A recent commentary by Andres Oppenheimer entitled, "Angry migrant underclass could possibly erupt" and published in this newspaper, struck a sensitive nerve — mostly because I've for years supported a humane immigration bill that allows immigrants to work here legally and, depending on their behavior and other factors, permit the granting of citizenship. By immigrants I mean people from other countries, not just Mexicans.

The other reason the piece struck a chord is the fact that I've been in the countries that Oppenheimer mentions when the boiling resentments of immigrants has turned into rioting and demonstrations.

Less than a week ago, my wife and I were in Rome when a huge government motorcade interrupted traffic in the city. When we inquired what the occasion was, we were informed that the Romanian president was meeting with Italy's prime minister. The reason for the meeting was the growing tensions and racism against Romanians after a Romanian immigrant had killed the wife of a naval officer.

Just days ago neo-Nazi groups and ultra right-wing fanatics were planning demonstrations in Madrid. The debate there is whether the government should step in and ban the demonstrations, especially in light of the fact that these groups are targeting immigrants. These same groups issued a manifesto against any immigrant who was not "Spanish" born.

Thousands of "illegal" Africans land on Spain's Canary Islands, many dying on the sea trying to get into mainland Spain and the rest of Europe. Most, with the help of the European Union, are intercepted, cared for and sent back to their country of origin.

The issue of "illegal" immigration is a worldwide phenomenon, and reactions are international although we believe, in our isolation, that we are the only country that has these issues. As long as Western populations, including the U.S., need workers either because of zero population growth or the fact that many Americans don't want to pick the oranges, lettuce, apples, etc. or work in meat-packing plants, we will need immigrants.

The difference between the U.S. and the EU is that the EU leaders have held summits, proposed ideas, and implemented plants to deal, in a humane way, with the myriad issues that accompany both legal and "illegal" immigration.

In this country, as Oppenheimer states, "We are creating an underclass of people who won't leave the country and, realistically, can't be deported. They and their children are living with no prospect of earning a legal status, no matter how hard they work for it. Many of them will become increasingly frustrated, angry, and some of them eventually could turn violent."

One prays that this does not happen as it has occurred in Western Europe. However, if the racist, xenophobic hysteria does not subside in Congress and meaningful and humane legislation does not result, we may indeed have the same problems.

And recently returning from Europe where the dollar is worth only 50 Europoean cents and many workers working for U.S. companies are asking to be paid in euros rather than in dollars, I contemplate the fall of our economy and a worthless dollar. We have to place ourselves in the shoes of the immigrant. If the dollar continues to sink, our trade partners lose faith in our economy, and the war continues to drive us into poverty, we too could become emigrants. We as Americans have arrogantly believed that we will forever be immune to an economic crises.

We'd better wake up soon, for the immigrants' problem could soon be our very own. We, in our arrogance, balk and believe this will never happen to us. One thing that will happen is that the immigrant is not going to go away and issues of whether drivers licenses should be issued to immigrants, whether rentals should be denied to them, make matters only worse. The country must come up with a comprehensive plan that deals with all these issues humanely and not just for the immigrants' sake but for the sake of our own conscience and soul to do what is right.

Writer/historian Orlando Romero can be reached at nambe1@aol.com.