After a period of relative silence from Senator McCain on immigration, the presidential candidate and long time ILIR supporter, made his position clear during a speech in California today. Read the full story from the AP here.
In other media clippings, Lou Dobbs has finally been taken to task about his infamous comments about immigrants spreading disease and pestilence!!
Read the full story from the NY Times here.
Also read John Duddy comments on the Irish community and his support for the ILIR.
And, just in case you're in need of a little more encouragement to call your Senators and Congresspeople again this week, have a read of this editorial and remind yourself that the nay-sayers are in the minority and that, as last weeks NY Times/CBS poll found, 75% of respondents supported a path to legalization.
Keep the pressure on and keep up the good work!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Bush Steps Up
Today in Georgia, President Bush was very vocal on the topic of immigration reform. The President called on the skeptics to "give us a chance to fix the problems in a comprehensive way that enforces our border and treats people with decency and respect." Read the full article from the AP here.
Maybe, while we're making all our phone calls to the Senate and to Congress this week, we should give George W. a call too, and encourage him to make more statements like this in favor of comprehensive immigration reform so we can get this job done, once and for all!
Maybe, while we're making all our phone calls to the Senate and to Congress this week, we should give George W. a call too, and encourage him to make more statements like this in favor of comprehensive immigration reform so we can get this job done, once and for all!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Happy Memorial Day!
What perfect weather for a barbeque!
And while you're waiting on the hot dogs and hamburgers, pick up the phone and call your Senators and Congress people. Wish them a happy Memorial Day and remind them of the generations of Irish who have proudly served in the US military.
Let that be the first message they get tomorrow morning! Legalize the Irish!
And while you're waiting on the hot dogs and hamburgers, pick up the phone and call your Senators and Congress people. Wish them a happy Memorial Day and remind them of the generations of Irish who have proudly served in the US military.
Let that be the first message they get tomorrow morning! Legalize the Irish!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Is The Tide Turning?
Today, one of the more conservative Republican senators, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, said on national tv that "we do have a bill that should be worked." Coming only days after the public opinion poll by New York Times/CBS News, perhaps the nay-sayers are finally starting to see reason and understand that the current status quo is not what the public want from their law makers. Read the entire article on Bloomberg.com here.
Let's keep the pressure on over the holiday recess with phone calls to all our Senators. Thank those who already support a path to legalization and help those still on the fence make up their mind!!
Let's keep the pressure on over the holiday recess with phone calls to all our Senators. Thank those who already support a path to legalization and help those still on the fence make up their mind!!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Senate Finishes Round One on Immigration Debate
News from the National Immigration Forum
The Senate has concluded its debate on the immigration bill until it returns from the Memorial week recess on Monday June 4.
Regarding the votes that were the subject of the action alert sent earlier this week, the Coleman amendment on state and local enforcement was defeated 48 to 49. A vote on the Cornyn amendment was postponed until after the recess.
Here is a summary of the votes that have occurred so far.
Votes on May 22
- A Dorgan (D-ND) amendment, to strike the Y temporary worker program, was defeated by a vote of 31 to 65.
Votes on May 23
A Bingaman (D-NM) amendment, to reduce the cap on Y temporary workers to 200,000, was agreed to by a vote of 74 to 24.
A Feinstein (D-CA) -Martinez (D-NJ) amendment, to provide for the protection of unaccompanied minors, was agreed to by voice vote.
A Gregg (R-NH) amendment, to provide even more resources for border enforcement, was agreed to by voice vote.
A Graham (R-SC) amendment, to provide for minimum sentences for those who re-enter the United States after removal, was agreed to by unanimous consent.
A Leahy (D-VT) amendment, having to do with rules applicable to immigrants employed as dairy workers, was agreed to by unanimous consent.
A Hutchison (R-TX) amendment, providing local officials and the Secretary of Homeland Security greater involvement in decisions regarding the location of border fencing, was agreed to by unanimous consent.
Votes on May 24
An Akaka (D-HI) amendment to exempt children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitations on immigrant visas was agreed to by a vote of 87 to 9.
A Coleman (R-MN) amendment, to bar localities from having policies that bar officials from asking about immigration status in the course of law enforcement or dispensing other services, was defeated by a vote of 48 to 49.
A Dorgan (D-NC) amendment, to sunset the temporary worker program after five years, was rejected by a vote of 48 to 49.
A Sanders (D-VT) amendment, to establish the American Competitiveness Scholarship Program, passed by a vote of 59 to 35.
A Vitter (R-LA) amendment, to strike the legalization program, was defeated by a vote of 29 to 66.
New on the Forum Web site
Our comprehensive reform legislation page has been updated to reflect this week's activity.
http://www.immigrationforum.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=879
There are links to resources, including a Q & A on the Senate bill, "Questions and Answers about the Senate Immigration Bill"
http://www.immigrationforum.org/documents/PolicyWire/Legislation/110/SenateBillQ&A.pdf
Friday, May 25, 2007
May 25 News Clips; NYT Poll Shows Massive Support
The big news today is that a new poll from The New York Times shows that a massive majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status and to create a new guest worker program. Read the full story here or select from the links below
May 25, 2007
Washington Post, DC
Washington Post, DC
Washington Post, DC
New York Times, NY
San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Orange County Register, CA
Orlando Sentinel, FL
Orlando Sentinel, FL
Denver Post, CO
Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Latest vote from the Senate!
Did everyone see the latest news from the Senate this evening? Theres a great article from the AP here , talking about how, even though the margins might be tight, the "unlikely coalition" of Senators guiding this bill through are determined to get the job done.
