IMMIGRATION MATTERS -- Immigrants March for Rights But Is Congress Listening?

WASHINGTON D.C. - An estimated 100,000 immigrants marched and rallied in support of immigrant rights in Chicago on Friday, March 10. It was the largest immigrant rights rally in the history of the United States. Earlier in the week, tens of thousands of immigrants had rallied on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as well.

The message of these rallies was crystal clear and was made visible by the signs that marchers carried: “I am an immigrant, not a criminal”; “My immigrant son died in Iraq”; “Don’t deport my parents”. Immigrant communities are mobilizing across the country to demand that they be given an opportunity to become fully part of the American dream.

The question is: Is Congress listening?

The answer will come this week as the Senate Judiciary Committee decides what will be in the legislation that it sends to the Senate floor for the full Senate to debate.

The bill that the Committee is working from is woefully inadequate. Written by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the bill would: Criminalize any undocumented immigrant who has overstayed a visa; Criminalize those who provide humanitarian relief to undocumented immigrants; Strip the courts of authority to review denials of naturalization; Give new temporary workers a one-year “time out” during which they would have to return home before being allowed to renew their work permit; Create a new conditional work permit for the 11 million undocumented in the country, but provide them with no path to permanent legal status.

More