Sustained Action Needed to Push for Legalization
March 31, 2006
The Committee voted 12-6 to submit the bill to the full Senate for further deliberation and approval. Any Senate bill that comes out after full Senate deliberation would have to be reconciled with the tough anti-immigrant H.R. 4437, which was passed by the House of Representatives last December.
This development represents a major victory for immigrant rights advocates, but the struggle for immigration reform is by no means over. Our attention should now be focused on what will happen in the Senate over the next several weeks as conservative Republican senators attempt to water down pro-immigrant provisions in the bill.
Hopefully, our continued involvement in the campaign for immigration reform will convince our legislators that the best way to fix our broken immigration system is through comprehensive reform.
Major Gains
The Committee bill contains the legalization architecture of the McCain-Kennedy Bill, according to an update released by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sought to amend the bill to include the legalization provision and explained that the proposed amendment is not amnesty because undocumented immigrants would have to pay a $1,000 fine, pass a background check, pay another $1,000, if (the undocumented) want(s) a green card, pay back taxes, prove (the undocumented) learned English.
He noted that these are not low hurdles, and that legalization is different from the amnesty program of President Ronald Reagan, whom he described as one of the greatest conservatives of all time.
The guest worker program would allow 400,000 foreign workers to enter the US each year and provide a path to citizenship as well.
The bill would increase the number of border patrols and provide for unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the US-Mexico border.
To soften the impact of the anti-alien smuggling provision, the bill would protect those who provide various non-emergency services as well as organizations such as hospitals that charge a fee for such services from being criminalized.
Vox Populi
Only 4 of the 10 Republicans in the panel voted with all of the Democrats for the bill. The four included Committee Chair, Senator Arlen Specter (PA), Graham, Mike DeWine (OH) and Sam Brownback (KS). The breakaway of the four Republican senators was said to reflect the differences within the ruling Republican party over immigration reform.
The Senators acknowledged that the series of mass actions that took place before the March 27 session persuaded them to work together on a bipartisan solution.
The passage of H.R. 4437, seemed to have backfired at restrictionists as thousands organized pro-immigrant mass actions across the country. The hundred-thousand march in Chicago, considered the largest pro-immigrant rally in recent history, was surpassed several days later by the half-a-million march in Los Angeles to express widespread opposition to H.R. 4437.
The Filipino American community has also actively campaigned for immigration reform. The National Federation of Filipino American Associations has already embarked on a nationwide petition-signing campaign, with various Filipino American organizations opposing H.R. 4437 and endorsing the McCain-Kennedy Bill.
I was also privileged to lead a public discussion on immigration reform last March 23 organized by the Philippine Consulate in New York and co-sponsored by NaFFAA Eastern Region, PIDC, PAFCOM, PDOC, PACEC and FPSNJ. Many Filipino American organizations in the northeast attended the affair and expressed their commitment to continue the fight for comprehensive immigration reform.
Counteracting Restrictionism
In the meantime, restrictionists are trying to get their act together with mass actions that trumpet their anti-immigrant agenda.
For instance, a demonstration against the President’s failure to enforce immigration laws and for calling the Minutemen vigilantes, is scheduled at President Bush’s Crawford Ranch on May 6.
For the entire month of April, the Minutemen will hold border patrols along 800 miles of international borders in northern and southern states. The border patrols will observe and report unauthorized border crossings to authorities. They are under a no contact policy except for giving water to undocumented aliens in distress.
Also, a cross-country bicycle ride will kick off on May 22 and end in Washington D.C. on September 15, 2006. Bike riders will embark on three separate routes covering 48 state capitols on their way to D.C.
The submission of a broad immigration reform package means the full Senate is now the arena for the next battle for immigration reform. We must monitor closely what goes on in the Senate and keep in close touch with our Senators to impress upon them the urgency and importance of this issue
We can build on the gains we have made so far and push harder for a just and humane law for immigrants.