It's more important than ever that we call our hard working Senators over the next week, while they're on recess, to thank them for all they have done so far and let them know that the Irish support them!
It's more important than ever that we call our hard working Senators over the next week, while they're on recess, to thank them for all they have done so far and let them know that the Irish support them!
May 24 News Clips
Editorial | Immigration Reform
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
Southern border, bad policy exposed
Chicago Tribune, IL (editorial)
Immigration bill may offer hope, but at a cost
Boston Globe, MA
Congress putting the cart before the horse on immigration
Contra Costa Times, CA
Irish Undocumented Cautiously Optimistic
Irish Voice, NY
Senate Bill Survives Initial Test
Irish Voice, NY
Rally urges petition support
Orlando Sentinel, FL
takahashi We need more Andy Groves, Vinod Khoslas - not fewer
San Jose Mercury News, CA
What's in the Immigration Bill for Ag
Dakota Farmer, SD
Rally urges reform to benefit immigrants
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
Supporters defend Kyl, immigration bill from Arizona critics
Bush Speaks About Immigration Reform
President Bush came out strongly in support of immigration reform today, saying:
I would much rather have people crossing the border with a legitimate card, coming to work on a temporary basis, than being stuffed in back of an 18-wheeler. And I would hope most Americans feel that, as well.Read the full extract by clicking here
Note to blog watchers
This is a forum for supporters of comprehensive immigration reform. It is NOT a forum for the anti-reform movement. If we feel your comment is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, we won't post it.
Immigration in the news in Ireland
Debate begins on US immigration reform bill
Robert Shortt, Washington Correspondent for RTE News in Ireland, reports on how possible reforms would affect Irish people in the US
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Greetings from East Coast Cailin
So what does everyone think about whats been happening in the Senate over the last couple of days? I'll be posting the updates for the next couple of weeks and would love to hear what everyone else is thinking.
ILIR testifies at House Hearing in DC
ILIR Chairman Niall O'Dowd testified at the House House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday May 22.He is shown here flanked by supporters of the ILIR who traveled down to DC for the day.
Please click here to read the testimony
The Future of Immigration; Washington Post
Immigration's Future
The Senate Compromise Asks the Right Questions
The Senate Compromise Asks the Right Questions
By Tamar Jacoby
Wednesday, May 23, 2007; A21
The immigration deal the Senate produced last week is far from perfect, and its critics, left and right, make many valid points. But much of the criticism misses the forest for the trees. Left out of the debate: the historic scope and significance of the deal -- its ambition to deliver an immigration system that grapples with globalization and the choices it poses for America.
As usual, those yelling "amnesty" are the loudest voices. But they are increasingly out of sync with the public on immigration. Poll after poll in the past year shows 60 to 85 percent of voters in favor of an overhaul that would allow illegal immigrants to earn their way to citizenship by meeting certain requirements -- generally far less stringent requirements than those in the Senate compromise, which includes a $5,000 fine, at least a 13-year wait and a trip back to the immigrant's country of origin.
More striking still, even many voters who consider earned citizenship "amnesty" so badly want the immigration problem solved that they no longer care about the label. According to the Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners, 33 percent of the public think earned citizenship is "the same as amnesty." But a full 62 percent of even these people support the program anyway, compared with 29 percent who oppose it. In other words, less than one-third of one-third of Americans -- just under 10 percent -- agree with the talk-radio hosts screaming "amnesty" to block an overhaul.
As for the right's new argument that requiring illegal immigrants to register and undergo security checks is amnesty, that's preposterous. Even registering -- as distinct from citizenship -- will cost $1,000. And surely it would be good for the country to know these workers' real names, vet their backgrounds and get them paying their full freight in taxes.
But the amnesty crowd isn't only wrong and out of sync, it's also focused on the wrong part of the deal. The 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country are here illegally because our current immigration system doesn't let in enough legal workers to meet the labor needs of our growing economy. Of course, we have to clean up the mistakes of the past and find an appropriate way to deal with those who came illegally in recent decades. But this is much less important than the larger question of how to structure the system going forward so that we don't make the same mistake again.
And this, to its credit, is what the bipartisan Senate group has tried to do by asking: How many workers do we need? Should they come on temporary or permanent visas? Can we find a way to take advantage of the modern world's increasingly integrated labor markets and still make choices about whom we want as citizens?
Last year's Senate bill hid these critical questions under a euphemism: a "temporary worker" program that would have allowed temporary workers to stay on permanently if they wanted to. And many of those questioning this year's deal have yet to grapple squarely with the hardest choices. True, as critics say, our immigration system has traditionally been based on family ties. And newcomers' extended families often function as a social safety net, helping them do better than they would as individuals struggling alone. But surely family ties are not the only criteria that should guide us in deciding what mix of immigrants best serves our country's interests.
The Senate didn't get all the answers right. I don't think the compromise strikes the right balance between skilled and unskilled, or between temporary and permanent. And it fails to own up to the full extent of our labor needs by providing enough green cards. Much as we need doctors and engineers, we also need farmhands and construction workers. And I worry that the Mexican dishwasher who starts out on a temporary visa, works hard and eventually rises to kitchen manager won't stand a chance in the competition for limited permanent slots.
Still, unlike many critics, the Senate reformers are asking the right questions. And even if their answers fall short, they have jump-started a long-overdue debate.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
ILIR steps up campaign
The ILIR has stepped up its campaign on behalf of the undocumented Irish in the US. We've heard that several Republican offices are under intense pressure from "no-amnesty" crowd. Hard to see how the bill being debated on the Senate floor can be called amnesty, but there you are.
