Immigration Reform
-
Progressive Principles for Immigation Reform
-
Rep. Gutierrez Unveils Plans for Immigration Reform
-
DREAM Act Not Controversial After All
Axelrod Backs Away from Committing to Immigration Reform in 2010
Published November 18, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT
While we listen to Representative Luis Gutierrez giving yet another talk for immigration reform today, the Obama Administration has slowly backed away from a firm promise, which sends us mixed signals. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is confident that Congress can take up immigration reform in early 2010 but David Axelrod, the top political advisor to President Obama, refused to make any such commitment when he appeared on the State of the Union this past Sunday with John King:
KING: The secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, says you will, early next year, come forward with a plan for comprehensive immigration reform that would have a plan in it, a path in it for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country to have a pathway to status -- to legal status. Will you make the political commitment that no matter what the politics of January and February, the administration will go forward with this early next year?
AXELROD: John, what the president has said is, and he said it to both Republicans and Democratic members of Congress who have worked on this issue is, come to him, let's come together around something that both parties, or at least elements of both parties say they can agree on, so we don't reach the same impasse we've reached before and then he'll be willing to go forward on it.
I think some good work is being done on both sides of the aisle to achieve that. And Secretary Napolitano is getting that done. But what we want is a system that holds everybody responsible and everyone accountable.
[...]
If we can get a group together to give it the momentum to pass in Congress, then we're going to push forward with it.
In other words, don't expect President Obama to show leadership or spine on the issue of immigration reform and work actively to initiate change. He has squarely dropped the ball on Congress, which is unlikely to act without the pressure that DREAM Act-eligible youth, Ju Hong, talks about in this interview.
(Photo Credit: WhiteHouse Flickr PhotoStream, US Government Work)
Napolitano Speaks: The Price for Immigration Reform
Published November 13, 2009 @ 05:00PM PT
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke at a Center For American Progress conference revealing a three-legged stool plan on immigration reform that "includes a commitment to serious and effective enforcement, improved legal flows for families and workers, and a firm but fair way to deal with those who are already here."
After backing away from its promise of immigration reform in 2009 and revisiting raids, the President and his lackeys have persistently pointed to early 2010 as a timetable for reforming our broken immigration system.
With that timetable, comes a steep price. Can we afford the cost of immigration reform? This does not refer to monetary cost, since the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a legalization program would bring an excess of $60-$130 billion into our coffers. Cost refers to the human cost of an enforcement and crimmigration regime, a get-tough crackdown mentality that increasingly targets people of color and their employers for alleged transgressions.
The question has been flipped by some to say, "Can we afford not to reform our immigration system?" Indeed, some are willing to pay the price, no matter what it entails. That's noble and understandable, given the desperation of a population denied the right to exist in a country they call home.
But what price does Napolitano have in store for undocumented immigrants to finally gain a pathway to citizenship?
Letting the Right People Into San Francisco
Published November 10, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT
The City of San Francisco has certainly been in the news lately for the power struggle between Mayor Newsom and the Board of Supervisors on the sanctuary city policy. I testified at the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission hearing yesterday where officials were gathered to hear recommendations on what role San Francisco should play in the immigration reform arena.
Stanford Law professor and entrepreneur, F. Daniel Siciliano, gave an enlightening keynote on how immigrants are net contributors to the United States. Praising immigrants for risk-taking and innovation, Siciliano urged people to focus on economic analysis rather than getting distracted by the fiscal side of the immigration debate. Everyone is a net user of resources and the irony is that immigrants consume fewer resources IF they are allowed to integrate fully into society.
Siciliano pointed out the fact that immigrants, regardless of status, were responsible for 25% of publicly traded companies and the same disproportion was apparent in the start-up of small businesses, which often employ American citizens. The heightened mobility of migrant labor also means that immigrants can move out of places with low demand for jobs into places with higher demand. Siciliano also claimed that 91% of Americans enjoy enhanced earnings due to immigration and even if one is a bad person who hates immigrants, s/he still stands to gain financially from immigration.
Letting the right people in helped the country more than keeping the wrong people out, although Siciliano did stress that the 'right people' constituted a broad and dynamic spectrum.
USCIS Director Gets Ready for Immigration Reform
Published October 22, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
'Modernizing Immigration' - The irony was unavoidable as the title of a foreign press center briefing held in the Capitol yesterday with new USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas.
After all, USCIS is a long-shot from what one would consider a 'modernized immigration' system. One only need to look through this great spoof of our immigration processing centers to see how desperately we need modernization of poor USCIS services and practices. It is almost impossible to get a response from them regarding individual case files let alone the ability to file applications online.
Mayorkas was on a public relations blitz and wanted to present the USCIS as a transparent body responsible for serving the public:
What brings me here today is another pillar of importance to the administration of our agency's work, and that is transparency. We are a public agency. We serve the public. And we, therefore, must be answerable to and responsive to the public.
That is really interesting since the last time we petitioned ICE to stop the deportation of a DREAM Act student, we were told to stop telling them how to do their jobs. Maybe the public nature of USCIS does not extend to answering questions about detention and deportation practices.
Mayorkas did admit that there may be shortcomings in the immigration system with respect to family reunification that should be fixed by immigration reform. While, he skirted around Obama's lack of progress on overhauling antiquated immigration laws and avoided any discussion about local police enforcement of immigration laws, Mayorkas did confirm the immigration reform will be vigorously pursued:
Q: Zoltan Mikes, World Business Press Online: What do you think about the plan of Mr. Obama of immigration reform? Why is after one year he is in office, not so much in progress?
