America's Voice Blog

Posted 04/30/10 at 08:13am By Adam Luna

New Senate Framework for Immigration Reform: First Look at What’s Inside

GlassesLast night, Senators Reid, Schumer, Durbin, Feinstein and Menendez held a press conference to announce their framework for moving forward with a comprehensive immigration reform proposal.  At the press conference, the senators outlined their ideas for reform and invited Republicans to come to the table and work with them to advance a legislative proposal this year.

The proposal appears to be a good start to what we hope will be a serious process, leading to the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year that resolves the status of 12 million unauthorized immigrants, reunites families, and restores the rule of law to our immigration system. The American Immigration Lawyers Association just released a thorough, six page analysis of the framework which you can find here.

Most importantly, there seems to be confusion about the framework's legalization program. Press reports suggest that unauthorized immigrants would be stuck in some sort of undefined legal limbo until stipulated border security measures are met, or that a substantial chunk of the undocumented population would not qualify.

In fact, these immigrants would be able to obtain temporary legal status as soon as the program is enacted, but they would not be able to “adjust status” to Legal Permanent Residency or a green card (the second phase of the process) until some of the border security and family immigration provisions are implemented. They would be afforded work authorization, travel permission, and protection from deportation in the meantime, but the proposal estimates that it will take eight years for them to be able to apply for green cards.  In addition, the outline states that the senators’ goal is to “encourage maximum participation in the legalization program” by creating a process that is both “broad” and “streamlined” – addressing concerns with previous legalization proposals, whose complicated procedures and eligibility rules excluded more immigrants.

The pros:   

  1. The framework describes a plan to immediately register undocumented immigrants and establishes a temporary immigration status so that they can work legally, pay taxes, travel abroad, and no longer live in fear of deportation.  Eligible immigrants and temporary protected status (TPS) holders will be considered for the first step of the legalization program, an interim “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” (LPI) status, as soon as the program is up and running.  After eight years, these immigrants can apply for green cards and get on a path to full U.S. citizenship. 

  2. DREAM Act is included.

  3. AgJOBS is included.

  4. Permanent partners immigration provisions included.

  5. On family-based immigration: family immigration backlog would be cleared in eight years. Spouses and children of Legal Permanent Residents are moved to “immediate relative” immigration category, reducing their waiting period to enter the U.S. now and in the future

  6. Increased labor protections and remedies, as well as a commission to determine future employment-based visa numbers based on labor market needs.

Click here to read more.
Posted 01/14/10 at 04:12pm By Marjorie Valbrun

A Maribel Hastings Exclusive: The Key Players in Immigration Reform

The immigration reform movement is more sophisticated than ever, encompassing a greater diversity of support among various sectors of American society.  As the immigration debate heats up this year, America’s Voice today releases a special report, “Immigration Reform: Know the Players,” providing an indispensable reference for anyone following the issue of immigration reform.

The series, which was originally published in Spanish on MaribelHastings.com in eight thematic installments, provides background information, statistics, and other detailed information on the roles played in the urgent battle for reform by the following groups of supporters: law enforcement; undocumented students; anti-immigrant groups; the pro-immigrant movement; faith communities; farmers and agricultural laborers; business and labor interests; and, of course, the main actors: the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.

Click here to download a copy of the series “Immigration Reform: Know the Players,” or listen to the audio actuality here.

Posted 01/13/10 at 12:49pm By Mahwish Khan

Drum Major Institute: CIR ASAP “Makes the Grade,” Let’s Not Pass the Buck

A new analysis by the Drum Major Institute (DMI) found that the Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP bill introduced by Congressmen Solomon Ortiz and Luis Gutierrez late last year would "make the grade" for strengthening and expanding America’s middle class. DMI states the case succinctly:

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act sets the standard for an immigration policy, which will boost our nation’s economy and strengthen and expand its middle class. 

The Institute administered a two-part "middle class test," which the bill passed with flying colors. The legislation was given a soaring "A" for "bolstering the contributions immigrants make to the U.S. economy," and a solid "A-" for "its potential to end the exploitation of undocumented immigrants that threaten the wages and working conditions of America’s aspiring middle class."

That’s a pretty good-looking report card.

An additional study this week, from Manuel Pastor of the University of Southern California Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, examined the potential economic effects of comprehensive reform on the state of California.  The study finds that “newly legalized immigrants earned higher wages, spent more consumer dollars, paid more taxes and helped create jobs,” leading to an economic boon of $16 billion to the state.  

As Pastor stated:

People keep using our economic condition as an excuse to not do comprehensive immigration reform. It’s just the opposite: What we need to do to right our economy and move forward is create a path to legalization.

As California battles severe budget shortfalls, legislators should take note that real immigration reform would increase revenue, boosting the "state and local tax base by about $350 million in the short run."