The ILIR is appealing to all volunteers to start making phone calls to their Senators to let them know we support comprehensive immigration reform. All useful numbers can be found here
The ILIR is appealing to all volunteers to start making phone calls to their Senators to let them know we support comprehensive immigration reform. All useful numbers can be found here
Monday, May 21, 2007
Immigration Update
May 21, 2007
An Advocate Rallies to Unify GOP on Immigration
Washington Post, DC
Discord on the Immigration Accord
Washington Post, DC
After Aiding Bill on Immigration, Employers Balk
New York Times, NY
As We See It: Immigration breakthrough: Bipartisan Senate deal ...
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA
The Devil Is in the Details
National Review Online, NY
Gutierrez's last immigration stand
Chicago Tribune, IL
Congress takes hopeful first steps toward immigration reform
Statesman Journal, OR
Immigration foes target Menendez
NorthJersey.com, NJ
Immigration reform plan seems plausible
Gary Post Tribune, IN
Immigration reform plan gets mixed local reviews
Green Bay Press Gazette, WI
Immigration reform hurdle: carrying it out
Miami Herald, FL
As Salazar opens door, Tancredo's the bouncer
Denver Post, CO
Senate set to debate immigration overhaul
Boston Globe, MA
Senators build a frame for immigration reform, one that can and ...
Houston Chronicle, TX
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Immigration Update
May 20, 2007
Tech Firms Put Off by Immigration Fairness
Washington Post, DC
Watching and waiting on immigration reform
Orange County Register, CA
Best chance yet at immigration fix
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
THE SUNDAY COLUMN: Immigration: No easy answers
Newsday, NY
12 million immigrants out of the shadows
Seattle Times, WA
Illegal - but paying taxes
Denver Post, CO
A more humane immigration policy
Salt Lake Tribune, UT
Senators get earful on immigration
Gwinnett Daily Post, GA
Poster Child
Washington Post, DC
Friday, May 18, 2007
Adversaries praise a relentless Kennedy
As clock ticked, senator pressed sides for a pactBy Susan Milligan, Boston Globe
WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday night, Senator Edward M. Kennedy stared at an exhausted negotiating team of 20 senators and two Cabinet secretaries and said, "Let's shoot for 10 o'clock tomorrow morning."
The negotiators were tantalizingly close to a historic deal to remake the nation's immigration system. But at several points, nervous senators were ready to give up. Republicans wanted to give temporary visas only to workers taking undersubscribed jobs. Democrats wanted to allow family members of immigrants to come in more quickly.
But Kennedy, the Senate's consummate dealmaker -- still indefatigable at 75 -- pushed hard at his fellow Democrats, wavering Republican moderates, and even members of the Bush administration, insisting that the deal-makers work all night Wednesday to beat the deadline imposed by the Senate leadership.
Yesterday, the two Cabinet secretaries -- both of whom have been subjects of Kennedy broadsides in the past -- lauded the Democrats' aging lion as the one indispensable player in the negotiating process.
"He's awesome," gushed Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff , as he left a news conference announcing the bipartisan agreement. "I'd say he was one of the critical leaders in putting together this deal."
Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez called it "a real privilege" to work with Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat and liberal stalwart who spends much of his time trying to thwart or undo Bush administration policies.
"It's obvious we're in different parties. We don't always agree," Gutierrez said. But, he added, Kennedy "is focused. He's very determined."
Kennedy's demand that negotiators have a deal by 10 a.m., Gutierrez said, was the "stimulus" that got the deal done.
A pact on immigration appeared dim at the beginning of the year. Several of the key Republican senators -- John McCain of Arizona, Mel Martinez of Florida, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina -- were starting to feel the pressure of election-year politics. Several were considering presidential runs. Graham was preparing to run for re election in a conservative state. And Martinez, a key supporter of overhauling immigration , was heading his party's Senate re election committee -- meaning he had to watch what he said for fear of alienating fellow Republicans.
But Kennedy -- aware that an immigration pact would need to be finished by summer or it would collapse in the heat of campaign ing -- moved quickly. He sat down with President Bush at the White House soon after the Democrats retook the Senate earlier this year, telling the president he thought the Democratic leadership could help salvage immigration legislation Bush had been trying to get for six years.
Kennedy said he used other opportunities, such as the annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon, to talk to the president about the issue. Some 10 weeks ago, Kennedy, Gutierrez, Chertoff, and about a dozen senators in both parties began a grueling series of negotiations, meeting for two hours several times a week in search of a deal.
"There were times he [Kennedy] blew up, and I had to calm him down. There were times I blew up, and he calmed me down," said Graham . But he said the Massachusetts lawmaker refused to let things drop.
"He was informed, determined, practical, and essential," Graham said. Asked whether there was a moment when Kennedy had saved the package when it appeared to be crumbling, Graham said, "112 moments."
Graham said he sensed some members of the Bush administration didn't completely trust Kennedy at the start of the talks. The Massachusetts senator had worked closely with Bush on the No Child Left Behind education bill, but Kennedy had been a frequent and sometimes brutal critic of the White House, particularly over the Iraq war.
Immigration could be a potent political issue for both parties next year, with traditionally Democratic labor unions opposed to expanded immigration and conservatives insisting it is wrong to reward illegal immigrants with the possibility of citizenship.
"They thought, 'Does Kennedy want a bill? Or is he setting us up for a fall?' " Graham said, referring to unnamed White House aides. But once they were convinced Kennedy genuinely wanted a bill -- something the Massachusetts senator demonstrated by the sheer time commitment he made -- "things started to move forward," Graham said.
Stuck in a room together in bipartisan talks unusual for Congress and the Bush administration, the negotiators began to talk as fellow Americans, telling stories about their own families and immigrant experiences. Kennedy talked about his family's Irish history.