Mayorkas: With respect to comprehensive immigration reform, the president has indicated that comprehensive immigration reform is a top priority of his and has remained so. He has designated an individual, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, as his point person in that effort. And she shares his commitment and his prioritization of that effort. We have embarked on developing ideas and learning from the public what the public would most want to see in the context of comprehensive immigration reform. And so we are active. The reform process is a legislative one. It is one that the legislature will ultimately accomplish. But the president is quite devoted to the effort, and we are pursuing that vigorously.
Republicans Have No Plans on Immigration Reform
Published October 20, 2009 @ 02:00PM PT
In a nutshell, that is what we can gather from the Jorge Ramos interview with RNC Chairman, Michael Steele.
When asked to issue a statement regarding what plans he had for the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, Steele said:
"...the party as I said is always the party, its been the party of assimilation and that is something that we believe in very firmly and basically what we should be saying is that there are rules that you need to get into the country, go the right door, fill out the right form, have some apple pie, hum a few bars of the star spangle banner and get to work, God bless you, and I think that that begins to set us on the right road to dealing with this issue."
Does that mean the Republican Party supports spending billions in hunting down, detaining, litigating and deporting all undocumented immigrants to their countries and asking them to 'get in line?' Good luck.
Steele makes getting citizenship sound so easy. If only it was as easy as going down to the local immigration office, filling out some forms, eating apple pies and singing the national anthem, we wouldn't have the problem of 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows of society.
The GOP track record with Latino voters is dismal and Republicans have continuously irritated the Latino community this year, especially during the Sotomayor hearings, which led to the early resignation of their only Latino GOP senator, Mel Martinez (FL). Even Senator McCain, once a champion of immigration reform, is still licking his wounds over losing 68% of the Latino vote to Barack Obama and refusing to budge on the issue of immigration reform.
Given that Latinos overwhelmingly support immigration reform and are the fastest growing ethnic group in this country, opposing the issue based on reactionary politics only hurts Republicans.
Try again Michael Steele.
(Picture: Creative Commons from WisPolitics Flickr stream)
Does Obama Get a NOPE on Immigration?
Published October 19, 2009 @ 01:53PM PT
It's not just 'the gays' that are losing hope in President Barack Obama, but a lot of young immigrants are tired of waiting for change as well.
To quote an undocumented friend of mine:
I feel like living on "hope" has made me loose my competitiveness.
I suppose we are what the White House calls the 'internet left fringe' as well. Obama was the great hope of last year, when he promised immigration reform in 2009 and said the DREAM Act is something that could be done immediately.
Representative Luis Gutierrez has proposed a bill by the end of November, but without the support of the Administration and the Senate, it is unlikely to have any impact. With President Obama breaking his promises to immigrant families and reform unlikely to come by till 2010, right now he is scores a big fat zero on the pro-migrant scale.
Due process violations, terrorizing home and workplace raids and malicious immigration enforcement programs continue under the Obama Administration. Janet Napolitano has promised better detention practices, proposing housing immigrant detainees in hotels, but reading between the lines, this is an invitation for further privatization of the detention industry, thereby increasing the archipelago of detention.
Modern-day cowboys like Sheriff Joe Arpaio should have their wings clipped but instead, the Department of Homeland Security is signing new 287(g) agreements to outsource immigration authority to local law enforcement even after detailed abuses of the program by several counties. Additionally, the White House is extending Secure Communities, which would likely ensnare immigrants on minor charges while increasing distrust in local law enforcement.
In the past few months, Obama has stooped to using the hateful rhetoric of 'illegal immigrants' and appeasing nativists like Joe Wilson, backing away from his pre-election claims of taking the hate out of the immigration debate. This hard-line approach on immigrants to appease the right-wing nativist nuts serves no re-election purpose--it is unlikely to bring in votes for Obama from the wingnuts while also more likely to alienate voters on the left.
The political pandering and maneuvering continues behind the scenes. In the meantime, immigrant families are still separated daily, young immigrants still live in limbo, and 'si se puede' does not feed our families or quell our fears. How much longer till the 'great hope' delivers?
(Picture Credit: The Advocate)
New Report: Breaking the Immigration Stalemate
Published October 14, 2009 @ 10:41AM PT
It seems like a busy week for immigration reform as everyone is simply coming out with their own set of principles and policy proposals.
After Charles Schumer (D-NY) revealed his seven pillars in June but failed to deliver a bill by Labor Day, Representative Luis Gutierrez went ahead with his own set of principles and he promises a bill by the end of November.
Immigration reform legislation would probably follow the recommendations and findings of the bi-partisan Council on Foreign Relations report.
But a new Brookings Institute report here, from the Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable constituting academics and think tanks, aims to go from deep disagreements to constructive proposals. Lets examine these tenets.
- The United States Should Dramatically Reduce Illegal Immigration by Linking Workplace Verification and Legalization
- Congress Should Eliminate Diversity Visas, Restrict Eligibility for Family-Sponsored Visas, and Increase Visas for Skilled Immigrants
- Congress Should Improve Temporary Worker Programs and Bolster Labor Market Protections
- Congress Should Establish an Independent Standing Commission on Immigration
- Public and Private Sectors Alike Should Increase Efforts to Assimilate and Integrate New Americans
- The United States Should Engage Mexico
Still, the report is lacking and contradictory. It proposes a legalization program for people who have lived here for 5 or more years while never addressing those that don't meet the criteria, leaving an estimated 3.5 million still undocumented. And not allowing 'family unity' by restricting family-based visas to just minor children simply encourages more unauthorized immigration as adult children and siblings are left out without a legal pathway to citizenship. Legislation for same-sex bi-national couples is not even mentioned in the report.
These proposals may break the stalemate, but they would do little to fix the broken system of immigration in this country. At this point, we don't need more reports. What we need is sound legislation that puts human beings above mere politics.
