Path to Citizenship Scattered with Landmines

June 1, 2007

Author: Dishpaul S. Dhuga

On May 17, 2007, Senators working on the arduous task of putting together a comprehensive immigration reform deal announced an agreement on a possible immigration package.  The agreement itself is significant considering the importance of the issue in our country and how many people this could affect.  However significant the new proposal might be, some of the provisions need great improvement.

In a nutshell, the deal dubbed as “the grand bargain”, would provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million workers in the United States illegally.  This path to citizenship is scattered with landmines.  And the path to citizenship is hardly a path; it’s more like a maze with provisions such as the $5000 fine and a “touchback” requirement for immigrants to go back to their home countries before any hope of becoming a citizen.  The deal would also decrease the number of green cards available to family members while increasing the number for workers with needed skills.  The bill would create a temporary-worker program, but would not include a path to citizenship for guest workers.

The bill also includes reinforcing the borders, getting tougher on employers who hire illegal immigrants, eliminating the backlog of visa applications for legal immigrants, an AgJOBS provision which would assist in the legalization of undocumented farm workers, and the DREAM Act which would address the tragedy of young people who grew up in the U.S. and have graduated from U.S. high schools, but whose future is constrained by current immigration laws due to not having legal residency.

There have been numerous criticisms of the deal already, some crossing party lines.  For example, some on the right have called this measure “amnesty” while those on the left say the “grand bargain” is a sellout.  Groups who support and advocate for family-based immigration are not happy with the decrease in green cards for family members.  Considering that family reunification has been the cornerstone of the immigration system since 1965, this decrease in family-based visas is an extremely negative reversal of current policy.

The proposal to move to a merit system, in which points would be assigned for work skills and education, would increase professionals coming into the country while decreasing lower-skilled workers who are vital to our economy.  Democratic Senators and immigrant advocates have criticized the temporary-worker plan arguing it would further jeopardize and exploit the lives of the underclass of low-skilled workers.  They have also argued that the guest-worker program will drive down wages and working conditions for all American workers.

Since May 17, there have been numerous proposed amendments and debate on the immigration reform deal.  However, the turning point occurred on the eve of June 7, 2007 when the reform deal was withdrawn from the Senate Floor.  A second motion to invoke cloture on S. 1348 was defeated, and Majority Leader Reid withdrew the bill from floor consideration.  There was a dispute between Reid and Republicans over how many amendments senators would be permitted to debate.  The good news is that Senate leaders expressed the need and desire to bring the issue back for further debate in the near future.  The bill’s proponents, including the president, have insisted that the measure is not dead.  It’s in the country’s best interest that immigration reform measures do not lie dormant again.

The proposed immigration reform package needs some major improvements.  The maze to citizenship and the undermining of family-based immigration should not be tolerated.  However, allowing debate and discussion on these vital issues will help bring the topic of immigration out into the open more, and hopefully give the American people and our representatives a chance to make amendments to some of the harshest measures in the new proposal.

For more information please see: www.immigrationforum.org, www.aila.org, www.ncic-metro.org, www.thenyic.org