SENATE IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION IS FULL OF SERIOUS PROBLEMS

SENATE IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION IS FULL OF SERIOUS PROBLEMS

NEW JERSEY IMMIGRATION POLICY NETWORK (NJIPN)

May 25, 2006

Contact: Partha Banerjee, Executive Director; Analilia Mejia (for
Spanish language)
Phone: (973)-621-0031 (Office); Fax: (973)-621-2297; Email:
_njipn [at] njipn.org_ (mailto:njipn [at] njipn.org)


The new Senate immigration legislation SB-2611 is an identical version
of the earlier Hagel-Martinez compromise bill, which offers a three-tiered
approach in addressing the fate of the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants
living and working in U.S. Under SB-2611, undocumented immigrants who have
lived in the U.S. for five years or more would be granted an earned and
protracted path to citizenship if they meet certain requirements. Those who
have been here for two to five years will have to leave the country and
re-enter through a port of entry in order to be eligible for an earned and
protracted path to citizenship. Undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
for less than two years will have to leave the country, but will be able
to apply from their home countries for a temporary worker visa. They will
be considered guest workers.
Recently, President Bush joined the immigration debate via a live,
televised address to the nation with a proposal to deploy 6,000 National Guard
troops along the Mexican border. He also showed support for some aspects of
the Senate legislation, and opposed an enforcement-only, deportation
approach that was the theme of H.R. 4437 (also called the Sensenbrenner-King
bill) that passed the House in December. The bill Senate now approves will
have to be negotiated with the House version in a Congressional Conference.
It's heartening that both the Senate and the President have realized the
pernicious nature of the House bill, moved away from the terrible,
enforcement-only House approach, and embraced the principle of citizenship as a key
element of their reform plan. However, we are deeply troubled by, and
opposed to, anti-immigrant provisions that have been promoted on the Senate
bill, and ask that they be removed from any measure that finally becomes
law. Below is a breakdown of some of the dangerous aspects of the Senate
bill.
The Three-tiered Approach Will Break Apart Families
The tiered approach is complicated, expensive and problematic. Our
particular concern is that millions of immigrants who fall under the middle
category (i.e., people who lived here for two to five years) will have to
travel out of the country and re-enter through a U.S. border crossing in order
to be put on an earned path to legalization. We believe that the provision
is harsh, punitive and unnecessary. We also believe that comprehensive
immigration reform should include an earned and practical path to
citizenship for all hard-working immigrants living in the country right now. The
classification-approach also is bound to break apart numerous mixed-status
families, and their lives and livelihoods will be seriously jeopardized.
The Guest-Worker Program is Servitude
The temporary-guest-worker program formulated in the Senate bill (and
promoted by the President) is seriously flawed. By creating such a large and
cheap workforce without giving them due workers' rights and an ultimate
path to citizenship will be tantamount to sanctioning of a
continuously-recycled batch of a permanent underclass of workers, where they will
be “under
the gun” of their single employer. Strong workplace and civil rights
protections for all workers must be mandatory.
Refugees and Asylum-Seekers Will Be Victimized
The Senate legislation would increase the burdens on asylum seekers,
eliminate federal review of deportation orders, and leave millions of
undocumented immigrants in the shadows. We are particularly concerned about
provisions in the bill that would allow asylum seekers to be deported even while
their claims are under review by federal courts.
Erecting Border Fence and Deployment of Military Troops Have Failed
Before
For years, border communities have struggled with the increased
militarization of their neighborhoods. Vigilante groups such as Minuteman further
jeopardize the civil and human rights of these communities that have
repeatedly expressed their opposition to deployment of troops. Residents already
face abuse, racial profiling, unwarranted force, arbitrary detention and
arrests by the Border Patrol. With the placement of National Guard troops
at the U.S.-Mexico border, the administration has added to the conflict
already present there. Militarization of the border has caused numerous
deaths of innocent people, and has proved very expensive. Border militarization
also creates a notion that border-crossing immigrants are criminals or
potential terrorists.
Idea of Local Law Enforcement Working as Immigration Agents is Opposed
Even by Police Groups
Transforming local and state police officers into immigration agents will
do serious harm to the relationship between the police and immigrant
communities nationwide, generating less cooperation and more distrust. Police
departments across the country continue to oppose such a flawed and
burdensome practice. Local and state police already have all the power they need
to arrest, detain and help deport any undocumented immigrant who commits a
serious crime.
Obliteration of Due Process and Expanded Detention and Deportation is
Inhumane and Un-American
The Senate bill expands the expedited removal program, which allows the
government to expel many immigrants without ever allowing them to speak to
a judge, while the expansion of the definition of “aggravated felony” to
include many minor offenses would result in mandatory detention and mass
deportations. The proposals also seek to reinstate indefinite detention, and
would increase detention facilities, including the use of closed military
bases. We believe that all enforcement provisions under this bill should
have strong civil rights components to ensure that those accused of violating
our immigration laws have adequate legal recourse. There are significant
provisions in the Senate bill that may result in mass deportations, and
unfairly exclude millions from eligibility for any legalization
opportunity.

English-Only Approach is Misguided
An amendment inserted in the Senate bill will repeal government executive
orders requiring recipients of federal funds to provide documents and
services in languages other than English, where necessary. The biased provision
has nothing to do with fixing our broken immigration system. Numerous
studies have shown that first-generation immigrants want to learn English,
and their children speak almost no other language than English. If anything,
the English-only approach greatly harms the newcomers from actively
wanting to be integrated into the U.S. society. We’d be better off providing
funding for English classes instead of punishing innocent people.