[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1730-E1731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS FOR CARIBBEAN IMMIGRANTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 29, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to submit to the Record an 
article from the July 26, New York Carib News in support of citizen 
rights for Caribbean immigrants. Caribbean migrants have worked in the 
country for centuries. The Caribbean is the source of the U.S.'s 
earliest and largest Black immigrant group and the primary source of 
growth of the Black population in the U.S. The region has exported more 
of its people than any other region of the world since the abolition of 
slavery in 1834. The fact that there are close to 50 major Caribbean 
carnivals throughout North America attests to the permanence of the 
Caribbean immigration experience.
  Caribbean music, such as soca, calypso, reggae, and now reggaeton, is 
having a profound impact on U.S. popular culture. Other Caribbean 
cultural expressions, like food, dance and art, are becoming 
established in mainstream America. The prominence of first-and second-
generation Caribbean figures in U.S. labor and grassroots politics for 
many decades also testifies to the long tradition and established 
presence of the Caribbean population.
  Today many Caribbean workers can be found in the hospital, 
construction, service and hotel industries, but there is also a growing 
professional sector. Estimates of the Caribbean population in the U.S. 
range upwards from 2.6 million, depending on how one defines the 
Caribbean.
  While the largest Caribbean immigrant sources to the U.S. are from 
Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti, U.S.-citizen migrants 
also come from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
  Many of the undocumented immigrants from the Caribbean islands have 
been living, working and making vital contributions to our country for 
many years. In New York it is almost impossible to walk down the 
streets of Harlem or Brooklyn without hearing a Caribbean accent or 
coming across a Jamaican eatery.
  The members of the Caribbean community are hard working, pay into our 
social security system and have U.S.-born children who do not know a 
home other than the United States.
  In the great state of New York alone, undocumented workers pay more 
than $1 billion in taxes a year.
  I believe that members of the Caribbean community who have had a long 
working record and qualify for U.S. naturalized citizenship should 
apply. The United States is historically a nation of immigrants. Our 
ancestors all had the possibility to fulfill their American Dream and I 
think that the same opportunity should be given to hard working 
newcomers who came to this country from the Caribbean.
  I introduce in the Record the article from the July 26 NYCarib.

       The Importance of Citizens--We Must Hear It Over And Over

       It may have not been a fresh bit of advice and it certainly 
     wasn't an observation by an elected official that we hadn't 
     heard before.
       Still, when U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks, a democrat 
     of New York City said it, his point resonated with a lot of 
     us.
       Yes, they should become citizens, it makes a lot of sense, 
     said the member of the U.S House of Representatives from 
     Queens when asked about Caribbean immigrants becoming 
     citizens of the United States.
       ``Too many people from the Caribbean are eligible for 
     citizenship but they fail to step forward,'' he complained.
       Perhaps, he needs to repeat it again and again so that more 
     people in and out of his Sixth Congressional District and 
     across the country would act.
       People from the Caribbean, who have made the United States 
     their home have every good reason to become naturalized 
     American citizens. One is that it opens opportunities, such 
     as jobs, scholarships and the like that are often reserved 
     for citizens.
       Another, it protects them from capricious actions by 
     immigration authorities who would like to do nothing more 
     than to ``send

[[Page E1731]]

     them back where they came from.'' Thirdly, it enables them to 
     vote so they can make choices about who should run the 
     country, state or city.
       Voting is something that comes naturally to people from the 
     English-speaking Caribbean where parliamentary democracy is 
     taken seriously. People routinely join political parties, 
     become candidates for elected office or campaign for persons 
     they believe are best suited to serve in national parliaments 
     or local government bodies.
       That experience should prove to be a powerful magnet for 
     citizenship and political participation.
       That's why it is so baffling that so many of them fail to 
     become citizens.
       The reluctance can't be explained simply by a devotion to 
     their original nationality. After all, almost every Caribbean 
     state recognizes dual citizenship, meaning that 
     naturalization adds to their life but doesn't detract from 
     their standing as people from the Caribbean.
       One possible explanation is that some can't be bothered to 
     go through the process. The result is they often end up 
     placing their children and themselves at a disadvantage.
       That's a crying shame. It explains why Congressman Meeks' 
     appeal was relevant and should be listened to.

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