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IMMIGRATION
REFORM: A GROWING NEED TO ACT.
September
2007.
The
effort in July 2007 to reform the broken immigration system was defeated
in Congress by Republican-led filibuster. The defeated bill was a
bi-partisan proposal that aimed at passing comprehensive immigration
reform. While everybody acknowledges the immigration system as broken,
no party seems to be showing the leadership necessary to fix the
problem. Critics of comprehensive immigration reform saw the proposal as
amnesty. However, immigration critics are not offering an alternative
solution to the problem, and thus indirectly support the illegality and
status quo of a broken immigration system.
Comprehensive immigration reform would create legal entry channels, thus
stopping the illegal influx of immigrants and enabling families to stay
together. U.S. employers would not choose to hire undocumented employees
at cheap wages over American born workers because of the legal duty to
pay a fair wage to all workers.
Tragically, immigration policy failure has had a costly impact on
immigrants and their families. Millions of undocumented people continue
to risk their lives in crossing the dangerous U.S./Mexico border and
live in fear, more vulnerable to employer exploitation. Opposing
comprehensive immigration is equivalent to supporting illegal
immigration over the development of adequate legal channels.
The next
steps by Congress are still unclear. The failure of Congress on
immigration has resulted in state governments taking the issue into
their hands by passing local immigration legislation. Some local
authorities have passed anti-immigrant laws that penalize landlords who
rent to undocumented immigrants, deny immigrants access to public social
benefits and authorize traffic police to check immigration status
whenever someone is pulled over for a routine traffic stop. This has
destroyed neighborhood trust and increased racial profiling incidents.
The Bush
Administration announced on August 10th, the implementation
of an enforcement-only strategy on immigration. One of the strategies is
to penalize employers who hire undocumented immigrants by sending them
social security no-match letters. This strategy will impact the economy
as workers will be vulnerable to losing their jobs. It also has civil
rights implications The No-Match letter is sent by the Social Security
Administration notifying the employer that reports submitted on W-2
forms do not match the SSA records, with an intention of correcting
numbers so that the database has accurate information on employee
earning records. However, the DHS is now using those SSA records to
enforce immigration laws, hence raising questions about DHS authority
over the SSA.
Failure
to act to reform immigration is unacceptable. Comprehensive immigration
reform would put an end to illegality and protect American born workers.
Comprehensive reforms would stop immigrant border deaths in the deserts
of the Southwest. Supporting Comprehensive immigration reform is about
humane treatment of immigrants. It is about protecting human life; a
fundamental value to both political parties. Comprehensive Immigration
reform is good for the economy and for the security of the nation.
The
enforcement only strategy evinced in an upcoming Republican sponsored
bill (S-1984: Immigration Enforcement and Border Security Act
of 2007) would lead to greater employee exploitation and is a
security risk in the post 9/11 world. Send a strong message to your
Congressional representative that Comprehensive Immigration Reform is
essential, and that he/she should oppose any enforcement bills such as
S.-1984.
Time is
running out; comprehensive immigration reform is a growing need that
requires bold action now.
More
information:
www.immigrationforum.org
www.cirnow.org |