Several times, senators on both sides seemed ready to give up.
"You'd say, 'My God, if this thing isn't in, we've got no plan,' " Kennedy said, recalling the fluid nature of the talks.
At 8 a.m. yesterday , Kennedy called Graham. "This is coming apart, that's coming apart," Graham recalled Kennedy telling him. Kennedy cajoled the team into a final negotiating session, and the group came to an agreement by midday -- two hours after the deadline set by the Bay State senator.
Kennedy celebrated by meeting with several families affected by the March raid on illegal immigrants in New Bedford .
"They're still reeling from that," Kennedy said.
"When I told them the bill would make them safe and secure, you should have seen the look in their eyes. They knew they didn't have to be scared."
Thursday, May 17, 2007
ILIR Statement on Immigration Deal
The ILIR welcomes today's announcement that key Senators have reached a deal with the White House on immigration.
We believe a significant hurdle has been cleared, however, we know that the work has just begun and we will be studying the proposed bill in great detail.
We want to thank the members of both parties and President Bush for the tireless effort they have put in to this bipartisan effort.
We look forward to working with them in the future.
Click here to read more about this new announcement
We believe a significant hurdle has been cleared, however, we know that the work has just begun and we will be studying the proposed bill in great detail.
We want to thank the members of both parties and President Bush for the tireless effort they have put in to this bipartisan effort.
We look forward to working with them in the future.
Click here to read more about this new announcement
New York Times: Deal Is Reached in Senate on Immigration
Deal Is Reached in Senate on Immigration
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: May 17, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 17 — Senators from both parties will announce an agreement this afternoon on a system to offer legal status to illegal immigrants, Congressional officials said today.
Details of the accord are to be announced at a news conference by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.
The announcement will not mean that a bill to ease the plight of immigrants and their families is at hand, since differences between the Senate and House on the issue must still be worked out. But the accord in the Senate is one big step closer to enactment of an immigration bill.
The senators who have been negotiating the details are known to have been considering a system that would give greater weight to immigrants’ education and to job skills deemed helpful to the economy in deciding whom to admit.
Under the proposal, the government would evaluate the qualifications and claims of many people seeking permission to immigrate using a point system.
Family ties would remain an important factor, but would have less weight than they do under current law.
The point system is one element of a comprehensive bill that calls for the biggest changes in immigration law and policy in more than 20 years. The full Senate plans to take up the legislation next week.
Although Democrats now control the Senate, the bill incorporates many ideas advanced in some form by President Bush. A draft of the legislation says that Congress intends to “increase American competitiveness through a merit-based evaluation system for immigrants.”
Moreover, it says, Congress will “reduce chain migration” by limiting the number of visas issued exclusively on account of kinship.
Democrats insisted, and Republicans agreed, that some points be awarded to people who had close relatives in the United States or could perform low-skill jobs for which there was a high demand.
Senator Graham, who has been one of the more optimistic negotiators, said on Wednesday, “There’s a 90 percent chance that we will get a deal this week.” Mr. Graham added that the legislation “would free up thousands of green cards in the future for people who meet our economic needs, while still allowing members of the nuclear family to come to this country.”
Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell University, said: “The legislation taking shape in the Senate represents a major philosophical shift. It tells the world that we are emphasizing characteristics that will enhance our global competitiveness, like education and job skills. We would not rely as much on family background as we have in the past.”
Under the proposal, Mr. Yale-Loehr said, “foreign-born spouses and minor children of United States citizens could still get green cards, but foreign-born siblings and adult children of citizens would be hurt.”
Senator Kennedy said on Wednesday that lawmakers had narrowed their differences on some issues.
“This is not the architecture of an immigration bill that I would have initially liked to see,” Mr. Kennedy said. “But this is a legislative process. A lot of different interests are at work. For the sake of this legislation, we had to come back to a point system. It will recognize a number of elements: high skills, low skills and family relationships. There are always differences about what the proportions ought to be.”
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, had set a test vote for Wednesday. But after learning that negotiators had made progress, he deferred it to Monday, to allow more time for talks.
The bill would offer legal status to most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. But they would not automatically qualify for citizenship. The proposal would require them to “touch back” in their home countries and apply for green cards, like other immigrants seeking permanent residence in the United States.
Some conservatives still dislike the idea of a large legalization program. But Mr. Graham said the bill struck a realistic balance.
“We are not going to put 12 million people in jail,” Mr. Graham said. “Nor should we give them an advantage over those who played by the rules to become citizens.”
Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said he had doubts about this approach, but said Congress had to do something because his constituents were telling him that “they feel they are being overrun with uncontrolled immigration.”
The legislation also calls for major increases in the Border Patrol and tougher enforcement at the border and in the workplace.
Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, one of the negotiators, said he wanted the new point system to be equitable. “We do not want to create a system that is just for the wealthiest and most educated immigrants,” Mr. Salazar said.
NEW YORK TIMES
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: May 17, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 17 — Senators from both parties will announce an agreement this afternoon on a system to offer legal status to illegal immigrants, Congressional officials said today.
Details of the accord are to be announced at a news conference by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.
The announcement will not mean that a bill to ease the plight of immigrants and their families is at hand, since differences between the Senate and House on the issue must still be worked out. But the accord in the Senate is one big step closer to enactment of an immigration bill.
The senators who have been negotiating the details are known to have been considering a system that would give greater weight to immigrants’ education and to job skills deemed helpful to the economy in deciding whom to admit.
Under the proposal, the government would evaluate the qualifications and claims of many people seeking permission to immigrate using a point system.
Family ties would remain an important factor, but would have less weight than they do under current law.