That's no chump change. It’s also just the latest evidence supporting an already-compelling case for enacting comprehensive immigration reform ASAP.

Click here to read more.
Posted 12/21/09 at 02:53pm By Adam Luna

CAP Releases New Principles on Immigration Reform

workers taxpayers citizensThe Center For American Progress just released new guidelines today, which would present a strong foundation for a real immigration overhaul.

Before laying out their core principles for Immigration Reform (view pdf), however, authors Marshall Fitz and Angela Kelley outline why this kind of reform is so urgent:

Our broken immigration system undermines core national interests and must be reformed. The public demands it. Our security requires it. Global competitiveness and economic reality compel it. Our identity as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws depends on it.

[...] The failures of our immigration system stand in sharp contrast to the powerful contributions that immigrants have made to our country. Immigrants have become part of the American mainstream, and they are essential to our economic growth. They are the entrepreneurs on Main Street, U.S.A., and they have risen to the top of every segment of society along with their children, including the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. presidency.

They continue with a broad blueprint for reform that is both tough and practical:

We must develop a system that recognizes those contributions and treats immigration as a national resource to be managed and embraced. This requires that we develop strong enforcement mechanisms at the border and worksite that will expose future illegal border crossers and employers who seek to hire undocumented workers. It requires that we deal realistically with the fact that more than 5 percent of our national workforce is undocumented. It requires that we allow families that have been separated for years or decades to be united quickly. It requires that we create flexible immigration channels to enable foreign workers to enter the country without disadvantaging U.S. workers. And it requires that we provide immigrants with the tools they need to integrate into our communities.

Opponents of reform will continue to foment fear and cling to the status quo. But public opinion polling shows that voters expect their elected officials to solve tough problems with pragmatic policies while standing on principle. As the president and Congress begin work on this issue, the Center for American Progress offers the following framework of principles and solutions for comprehensive immigration reform.

Click here to read more.
Posted 12/17/09 at 11:59am By Web Team

Weekly Diaspora: CIR ASAP the First Step to Reform

This post is a weekly feature by Nezua, Media Consortium Blogger.

On Tuesday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR-ASAP). Rep. Gutierrez said that the bill represents “the final push for comprehensive immigration reform," as Khalil Abdullah reports for New America Media. Seth Hoy at AlterNet breaks down some of the bill's key points, which include a border security provisions, family unification, a legalization component, and improved detention conditions.

The legislation is an encouraging first step forward on the path to immigration reform. But many hurdles must be overcome before an immigration bill from the House or Senate becomes law, especially in today's tense political environment. Outright antagonism from the nativist lobby or the far Right will be no small part of the challenge, no matter how concessionary the legislation is to Republicans.

In the absence of nationally legislated reform, many border states like Texas are attempting to fill in the gap. One of these cases is a town called Del Rio, as Melissa del Bosque reports for the Texas Observer. Del Rio's new school superintendent, Kelt Cooper, has "an overarching concern about Mexican nonresidents attending [U.S.] public schools." U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, acting under Cooper's request, recently took a headcount of children crossing the bridge that connects Ciudad Acuña in México to Del Rio, Texas. No other border to the county was inspected similarly.

At Cooper's order, Del Rio school district employees handed out fliers to drivers with students who crossed the bridge that morning, informing parents that their children were being withdrawn from school unless they could prove U.S. citizenship. If Cooper truly cared about his student body, he'd take a lesson from another school with a large immigrant population and harness the energy available to him, rather than sowing fear and division amongst the student body.

Click here to read more.
Posted 12/16/09 at 02:46pm By Frank Sharry

Yes We Can End this Crisis: Real Immigration Reform, A.S.A.P

Yesterday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), a key congressional champion for sensible immigration policy, introduced real immigration reform legislation in the House of Representatives. It’s called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity” (CIR ASAP).

This is the long-awaited legislative kick-off to repair our nation’s broken immigration system, which is in crisis.

Already, the bill has nearly 90 U.S. House sponsors, including members of the Congressional Hispanic, Black, Asian Pacific American, and Progressive Caucuses.

But won’t the first round of this debate take place in the Senate in early 2010? Yes, it will. But by coming out early and strong, Rep. Gutierrez and his colleagues in the House achieve three important objectives: 1) they have created a template for good policy that will influence future bills; 2) they are putting pressure on the White House and leaders in both the House and the Senate to keep their promise of moving on immigration reform in this Congress; and 3) they are ensuring a place for themselves at the final negotiations over what a final bill will look like.

The fact is that Gutierrez, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Rep. Xavier Becerra and others in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have taken on the responsibility of representing the voices of millions of Latinos who turned out in 2008 to cast votes for change, for their loved ones without legal status, and for national recognition of their contributions to America – in the workplace, in local communities, and on the battlefield.

Click here to read more.