The immigration reform bill introduced last week in the House of Representatives by Illinois Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, is co-sponsored by 87 other representatives from the Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, and Prrogressive caucus, a good starting point for what will be a tough political battle in the coming months.
Gutiérrez and his co-sponsors are preparing for the upcoming intense negotiations by submitting a bill that proposes practically everything that immigrant advocates want to see enacted as law.
It includes the legalization of all undocumented immigrants who arrived before December 15, the restructuring of visas to accelerate the immigration of those waiting, deep reforms to the detention system for the undocumented, greater independence of action for immigration judges, higher fines for employers, and tools to verify employment eligibility, without leading to a national identity card. It would eliminate programs such as Streamline and 287g and includes the awaited Ag Jobs and DREAM Act provisions, to legalize farm workers and young, undocumented students. It also requires a national border security strategy and establishes a commission to evaluate the country’s labor needs.
We must remember that this is not the official bill of the House leadership, and that the Senate may introduce a much more moderate bill, so Gutiérrez is being very ambitious, knowing that he will never get everything he is asking for and that he will have to give up something at some point down the road. Not even that will be easy. The two previous attempts, in 2006 and 2007, were defeated when unemployment was just above 4%. Now it is more than double that figure.
Participation by Latinos will be key. Our recent survey of Latino voters (in collaboration with Latino Decisions and RWJF) found a great deal of unity on the issue of reform and the desire for President Obama to keep his campaign promise of reform that benefits immigrants and the country.
La Opinión
The immigration reform bill introduced last week in the House of Representatives by Illinois Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, is co-sponsored by 87 other representatives from the Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, and Prrogressive caucus, a good starting point for what will be a tough political battle in the coming months.
Gutiérrez and his co-sponsors are preparing for the upcoming intense negotiations by submitting a bill that proposes practically everything that immigrant advocates want to see enacted as law.
It includes the legalization of all undocumented immigrants who arrived before December 15, the restructuring of visas to accelerate the immigration of those waiting, deep reforms to the detention system for the undocumented, greater independence of action for immigration judges, higher fines for employers, and tools to verify employment eligibility, without leading to a national identity card. It would eliminate programs such as Streamline and 287g and includes the awaited Ag Jobs and DREAM Act provisions, to legalize farm workers and young, undocumented students. It also requires a national border security strategy and establishes a commission to evaluate the country’s labor needs.
We must remember that this is not the official bill of the House leadership, and that the Senate may introduce a much more moderate bill, so Gutiérrez is being very ambitious, knowing that he will never get everything he is asking for and that he will have to give up something at some point down the road. Not even that will be easy. The two previous attempts, in 2006 and 2007, were defeated when unemployment was just above 4%. Now it is more than double that figure.
Participation by Latinos will be key. Our recent survey of Latino voters (in collaboration with Latino Decisions and RWJF) found a great deal of unity on the issue of reform and the desire for President Obama to keep his campaign promise of reform that benefits immigrants and the country.