The point system is one element of a comprehensive bill that calls for the biggest changes in immigration law and policy in more than 20 years. The full Senate plans to take up the legislation next week.
Although Democrats now control the Senate, the bill incorporates many ideas advanced in some form by President Bush. A draft of the legislation says that Congress intends to “increase American competitiveness through a merit-based evaluation system for immigrants.”
Moreover, it says, Congress will “reduce chain migration” by limiting the number of visas issued exclusively on account of kinship.
Democrats insisted, and Republicans agreed, that some points be awarded to people who had close relatives in the United States or could perform low-skill jobs for which there was a high demand.
Senator Graham, who has been one of the more optimistic negotiators, said on Wednesday, “There’s a 90 percent chance that we will get a deal this week.” Mr. Graham added that the legislation “would free up thousands of green cards in the future for people who meet our economic needs, while still allowing members of the nuclear family to come to this country.”
Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell University, said: “The legislation taking shape in the Senate represents a major philosophical shift. It tells the world that we are emphasizing characteristics that will enhance our global competitiveness, like education and job skills. We would not rely as much on family background as we have in the past.”
Under the proposal, Mr. Yale-Loehr said, “foreign-born spouses and minor children of United States citizens could still get green cards, but foreign-born siblings and adult children of citizens would be hurt.”
Senator Kennedy said on Wednesday that lawmakers had narrowed their differences on some issues.
“This is not the architecture of an immigration bill that I would have initially liked to see,” Mr. Kennedy said. “But this is a legislative process. A lot of different interests are at work. For the sake of this legislation, we had to come back to a point system. It will recognize a number of elements: high skills, low skills and family relationships. There are always differences about what the proportions ought to be.”
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, had set a test vote for Wednesday. But after learning that negotiators had made progress, he deferred it to Monday, to allow more time for talks.
The bill would offer legal status to most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. But they would not automatically qualify for citizenship. The proposal would require them to “touch back” in their home countries and apply for green cards, like other immigrants seeking permanent residence in the United States.
Some conservatives still dislike the idea of a large legalization program. But Mr. Graham said the bill struck a realistic balance.
“We are not going to put 12 million people in jail,” Mr. Graham said. “Nor should we give them an advantage over those who played by the rules to become citizens.”
Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said he had doubts about this approach, but said Congress had to do something because his constituents were telling him that “they feel they are being overrun with uncontrolled immigration.”
The legislation also calls for major increases in the Border Patrol and tougher enforcement at the border and in the workplace.
Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, one of the negotiators, said he wanted the new point system to be equitable. “We do not want to create a system that is just for the wealthiest and most educated immigrants,” Mr. Salazar said.
NEW YORK TIMES
Immigration Update
May 17,2007
Immigration Overhaul Is Closer to Senate Floor
Washington Post, DC
No to Bush-Kennedy
National Review Online, NY
DEAL NEAR ON ALIEN CITIZENS
New York Post, NY
Farmers descend on DC to push immigration reform
Salt Lake Tribune, UT
Group to host immigration debate
Bradenton Herald, FL
Check who representatives work for
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
Plan favors immigrant skills, not families
St. Petersburg Times, FL
'Historic' Immigration Deal Would Alter Visa Allocation
New York Sun, NY
White House backs off alien safeguards
Washington Times, DC
Broken border promises
Washington Times, DC (Tom Tancredo)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Immigration Update from CIRNOW May 16
May 16, 2007
Immigration reform starts anew
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
McCain, Romney mix it up
Chicago Daily Herald, IL
The immigration debate features magical thinking
Denver Post, CO
Senate nearing immigration bill
Los Angeles Times, CA
Oakland City Council condemns federal immigration raids
San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Feinstein, growers push for farm jobs clause in immigration bill
San Jose Mercury News, CA
Senators Report Progress on a Complicated Bill on Immigration
New York Times, NY
Immigration deal a tough call for Kyl
Tucson Citizen, AZ
Monday, May 14, 2007
ILIR Joins CCIR for Wednesday May 16 Day of Action
The ILIR will be joining the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in a day of action at the Capitol on Wednesday May 16. Full report and pics on Wednesday evening.
Immigration News Around The Country
May 14, 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
RealClearPolitics, IL (Jim DeMint)
Newsday, NY
Sacramento Bee, CA
Los Angeles Times, CA
No immigration bill? Senate debates anyway
St. Petersburg Times, FL
Friday, May 11, 2007
NEW YORK TIMES: "Talks continued on a possible deal that would tie residency for millions of illegal immigrants to tougher border security..."
May 11, 2007
Immigration Deal in Peril
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:56 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Efforts to reach an immigration compromise faltered Thursday as Democrats and Republicans staked out divergent positions and prepared to blame each other for scuttling the best chance for a broad overhaul this year.
Talks continued on a possible deal that would tie residency for millions of illegal immigrants to tougher border security and a crackdown on employing undocumented workers. At the same time, however, Republicans and Democrats set the stage for a partisan battle next week that could squash any agreement.
Democrats plan to force a debate starting Tuesday on last year's Senate-passed immigration measure. Most Democrats supported that plan, which a majority of Republican senators opposed.
The move is designed to pressure Republicans to cut a deal or risk being blamed for undermining one.
President Bush is ''going to have to tell his Republicans, 'I want a bill,''' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. ''If we lose this opportunity to do immigration reform, (Bush) can't go around the country saying, 'I believe in comprehensive immigration reform.'''
GOP senators are promising to block the move, saying the series of secretive talks attended by the White House and a few Democrats needed more time to yield a compromise.
''It would be a shame if that arbitrary deadline resulted in the process coming to a halt,'' said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the No. 3 GOP leader.
