Congress Reconsiders Comprehensive Immigration Reform
by Austin Evers, Editor at Large
Recently, more than 300 people were aggressively rounded up by immigration agents in a raid of a
This incident arose in the context of a broader debate over immigration policy, and while Congress did not pass comprehensive reform last year, immigration is reemerging as a hot button issue. The reemerging debate is forming along familiar lines with politicians and think tanks once again advocating border security and various citizenship options.
According to recent report released by the nonpartisan Drum Major Institute (DMI), many of these prescriptions are probably best understood as attempts to address the underlying economic and social insecurities at the heart of the debate. To ensure that these insecurities are actually addressed, DMI advocates putting American middle class interests first, which they argue does not include mass deportations, an armed border, or formalizing an immigrant underclass of workers.
DMI approaches possible immigration reforms from an understanding that immigration policy should focus on ensuring that
This framework is also useful for evaluating the state of the immigration debate as it reemerges. On Monday, March 21, for example, Congressmen Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced a bill into the House largely modeled after the Kennedy-McCain proposal from last year. The bill would allow illegal immigrants who arrived in the
Senator Kennedy (D-MA) has indicated that he will also reintroduce his immigration plan, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, possibly without the support of Senator McCain (R-AZ). Kennedy’s bill failed last year in part because of a lack of support in the House, but the new bipartisan House bill sponsored by Reps. Gutierrez and Flake may signal that this obstacle has been removed. The potential for a congressional investigation into the
At the moment, immigration reform appears poised for another round in the legislative grinder. And while the issue may receive different treatment this time around, it remains charged with the same emotional and political power as always. This power–reflected in the arguments of middle class advocates like DMI and in incidents like the
Written By:Matt Browner-Hamlin On March 30, 2007 1:08 PM Written By:My DMI comments On March 30, 2007 3:20 PM
What a wonderful fantasy world DMI and this site inhabit, in which we can put a huge flashing "WE GIVE AMNESTY" sign above the U.S., and then end illegal immigration and not have to conduct any more workplace raids.
More on their study at the link.
To avoid separating parents from children, the United States should amend the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." Granting automatic citizenship only to citizens born, at home or abroad, to American citizens would bring U.S. immigration policy into line with the rest of the world, including Mexico.
As the Baby Boom begin to retire, our labor shortage will grow more acute. We need to streamline the immigration process for immigrants who want to stay in the United Sates and a guest worker program for immigrants who want to work in the United States but eventually return to their home countries.
We should require industries that want to hire guest workers to subsidize housing for them. A single male worker whose primary goal is to earn money to supporting his family back home might perfer living in a domitory or even a barracks environment.
First, we need a more accurate estimate of how many guest workers we actually need. (The line of job apllicants streached for blocks at some plants that put up "Help Wanted" signs to replace undocumented immigrants hauled away during immigration raids. Other plants increase wages to fill slots vacated by undocmented workers.
For a summary of the STRIVE Act, see: http://flake.house.gov/UploadedFiles/STRIVE%20Summary.pdf.
I think the tact for analyzing US immigration policy espoused by DMI makes tremendous sense in that it preserves what makes America strong (openness, fairness) while seeking to grow the American economy within lawful boundaries.
While debate on immigration has focused largely on criminal issues, thanks to the work of nativists like Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, the policy discussions on their terms lacks a recognition of the lives it effects. Destroying families, even the families of illegal immigrants, should never be a byproduct of federal policies. I hope that DMI, Kennedy, and Gutierrez are able to shift the discussion in a sensible, humane direction.