). Shortly after, President Bush made a surprise immigration proposal that eventually suffered a crushing defeat in the Senate in late June, along with, some say, the hopes of the undocumented citizens in Charlotte.

In April we chronicled the growing struggles this city has with a reported 58,000 illegal immigrants ("You Are Here," by Melissa Hankins). Shortly after, President Bush made a surprise immigration proposal that eventually suffered a crushing defeat in the Senate in late June, along with, some say, the hopes of the undocumented citizens in Charlotte.

"Immigrants in Charlotte had placed a lot of hope on the passage of an effective immigration- reform bill, knowing that [if it] passed they would no longer have to live in the shadows," says Jess George, associate director of Charlotte's Latin American Coalition.

While the area's conservative leaders, like Congresswoman Sue Myrick, were pleased the bill didn't pass, Attorney Alan Gordon says he's "still optimistic that Congress will not shirk its duty." The bill will probably be reviewed again in 2009.

"The decisions made…on immigration and globalization," Gordon says, "will result in either this country maintaining its top position on the flattening global marketplace or its sliding rapidly down the list." —M. H.