The developing impasse could prevent the Senate from even opening debate next week on reshaping immigration laws.
The issue is fraught with political risks and rewards for both parties and is a priority for Bush. Absent a bipartisan deal, Democrats would almost certainly be unable to get the 60 votes they would need to overcome GOP opposition and bring up the bill, which was to be considered over the next two weeks.
Bush will continue to speak in favor of comprehensive changes in immigration policy and urge Congress to enact legislation he can sign into law this year, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in a statement.
''Top members of his staff and Cabinet meet almost daily with senators from both parties to work out the details of a comprehensive immigration reform package that will attract broad bipartisan support,'' Stanzel said.
For some lawmakers, their appetite for a bargain is waning.
The GOP position has ''moved far to the right'' since last year, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who has attended the talks.
''We have serious concerns about the workability and fairness of certain elements of the White House plan,'' Menendez added. He said the GOP proposal was ''a huge step backward'' from the 2006 measure, which 23 Republicans supported.
Talks have bogged down in a tangle of details. That has led officials in both parties to play down the chances for a breakthrough.
Publicly, Republicans remained sunny about the prospects of a compromise, reluctant to be seen as obstacles to achieving an item that polls show has broad support.
''I think it's pretty clear that the vast majority of Republicans want an immigration bill,'' said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Democrats are concerned the emerging bipartisan measure is going too far to placate GOP conservatives at the risk of alienating Democrats.
''Our frustration is, we look around the table of the negotiators, and they are trying to please Republican senators who were totally opposed to comprehensive immigration reform,'' said Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat. ''As a consequence, they are leaving behind a lot of mainstream Democrats and Republicans.''
Republicans, many of whom considered last year's measure unduly lenient toward illegal immigrants, said they were bent on supporting the new approach under discussion in the bipartisan talks.
Modeled after a White House draft circulated in late March, it would impose large fines, long waits and trips home on illegal immigrants seeking to gain legal status. It would shift the immigration system toward one based more heavily on skills and employment criteria, eliminating or curtailing opportunities for immigrants to bring their families to the U.S.
''Republicans need to stand firm for this framework,'' said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. ''The danger for Republicans would be that somehow they felt weak and defensive, and accepted so many compromises on this framework that it really is not true to the ideals it proposes.''
The negotiations have been extraordinarily sensitive for both sides. Democrats are wary of committing to anything stricter than last year's bill. Republicans are concerned about embracing anything that gives illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship -- decried by conservatives as ''amnesty.''
NEW YORK TIMES
Immigration Deal in Peril
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:56 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Efforts to reach an immigration compromise faltered Thursday as Democrats and Republicans staked out divergent positions and prepared to blame each other for scuttling the best chance for a broad overhaul this year.
Talks continued on a possible deal that would tie residency for millions of illegal immigrants to tougher border security and a crackdown on employing undocumented workers. At the same time, however, Republicans and Democrats set the stage for a partisan battle next week that could squash any agreement.
Democrats plan to force a debate starting Tuesday on last year's Senate-passed immigration measure. Most Democrats supported that plan, which a majority of Republican senators opposed.
The move is designed to pressure Republicans to cut a deal or risk being blamed for undermining one.
President Bush is ''going to have to tell his Republicans, 'I want a bill,''' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. ''If we lose this opportunity to do immigration reform, (Bush) can't go around the country saying, 'I believe in comprehensive immigration reform.'''
GOP senators are promising to block the move, saying the series of secretive talks attended by the White House and a few Democrats needed more time to yield a compromise.
''It would be a shame if that arbitrary deadline resulted in the process coming to a halt,'' said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the No. 3 GOP leader.
The developing impasse could prevent the Senate from even opening debate next week on reshaping immigration laws.
The issue is fraught with political risks and rewards for both parties and is a priority for Bush. Absent a bipartisan deal, Democrats would almost certainly be unable to get the 60 votes they would need to overcome GOP opposition and bring up the bill, which was to be considered over the next two weeks.
Bush will continue to speak in favor of comprehensive changes in immigration policy and urge Congress to enact legislation he can sign into law this year, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in a statement.
''Top members of his staff and Cabinet meet almost daily with senators from both parties to work out the details of a comprehensive immigration reform package that will attract broad bipartisan support,'' Stanzel said.
For some lawmakers, their appetite for a bargain is waning.
The GOP position has ''moved far to the right'' since last year, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who has attended the talks.
''We have serious concerns about the workability and fairness of certain elements of the White House plan,'' Menendez added. He said the GOP proposal was ''a huge step backward'' from the 2006 measure, which 23 Republicans supported.
Talks have bogged down in a tangle of details. That has led officials in both parties to play down the chances for a breakthrough.
Publicly, Republicans remained sunny about the prospects of a compromise, reluctant to be seen as obstacles to achieving an item that polls show has broad support.
''I think it's pretty clear that the vast majority of Republicans want an immigration bill,'' said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Democrats are concerned the emerging bipartisan measure is going too far to placate GOP conservatives at the risk of alienating Democrats.
''Our frustration is, we look around the table of the negotiators, and they are trying to please Republican senators who were totally opposed to comprehensive immigration reform,'' said Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat. ''As a consequence, they are leaving behind a lot of mainstream Democrats and Republicans.''
Republicans, many of whom considered last year's measure unduly lenient toward illegal immigrants, said they were bent on supporting the new approach under discussion in the bipartisan talks.
Modeled after a White House draft circulated in late March, it would impose large fines, long waits and trips home on illegal immigrants seeking to gain legal status. It would shift the immigration system toward one based more heavily on skills and employment criteria, eliminating or curtailing opportunities for immigrants to bring their families to the U.S.
