State and national immigration-related legislation will benefit illegal immigrants in Champaign-Urbana, local community advocates said.

“These people will have the freedom to move about and go about their lives, taking their kids to school and going to work,” said Francisco Baires, community programs director for the University YMCA. “We hear all the time from people in the community what that means to them.”

Baires was referring to the nearly 250,000 illegal immigrant drivers in Illinois, who will be able to legally drive after Nov. 27 after legislation signed by Gov. Pat Quinn in January.

The law will provide for a temporary license after an illegal immigrant passes a driving test and obtains auto insurance.

Baires said he believes this legislation will greatly impact the large number of illegal immigrants in Champaign-Urbana.

With the new law in place, he said these immigrants will have a great deal of new freedoms.

“Contrary to what the Obama administration has been saying about going after serious criminals in their immigration arrests, there are people who are arrested, detained and held for months at a time and eventually deported,” he said. “Families are broken apart for nothing other than driving without a license.” 

Meanwhile, comprehensive changes of the immigration proposed by federal lawmakers could also affect the Champaign-Urbana immigrant community. 

The proposal, announced by President Barack Obama on Jan. 29, aims to provide immigrants with a clear procedure to follow to become legal residents. It also tightens border control and severely punishes and discourages businesses from hiring illegal immigrants.

It would provide a streamlined process for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already living in the U.S. to become citizens, and allow immigrants, after achieving legal status, to become U.S. citizens in 5 years. 

Andrew Flach, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, D-13, said Davis plans to support border control above all else. 

“Congressman Davis believes that any immigration reform proposal must begin with strengthening our border control,” Flach said. “Unless we can prevent people from entering this country illegally, any attempt to reform our immigration system will fail.”

Ricardo Diaz, committee member of the Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum, a local advocacy group, said Obama’s proposal is necessary. 

Diaz said an exact number of illegal immigrants living in Champaign-Urbana cannot be recorded, but the large community would be affected if the law is passed. 

“The effect on local immigrants is one of relief,” he said. “People would be able to come to school, go to work and be able to contribute freely.” 

Baires agreed that immigrants in Champaign-Urbana would benefit from the changes, but more information is needed on the proposal, which has yet to be introduced as a bill, before exact effects on the community can be determined. 

“There’s a lot of things that are kind of ambiguous to me right now, which is understandable at this point in the game,” he said. “Depending on what is actually proposed, this could be a great benefit to people all over the country and here at home in Champaign-Urbana, but we’ll just have to wait and see what they hammer out.” 

Baires, while skeptical about which aspects of the proposal would actually be passed into law, praised the proposal’s focus on employers of illegal immigrants rather than the immigrants alone.

“I think often there’s an emphasis on punishing people here but not on people who are benefiting from them being here,” he said. “I’m all for opening up that aspect of it, not just taking it out on people who are coming here for work.”

Chrissy can be reached at [email protected].