Spanish Version

IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER

For Immediate Release: May 25, 2006

Contact:

Judith Golub T: 415.255.9499 ext 465 F: 415.255.9792 JGolub@ilrc.org

The Senate Immigration Reform Bill
They Didn’t Get it Right!

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: After much debate and discussion, the Senate by a vote of 62 to 36 passed S. 2611, a measure that would profoundly reform our immigration laws. Unfortunately and tragically, they did not get it right: unfortunately, because our nation desperately needs good reform; and tragically because the positive provisions in the bill have been fatally compromised by the negative measures included in the bill. Moreover, in a conference with the House, we expect that the bill’s positive provisions will be further eroded, if not eliminated, and the negative provisions made more draconian and unfair.

This has been a difficult debate, and we applaud those Senators who spoke out in support of immigrants and the positive contributions immigrants are making to our nation. We thank them for standing up for immigrants on the Senate floor every day and for speaking out loudly and clearly against the restrictionist and nativist sentiments that have erupted during this debate.

What are the provisions of most concern to the ILRC that are in the Senate bill?

• A fundamentally unworkable three tiered legalization program with exorbitant fees that will be a nightmare to implement.
• Local and state police encouraged to enforce federal civil immigration law, a body of law that most do not understand and the enforcement of which will dramatically hamper community policing and discourage victims and witnesses of crime from coming forward. Contracts between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and local police in every state will be promoted so that local police will enforce immigration laws and immigration information will be entered into NCIC, the federal criminal database.
• U.S. Mexico border militarized: An additional 370 miles of triple-layered fencing will be added along the U.S.-Mexico border as well as 500 miles of vehicle barriers.
• People, including persons with green cards, will be detained without bond for failing to file a change of address card, even though the federal government does not even have the capacity to process all these filed changes.
• Increased number of people deported for minor crimes and misdemeanors, changing the rules in the middle of the game: Long time legal permanent residents will be mandatorily deportable for minor crimes such as having three DUI’s (Driving under the Influence) no matter how long ago they were convicted and despite their rehabilitation, extensive family ties, and length of time in this country.
• U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents criminalized for helping family members or friends.
• The number of youth who could be found deportable and ineligible for any immigration benefits expanded based on the sole finding that the child is or was a member of a gang, with no requirement that any criminal act was committed or there was actual gang activity or involvement.
• American businesses challenged by requiring employers to verify every single worker, when the only employer verification system that exists is rife with error, and a new, comprehensive database is years away.
• Faster deportation of people allowed and the court doors closed so that people are prohibited from ever seeing a judge, even if they have lived here for years.
• New hurdles created to citizenship by changing the test to require applicants to know key U.S. inventors and artists and information about the Federalist Papers.
• All U.S. citizens subject to long criminal background checks in petitioning a family member and some precluded from sponsoring their immediate relatives altogether.
• I-9 document requirements that undermine legalization. (We need to review the Manager’s Amendment that was introduced today to determine if this issue was resolved.)

Although S. 2611 includes positive provisions that would reduce the backlog in family-based immigration, as well as AgJobs, DREAM Act, and a well-intentioned, but flawed, legalization program, the measures noted above dramatically undermine these provisions. As if that weren’t bad enough, the “enforcement” provisions in the bill will cost Americans billions of dollars, will overwhelm the Department of Homeland Security, and will not accomplish its stated goals. We will continue to fight for immigration reform that works for America, immigrants, and communities nationwide. Our country deserves something better than what has come out of the process to date.

WARNING! We want to issue an important warning to all immigrants. Please note that as of now there has not yet been any new law passed that permits people to legalize their status. Do not fall prey to any unscrupulous “notarios,” immigration consultants, or attorneys who claim a new law has passed and they can get you a work permit and green card under the new law.

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The ILRC is a national resource center that provides trainings, materials and advocacy to advance immigrant rights. As a legal services organization, we train lawyers and paralegals on ever-changing and complex immigration law. We develop leadership by encouraging immigrants to play leading roles in confronting and reshaping the laws and policies that perpetuate racial, economic and social injustice. And we educate and empower those in the immigrant community so that they may organize and advocate for the rights and privileges that best define our democratic traditions.

Immigrant Legal Resource Center
1663 Mission Street, Suite 602
San Francisco, California 94103
415-255-9499
www.ilrc.org

Download attachments:

Senate Immigration Reform Bill (English)
Senate Immigration Reform Bill (Spanish)

Last Modified: December 12 2006 01:20:35