''Republicans need to stand firm for this framework,'' said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. ''The danger for Republicans would be that somehow they felt weak and defensive, and accepted so many compromises on this framework that it really is not true to the ideals it proposes.''
The negotiations have been extraordinarily sensitive for both sides. Democrats are wary of committing to anything stricter than last year's bill. Republicans are concerned about embracing anything that gives illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship -- decried by conservatives as ''amnesty.''
NEW YORK TIMES
THE HILL: Reid: Bush must push his party forward on immigration reform
Reid: Bush must push his party forward on immigration reform
By Elana Schor
May 11, 2007
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday implored President Bush to intervene personally in his chamber’s bipartisan immigration talks, as time grew shorter for a deal that would avert a looming GOP filibuster.
Republicans struck an optimistic note after an afternoon huddle where their immigration negotiators briefed members on the outline that has earned the cautious approval of both parties’ emissaries. But many Republicans remain determined to derail any debate on last year’s immigration bill, which Reid has offered as a placeholder to buy time for further talks if a full agreement does not appear by next week.
The White House has sent two Cabinet secretaries and several senior aides to the table on immigration, but Reid told reporters that Bush’s personal involvement in the process could make the difference.
“We’re asking him, pleading with him to get involved,” Reid said, adding: “The president is going to have to tell his Republicans, ‘I want a bill.’ Right now these are broad concepts.”
If an immigration reform bill does not emerge after this go-round, Reid continued, Bush “can no longer go around the country saying, ‘I want comprehensive immigration reform.’”
Even as some Republicans edge closer to a procedural filibuster on last year’s immigration bill, which almost half of their conference supported at the time, others have lauded Reid for keeping the pressure on by sticking to his deadline of next week. Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said Reid, a former boxer, was enacting the “delicate dance” required of majority leaders, but Lott scoffed at the notion that Bush was not doing enough to encourage a deal.
“What do they want him to do, come over here and start writing out the bill into law? Get real,” Lott said.
Lott acknowledged that unless new legislation is available to call up before Reid moves to proceed to last year’s Senate-passed immigration bill, Republicans will probably object. The time for that final showdown remains unclear, but senators were eyeing a late vote on Tuesday.
Reid admitted that even he “wasn’t really wild about” last year’s immigration bill, which never reached a conference with the more conservative House under GOP control. This year’s framework is viewed as more hard-line than the previous version, and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said he has at times questioned Democrats’ willingness to move rightward in search of a consensus.
“The White House doesn’t seem to have tiptoed away from last year’s bipartisan position,” Menendez told reporters. “It seems they’ve taken a huge leap backward.”
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel defended Bush’s involvement in the immigration talks, noting via e-mail that Bush has called for an immigration deal at congressional retreats and multiple leadership meetings in addition to public appearances.
“He will continue to speak out about the issue and urge Congress to enact legislation he can sign into law this year,” Stanzel said.
But Tony Snow, chief White House spokesman, backed the spirit of Reid’s effort to move on last year’s bill during his briefing yesterday: “[Reid is] trying to create a placeholder so that those involved can have the time to be able to drop that other bill, and we appreciate it.”
Meanwhile, Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) outlined their must-have reform provisions alongside Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese. The two senators are staunch supporters of escalated border enforcement before any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. DeMint and Sessions declared last year’s immigration bill dead on arrival, as did Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
“This year, given the politics of the House with [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saying she wants 70 Republicans [backing immigration reform] … what we do in the Senate, I think, will be the bill,” Graham told reporters.
And time is running out for that bill. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) acknowledged the daunting workload Democratic leaders aim to complete before taking Memorial Day recess: the budget conference report, a Senate supplemental and likely supplemental conference report, and the labyrinthine immigration measure.
Yet Durbin dismissed the option of moving on to another bill next week to give immigration negotiators more time. That said, the two weeks cordoned off for immigration would be abruptly freed up should Republicans follow through on a procedural filibuster.
“We’re likely to move to a different bill,” Durbin said. “It might be energy.”
THE HILL
By Elana Schor
May 11, 2007
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday implored President Bush to intervene personally in his chamber’s bipartisan immigration talks, as time grew shorter for a deal that would avert a looming GOP filibuster.
Republicans struck an optimistic note after an afternoon huddle where their immigration negotiators briefed members on the outline that has earned the cautious approval of both parties’ emissaries. But many Republicans remain determined to derail any debate on last year’s immigration bill, which Reid has offered as a placeholder to buy time for further talks if a full agreement does not appear by next week.
The White House has sent two Cabinet secretaries and several senior aides to the table on immigration, but Reid told reporters that Bush’s personal involvement in the process could make the difference.
“We’re asking him, pleading with him to get involved,” Reid said, adding: “The president is going to have to tell his Republicans, ‘I want a bill.’ Right now these are broad concepts.”
If an immigration reform bill does not emerge after this go-round, Reid continued, Bush “can no longer go around the country saying, ‘I want comprehensive immigration reform.’”
Even as some Republicans edge closer to a procedural filibuster on last year’s immigration bill, which almost half of their conference supported at the time, others have lauded Reid for keeping the pressure on by sticking to his deadline of next week. Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said Reid, a former boxer, was enacting the “delicate dance” required of majority leaders, but Lott scoffed at the notion that Bush was not doing enough to encourage a deal.
“What do they want him to do, come over here and start writing out the bill into law? Get real,” Lott said.
Lott acknowledged that unless new legislation is available to call up before Reid moves to proceed to last year’s Senate-passed immigration bill, Republicans will probably object. The time for that final showdown remains unclear, but senators were eyeing a late vote on Tuesday.
