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ILRC
Bienvenida bipartidista al detallado proyecto de reforma para ser
introducido el 21 de enero en el Senado
1. COMPREHENSIVE BIPARTISAN IMMIGRATION BILL, S. 2010, IS
INTRODUCED -- OVERVIEW. (immediately below) 1. COMPREHENSIVE BIPARTISAN IMMIGRATION BILL, S. 2010, IS INTRODUCED -- OVERVIEW. (Excerpts in quotes from national office of AILA, American Immigration Lawyers' Association. "On January 21, Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) introduced S. 2010, the Immigration Reform Act of 2004. The bill is the only initiative introduced to date that includes all three components necessary for comprehensive immigration reform: family reunification through family backlog reduction; a new temporary worker program; and access to an earned adjustment for eligible people already living and working in the U.S. This bill takes on the hard issues and proposes solutions. While AILA has concerns with some of the bill's provisions, the Immigration Reform Act is a giant step forward to help us achieve the goal of creating an immigration system that reflects our nation's values, our traditions, and our needs. AILA's press release on the introduction of the bill is posted on AILA InfoNet at: http://www.aila.org/infonet/libraryViewer.aspx?docID=12042 We will be posting a section-by-section summary of the bill on AILA InfoNet shortly" . (ILRC NOTE: only available to AILA members) 2. ILRC ANALYSIS OF LEGALIZATION PROVISION AND BRIEF SUMMARIES OF OTHER TWO PROVISIONS 1. earned adjustment for hard-working, tax-paying immigrant families. • "Allow qualified people already living and working in the United States to legalize their status: People who work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to the U.S. should be allowed to obtain permanent residence. This reform would stabilize the workforce of U.S. employers, encourage people to come out of the shadows to be scrutinized by our government, and allow immigrants to work and travel legally and be treated equally. • Enhance the security of our nation: Immigration reform that legalizes hard-working people already here and creates a new worker program will help the U.S. government focus resources on enhancing security, not on detaining hard-working people who are filling vacancies in the U.S. labor market and/or seeking to reunite with their close family members. In addition, an earned adjustment program will encourage people to come out of the shadows and be scrutinized by our government, and a new worker visa program will create a legal flow through which people can enter and leave the U.S. The legality that results from these initiatives will contribute to our national security by helping to focus resources on those who mean to do us harm." Specific provisions include: A. Requirements to Obtain Earned Adjustment for Those Who have 5 years in US and worked 3 years: Major provisions: •
Requirement of 5 years physical presence during the period preceding
of January 21, 2004. Other provisions: •
A number of inadmissibility grounds do not apply, including the
"3/10 year" and permanent bar in 212(a)(9); unlawfully
present in U.S. and material misrepresentation found in 212(a)(6).
B. Transitional Workers (p. 79) •
Some persons who do not qualify for the regular "Earned Adjustment"
discussed in A) above will be eligible to apply for "transitional"
worker status for 3 years if they were present in the U.S. on January
21, 2004. A persons who has applied for transitional worker status
will be eligible to adjust to permanent residence status if they
meet the following requirements: 2. "break the mold" temporary worker program -- with portability, ability to bring family members, and labor protection. •"Create a new temporary worker program: A new, “break-the-mold” program would provide visas, family unity, full labor rights, labor mobility and a path to permanent residence and citizenship over time, thereby reconciling the legitimate needs of employers with the legitimate needs of both U.S. and immigrant workers to find good jobs. Such a program would: recognize that current immigration laws do not meet the needs of our economy given projections of worker shortages as our country’s demographics shift; diminish significantly future illegal immigration by providing people with a legal avenue to enter the U.S. and return, as many wish, to their home countries, communities, and families; and help ensure an orderly process at our borders, an essential component of enhanced security." 3. family backlog reduction. • "Help families to reunify: Our immigration system is characterized by long backlogs in family-based immigration. To ensure an orderly future process, our system must reduce bureaucratic obstacles and undue restrictions to permanent legal immigration for close family members. Developing an increased legal migration flow will make immigration more orderly and legal. It is essential to make legal future immigration that otherwise will happen illegally. 3. STATEMENT BY ILRC AND EXCERPT OF STATEMENT BY AILA The following is a statement by Mark Silverman of the ILRC. We
strongly support the bipartisan proposal being introduced by Senators
Hegel and Daschle. It contains the three major components necessary
for any meaningful immigration reform. Our nation of immigrants needs immigration reform. With this announcement the Administration has taken an important step forward in saying that our current immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. Recently, President Bush took an important step forward, he did not go far enough. The biggest weakness in the President's proposal is that it does not provide a way for the thousands of immigrants who are here working hard and paying taxes to obtain permanent legal status. We believe that the proposal by Senators Daschle and Hegal is a more comprehensive, far-reaching immigration reform that provides for legal status for hard-working, tax-paying immigrants and their families. This provides a reasonable mechanism for undocumented workers to earn permanent legal status. Our nation of immigrants needs immigration reform. With this announcement the Administration has taken an important step forward in saying that our current immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. President Bush took an important step forward, he did not go far enough. The biggest weakness in the President's proposal is that it does not provide a way for the thousands of immigrants who are here working hard and paying taxes to obtain permanent legal status. We hope that the President and Congress builds on this initial statement to come up with far-reaching immigration reform that provides for legal status for hard-working, tax-paying immigrants and their families. Legislation must provide a reasonable mechanism for undocumented workers to earn permanent legal status." We have reproduced below excerpts from the press release from the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA). Direct quotes from AILA are in " ". January 21, 2004 jgolub@aila.org "STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION On the Introduction of the IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2004: STRENGTHENING AMERICA’S NATIONAL SECURITY, ECONOMY, AND FAMILIES "The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) strongly commends Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) upon introduction of their bill, the Immigration Reform Act of 2004: Strengthening America’s National Security, Economy, and Families. We applaud these courageous Senators for taking on the hard issues and introducing in Congress the first bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill. Such bipartisanship is essential for Congress to address this important issue. The Immigration Reform Act of 2004 recognizes that the status quo is broken and that change is urgently needed to address the concerns of American business and families and enhance our national security. The bill includes many important provisions that will help address the problems that plague our current immigration system. While we have concerns with some of the bill’s provisions, the Immigration Reform Act is a giant step forward toward helping us achieve the goal of creating an immigration system that mirrors our nation’s values, our traditions, and our needs. The Immigration Reform Act reflects the fact that immigration is in America’s self interest, and that our current laws do not work. In fact, our current system encourages illegality. We need laws that make sense, make us safer, support our economy, and help families reunify. Reform is long overdue and must, as does the Immigration Reform Act of 2004: • Comprehensively reform our immigration laws: Since many of the problems with the U.S.’s current immigration system are interrelated, reform must be comprehensive to successfully address our nation’s needs. The status quo is unacceptable, especially in a post-September 11 world in which enhanced security is central, and we need to balance our security with the continued flow of people and goods. Our current system is characterized by families being separated for long periods of time and U.S. employers unable to bring in needed workers. People are forced to live an underground existence, hiding from the government for fear of being separated from their families and jobs. The current enforcement system fails to prevent illegal immigration, and precious resources that should be spent on enhancing our security are wasted on stopping hard-working people from filling our labor market needs. Our immigration system needs to be reformed so that legality is the norm, and immigration is legal, safe, orderly, and reflective of the needs of American families, businesses, and national security."
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