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This morning Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and
Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced the first bipartisan comprehensive
immigration reform bill of the 110th Congress. If enacted, the Security
Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy (STRIVE) Act would
be the most complete overhaul of our nation's immigration system since
1965.
We welcome this first step in the long and uncertain
process that could lead to the passage of desperately needed
comprehensive immigration reform this year. Reps. Gutierrez
and Flake have exhibited rare courage and commitment in moving forward
despite the slowdown of similar efforts on the Senate side. As the first
to commit to a specific proposal, they face inevitable attack by
anti-immigrant forces, as well as criticism by groups such as ours-that
have long been committed to immigration reform-for compromises made in
crafting a bill with any real chance of passage.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress will pay close
attention to the response to the STRIVE Act as they evaluate their next
steps. The STRIVE Act will be referred to the Immigration Subcommittee
of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren. The
subcommittee could work off of the STRIVE Act, or more likely Rep.
Lofgren could introduce a modified version or she could start from
scratch with a different bill that would then become the focus of
committee consideration. If the response to the STRIVE Act is dominated
by anti-immigrant forces, as is often the case with immigration
proposals, the prospects for positive reform this year will dim
significantly.
As of this writing, the text of the ambitious Gutierrez-Flake proposal
was not yet available, but based on the attached summaries provided by
the sponsors and on briefings by their staffs, it appears to contain the
same core elements as the bill that passed the Senate last year; and it may
eliminate some of the most glaring wrinkles, contradictions, and
incoherence of that bill.
Like last year's Senate-passed bill, the STRIVE Act is an amalgam of
desperately needed and problematic elements. The bill includes
provisions that:
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Provide temporary status and a path to eventual permanent residence
for many of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
via whichever one of three new mechanisms for which they may qualify:
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"Earned legalization" for workers
and their spouses and minor children who have lived and worked here
since June 1, 2006;
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The DREAM Act for individuals who arrived
at least 5 years before the date of enactment of the STRIVE Act at the
age of 15 or younger and have graduated from high school; or
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AgJOBS for certain agricultural workers.
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Reform our legal immigration system to significantly reduce family
and employment immigration waiting lists and backlogs.
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Create a large new worker visa program with features intended to
avoid the constant abuses inherent in past and current guest worker
programs.
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Impose a mandatory electronic employment verification system for new
hires that would apply to all employers and workers.
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Address illegal border crossings by further militarizing the border
region with a smaller number of provisions intended to protect the human
and civil rights of the residents of that region.
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Make numerous changes in interior immigration enforcement including
new and increased penalties, increased detention space, new identity
documents with biometric identifiers, and reduced due process.
As with all immigration proposals, the devil is in the details, and we
now have only the roughest of summaries. Since the details can be
critically important, an analysis of the bill will have to wait until we
have had an opportunity to study the actual language.
Pending such an analysis, we have highlighted a few of the features
included in the summary that will require particular scrutiny once the
language becomes available.
1. Conditions that must be met before earned legalization and
the new worker visa program can begin. The provisions
providing a path to legal status and creating the new worker visa
program would not take effect until and unless the Secretary of Homeland
Security certifies that the first phases of the border technology,
document security, and employment verification systems are in place.
2.
Legal reentry requirement. The path to legal status would
include at least 6 years of "conditional nonimmigrant status" during
which the immigrant would be required to leave the country and return
legally at least once.
3.
Other legalization requirements. It is not clear from the
summary whether the English language and tax payment requirements for
legalization are similar to the reasonable provisions in previous
legislation, or whether like last year's Senate bill they would mandate
a higher standard that would preclude many immigrants from qualifying. It also is not clear whether legalized workers would be denied the right
to collect the same social security benefits as other lawfully present
immigrants and citizens. Last year the Senate rejected a proposal that
would have prevented legalized immigrants from receiving their full
earned social security benefits upon retirement or disability, even
after becoming citizens, by preventing them from getting credit for
money they paid into the system before legalizing.
4.
Labor protections. Although the summary refers to increased
labor law enforcement, this appears to be largely or solely in relation
to the new worker visa program. The summary does not include reform of
the provisions in current immigration law that undermine labor
protections for U.S. and immigrant workers; it does not address the gaps
in anti-discrimination protections for immigrant workers; and it does
not include improved enforcement of labor laws, which is the most
effective enforcement strategy available to reduce future unlawful
immigration.
5.
New worker visa program. The STRIVE Act represents an effort
to legalize the flow of workers into the U.S. by shifting the estimated
500,000 who currently enter without documents into legal channels. It
would do so by (1) removing some of the features of current law that
restrict access to permanent family and work-based immigration, and (2)
creating a new worker visa system that is intended to avoid the deeply
problematic experience with current guest worker programs. Among the
essential features of any such system, in addition to full labor rights,
are "portability," the ability of the temporary workers to quit their
job and find another without losing their legal status, and "path to
citizenship," their ability to adjust to permanent status either by
having their employer submit a petition or by petitioning on their own
behalf after residing here for at least 5 years. Unfortunately, the new
system does not appear to provide full portability. Workers with visas
under the new program would not be able to work for any employer, but
only for those who comply with paperwork and recruiting requirements
designed to ensure that U.S. workers are hired before any worker visa
holders can be considered. This requirement could make it extremely
difficult for a worker to find employment with a new employer other than
the one who initially petitioned for the worker. A new worker visa
holder who is unemployed for more than 60 days would be required to
leave the U.S.
6.
Employment verification. The provisions outlined in the
summary appear to improve the workability of the employment verification
system compared with the version that passed the Senate last year. However the summary refers to a reduction in the number of documents
that employers can accept. A certain amount of reduction from the
current 29 acceptable documents would be reasonable, but not unless all
work authorized individuals would have at least one of the required
documents. Most troubling, there is some indication that the system
might rely on REAL-ID compliant drivers' licenses. As of now, there are
no such licenses, and the states are in revolt against the new
requirements because they are costly, unreasonable, and unworkable.
7.
Reduction of due process protections. Numerous provisions in the
bill increase immigration penalties or appear to affect the ability of
immigrants to obtain relief when the government mistakenly moves to
deport them. These include the expansion of expedited removal without
the right to a hearing, affirming the authority of local law enforcement
agents to enforce immigration laws, adding more criminal penalties for
immigration violations, and expanding the criminal grounds of removal. It is impossible to evaluate these changes fully without examining the
language of the bill.
We at NILC are pleased that the process has now begun. We remain hopeful
for a good outcome this year, despite the obstacles and despite our
awareness that any comprehensive bill with a chance of enactment in this
or any year be deeply flawed. We continue to believe that there is an
urgent need for reform because the current system is unworkable and
unjust, and deteriorating. We are mindful of the accelerating efforts to
enact anti-immigrant legislation at the state and local levels, and of
the suffering, indignity, and deaths that are caused by the feckless but
increasing efforts to enforce current unacceptable laws. It is now up to
other members of Congress to do what is necessary to take advantage of,
and hopefully improve upon, the foundation that has been laid by
Reps. Gutierrez and Flake.
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