Where Are Latino Elected Leaders in Immigration Reform Fight?

“This is one of those interesting issues in which groups on the left and the right are working together, but for different reasons,” said Pedro Celis, chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, an offshoot of the Republican National Committee.

Celis recently met with Senate Republicans in order to advocate for the guest worker program, an idea also supported by a number of labor organizations and immigrant rights groups, who see it as one way to bring undocumented workers into society's mainstream.

Last Thursday, the Senate Judicial Committee announced it was close to approving the measure. However, many of its details have yet to be ironed out, and those details could prove to be a deal-breaker for some would-be supporters.

“We've seen how in the past those programs have been used to exploit workers,” said Alvaro Huerta, Director of Community Education and Advocacy for the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles [CHIRLA]. “And we see some similar proposals in congress right now that send the message 'just come to work and leave; we only want you for your labor.'”

CHIRLA has come out in support of a version of the program put together by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) which would allow guest workers to petition for citizenship after four years of residency, and which does not make a guest worker's visa contingent upon remaining with his/her original employer.

More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=5a9b864d7f5af0ba89208bbe29625108