Immigration Reform in Jeopardy

Immigration Reform in Jeopardy

April 5, 2006

Congress has an opportunity this week to enact comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform for the first time in decades. But it appears that the possibility of reform is in jeopardy. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a main proponent of comprehensive reform, warned yesterday his legislation did not have the 60 votes needed to overcome a conservative filibuster. Also, Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Mel Martinez (R-FL) introduced a draconian "compromise" proposal that threatens to splinter the Republican caucus. There is still hope for real reform since the precise vote-count is unclear, and the need couldn’t be greater. The time to act is now.

• Some Senators are pushing a false compromise. The majority of U.S. senators understand that fixing our immigration system requires a combination of tougher security measures and a path for undocumented immigrants to move out of the shadows and earn citizenship. However, a “compromise” plan proposed by Hagel and Martinez would provide undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for five years or longer a chance to earn citizenship; but for the 40 percent of undocumented (approximately five million people) who came more recently, the Hagel-Martinez solution is mass deportation. American Progress has already shown that this is an impractical and incredibly expensive proposal.

Principles of Comprehensive Immigration Reform

• Meaningful Reform. Meaningful immigration reform must protect our security, allow our economy to grow, protect the wages of U.S. workers, honor our value of rewarding hard work, and respect the tradition of the United States as a dynamic country of immigrants.
  
  
• McCain-Kennedy’s Comprehensive Reform. Illegal immigration is at an all-time high. The number of undocumented in the United States has ballooned to roughly 12 million as of March 2006. The McCain-Kennedy Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act provides for meaningful, comprehensive reform through measures to strengthen border security, crack down on businesses that hire undocumented workers, provide a path for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to move out of the shadows and earn citizenship, and provide additional work visas for those seeking to enter the U.S.

Earned Citizenship vs. Guest Worker Programs and Amnesty

• A “Guest Worker Only” Approach Amounts to Indentured Servitude. Many conservatives, including President Bush, support a limited, temporary “guest worker” program. Bush’s approach, which allows undocumented workers to continue to work in the U.S. for six years — but offers them no labor protections or the chance to earn citizenship — amounts to a 21st century form of indentured servitude. This proposal would institutionalize a permanent underclass in which millions of “guest workers” are paid substantially lower wages than U.S. workers.
  
  
• “Earned Citizenship” Honors Hard Work, Our Immigrant Tradition. McCain-Kennedy’s Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act includes a responsible plan to help undocumented workers earn citizenship. Undocumented individuals seeking earned citizenship would have to apply for a six-year temporary status, have a job, pay taxes, obey the law, learn English, and pay a $2,000 penalty for having come here illegally. This is a rigorous but fair process which honors the American value of rewarding hard work and our tradition as a dynamic country of immigrants.

• No Amnesty, No Cutting in Line. We cannot reward those who have broken the law with amnesty, nor can we allow the undocumented to “cut in front of the more than 3 million ‘green card’ applicants who have obeyed the law.” The earned citizenship provision of McCain-Kennedy is not an amnesty.

Tough, Competent Enforcement

• Crack Down on Border Security and Corporate Abettors. Increased border security is an essential part of reform. We also have to crack down on the corporate abettors that routinely and knowingly hire undocumented workers. The Bush administration has a dismal record on employer enforcement. In 2004, the administration issued only three notices of intent to fine employers (PDF) for hiring undocumented workers, a drop from 417 in 1999, according to a Government Accountability Report. As long as employers are willing to hire undocumented workers, people will find a way to come here illegally. We need tougher penalties and tougher enforcement.
  
  
• Mass Deportation is Unrealistic. In testimony before the Senate, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff took deportation off the table saying that it would be “hugely, hugely difficult to do” and cost “billions and billions and billions of dollars.” The Center for American Progress released a report last summer which estimated that it would cost $41.2 billion annually for five years to deport the undocumented population. That is more than the entire DHS budget.
  
  
• Protect our Security; Bring the Undocumented Out of the Shadows. Keeping these individuals in the shadows poses a potential threat to our security. We do not know who is here or who is trying to enter the country. Providing a path to legal entry and bringing the undocumented in the U.S. out of the shadows and subjecting them to a background check as part of the path to citizenship will enable law enforcement to focus on terrorists and criminals.