GOSHEN — Ignacio “Nacho” Zepeda, who manages the Goshen-based Spanish-language radio station WKAM, knows there are immigrants who are here illegally in Elkhart County.
And he knows the reason, too.
“We find work opportunities, which is why we’re here,” he says.
Undocumented immigrants occupy a precarious space. On the one hand, by being here without proper documentation, they aren’t legally allowed to work. But they still manage to find jobs as employers need the labor pool, notes Zepeda, originally from Mexico but a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Dixie Robinson, a former Goshen City Council member who favors more forceful action to crack down on undocumented immigration, has noticed the same thing, though she’s no fan of the practice. Employers, she maintains, know when they are hiring undocumented workers, even if they say they don’t.
“We’ve put up with it for years,” she laments.
As lawmakers wrestle with the thorny issue, both Robinson and Zepeda agree on one thing: The immigration system needs reform.
U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski doesn’t foresee a fix in the near term. There’s the U.S. presidential race to be decided in November, she notes, which will receive much of the political focus going forward.
Nevertheless, immigration is a hot issue in the presidential campaign and the calls haven’t let up for some sort of solution among immigrants, immigrant advocates, foes of illegal immigration and others. Depending on who wins the presidential election, the issue could get a jolt.
“Just biding our time, waiting to see what happens with the elections,” said Bob Schrameyer of Goshen, a backer of GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump and outspoken critic of undocumented immigrants. “We’re just waiting. It’s going to have to happen at the federal level.”