Senate Buckles Down to Work on Immigration Reform
March 06, 2006
The Committee has a tough job ahead of it. Legislators are sharply divided over immigration reform as a solution to the economic and national security concerns of a post 9/11 America, if the number of proposals on the table is any indication.
The Chairman Takes On Immigration Reform
On February 23, 2006, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced his own proposal for comprehensive immigration reform.
Specter’s plan includes a guest worker program called the H-2C whereby undocumented immigrants who are present and working in the US since January 4, 2004 can apply for a temporary visa that will allow them to continue working and to travel abroad. The H-2C visa would be good for three years and may be renewed for another 3 years for a maximum stay of 6 years. The alien, however, would have to leave the US for another year before s/he can apply for another H-2C.
The H-2C holder cannot change his/her status to another nonimmigrant category. S/he must find employment with an employer eligible to hire an H-2C holder within 45 days if s/he loses his or her job. Otherwise, s/he must leave the US. If the 3 years have not expired and an eligible employer is found, the H-2C holder may re-enter.
Specter’s plan increases the number of family-based visas to 480,000 (from 226,000) and allows for recapture of visas that have not been used because of processing delays. Employment-based quotas will increase to 290,000 (from 140,000) with per country limits also increased and likewise allowing recapture of unused visas.
As an incentive to those pursuing advanced degrees in math, engineering, technology or physical sciences, Specter’s plan proposes an F-4 classification wherein foreign students can enter as intended immigrants to pursue graduate studies. After completing their studies and attaining full-time employment, such foreign students can apply for permanent residence upon a payment of $1,000.
Possible Middle Ground?
Specter’s 305-page proposal for immigration reform purportedly attempts to reconcile the enforcement-only slant of the Cornyn-Kyl Bill and the liberal provisions of the McCain-Kennedy Bill in an effort to appease as many interest groups as possible.
It has been touted as a possible middle ground because it combines certain elements of the contending McCain-Kennedy Bill and the Cornyn-Kyl Bill. Specter’s plan supposedly addresses visa backlogs (as does the McCain-Kennedy Bill) by increasing the number of family-based and employment-based visas, and allowing for the recapture of unused visas.
Unfortunately, Specter’s plan hews more closely to the Cornyn-Kyl Bill in the most crucial aspect of comprehensive immigration reform on the treatment of undocumented immigrants.
Specter’s plan like that of the Cornyn-Kyl Bill offers no path to permanent residency for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country today. Considering they have been in living in the US for several years, there is practically no incentive for undocumented immigrants to sign up for Specter’s guest worker program since they will eventually be asked to leave after 6 years on the H-2C.
This offers little consolation to the fact that Specter’s plan allows undocumented immigrants to apply for H-2C in the US unlike the send-them-home-first proposal of Senators Cornyn and Kyl.
Four-Way Match
With Specter’s plan joining the fray, it will be difficult to project what the Senate’s proposal for immigration reform will eventually look like. Up for consideration by the Senate as well are the bipartisan McCain-Kennedy Bill, the restrictionist Cornyn-Kyl Bill, and the 4-bill package of Senator Chuck Hagel.
Former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, in a Mercury News report commented that, this is probably a longer debate than simply this Congress.
Both sides of the immigration debate are critical of Specter’s plan, despite its middle-of-the-road positioning.
At this point, any of the proposals pending in the Senate would appear palatable in comparison to the immigration reform bill that the House passed in December. It will be recalled that the House of Representatives handed out an early Christmas gift to the immigrant community by passing H.R. 4437 which seeks to criminalize not just undocumented immigrants, but anyone who assists them.
President Bush, on the other hand, already noted that an enforcement-only legislation is not enough, while reiterating his preference for a guest worker program and disapproval of amnesty.
In the meantime, the public is already weighing in on this issue. Hundreds of faith-based, business, labor and immigrant rights groups across the nation have already expressed their support for the bipartisan McCain-Kennedy Bill, even as restrictionist legislators deflect attention from genuine immigration reform by harping on national security concerns in a post 9/11 America. The debate may take long but it promises to be an interesting one.
For its part, the Filipino American community must come forward and speak in one voice. We must be firm and unequivocal about what we believe to be the genuine immigration reform proposal. We must strive to make immigration reform a priority by raising public awareness of the dismal condition of the existing immigration system and its impact on the lives of thousands of immigrant families who have made America their new home.