Reid admitted that even he “wasn’t really wild about” last year’s immigration bill, which never reached a conference with the more conservative House under GOP control. This year’s framework is viewed as more hard-line than the previous version, and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said he has at times questioned Democrats’ willingness to move rightward in search of a consensus.
“The White House doesn’t seem to have tiptoed away from last year’s bipartisan position,” Menendez told reporters. “It seems they’ve taken a huge leap backward.”
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel defended Bush’s involvement in the immigration talks, noting via e-mail that Bush has called for an immigration deal at congressional retreats and multiple leadership meetings in addition to public appearances.
“He will continue to speak out about the issue and urge Congress to enact legislation he can sign into law this year,” Stanzel said.
But Tony Snow, chief White House spokesman, backed the spirit of Reid’s effort to move on last year’s bill during his briefing yesterday: “[Reid is] trying to create a placeholder so that those involved can have the time to be able to drop that other bill, and we appreciate it.”
Meanwhile, Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) outlined their must-have reform provisions alongside Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese. The two senators are staunch supporters of escalated border enforcement before any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. DeMint and Sessions declared last year’s immigration bill dead on arrival, as did Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
“This year, given the politics of the House with [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saying she wants 70 Republicans [backing immigration reform] … what we do in the Senate, I think, will be the bill,” Graham told reporters.
And time is running out for that bill. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) acknowledged the daunting workload Democratic leaders aim to complete before taking Memorial Day recess: the budget conference report, a Senate supplemental and likely supplemental conference report, and the labyrinthine immigration measure.
Yet Durbin dismissed the option of moving on to another bill next week to give immigration negotiators more time. That said, the two weeks cordoned off for immigration would be abruptly freed up should Republicans follow through on a procedural filibuster.
“We’re likely to move to a different bill,” Durbin said. “It might be energy.”
THE HILL
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Immigration Reform in the news around the nation
May 10, 2007
Act now, or wait two years for reform
Miami Herald, FL (editorial)
Showdown Brewing in Senate Over Immigration Reform
FOX News
Bipartisan push to overhaul immigration laws
MSNBC
Democrats vow to tackle immigration reform next week
Greeley Tribune, CO
Churches plan sanctuary
Northwest Herald, IL
Showdown on immigration in the works
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA
NYC religious leaders vow to provide sanctuary to immigrants
Newsday, NY
Sen. Kyl guiding reforms
AZ Central.com, AZ
'Temporary is temporary' won't work for all immigrants
Los Angeles Times, CA
Immigration reform to be topic of today's Pensacola prayer vigil
Pensacola News Journal, FL
Family of Marine hero torn apart by immigration policy
Houston Chronicle, TX
Democrats push for debate on immigration ideas
San Antonio Express, TX
By Stephen Dinan and Sean Lengell
Washington Times, DC
Act now, or wait two years for reform
Miami Herald, FL (editorial)
Showdown Brewing in Senate Over Immigration Reform
FOX News
Bipartisan push to overhaul immigration laws
MSNBC
Democrats vow to tackle immigration reform next week
Greeley Tribune, CO
Churches plan sanctuary
Northwest Herald, IL
Showdown on immigration in the works
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA
NYC religious leaders vow to provide sanctuary to immigrants
Newsday, NY
Sen. Kyl guiding reforms
AZ Central.com, AZ
'Temporary is temporary' won't work for all immigrants
Los Angeles Times, CA
Immigration reform to be topic of today's Pensacola prayer vigil
Pensacola News Journal, FL
Family of Marine hero torn apart by immigration policy
Houston Chronicle, TX
Democrats push for debate on immigration ideas
San Antonio Express, TX
By Stephen Dinan and Sean Lengell
Washington Times, DC
Washington Post: Reid Forces New Senate Debate on Immigration
Reid Forces New Senate Debate on ImmigrationHe Would Revisit 2006, But GOP Is Warier Now
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 10, 2007; Page A04
With bipartisan talks on immigration near a standstill, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) moved yesterday to bring last year's broad overhaul of immigration laws back to the floor of the Senate next week, appealing to President Bush to save what could be his last hope for a major second-term domestic achievement.
The legislation -- which couples a border security crackdown with a guest-worker program and new avenues for undocumented immigrants to work legally in the country -- passed the Senate a year ago this month with the support of 62 members, 23 of them Republican, only to die in the House. With Democrats now in control of Congress and with the president eager for an accomplishment, immigrant rights groups believe the prospects for a final deal are far better this year.
But Senate Republicans, even those who helped craft last year's bill, say the political environment has shifted decisively against that measure and toward a tougher approach. Four Republican architects of the 2006 bill released a letter yesterday, pleading with Reid to hold off on the debate while bipartisan talks continue on new legislation.
"Last year's bill is not the solution for this year," said Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.), one of those architects who is now general chairman of the Republican Party.
But Reid decided to force the issue, devoting the Senate's next two weeks to hammering out a comprehensive bill. If negotiators reach a deal on a new proposal in the coming days, he promised to bring it to a vote. "There are all kinds of excuses people could offer," Reid said. "But how can we have anything that's more fair than taking a bill that overwhelmingly passed the Senate on a bipartisan basis, and using that as the instrument" to build a new version?
Immigration poses political peril for both parties. It has badly split GOP-leaning business groups eager for immigrant labor from party-base conservatives furious at what they see as an invasion of illegal immigrants. Democrats must bridge a chasm between old-line labor groups that fear that immigrant workers are driving down wages and burgeoning service-worker unions that see low-wage workers as the backbone of a new labor movement.
Both parties are battling for the allegiance of Latino voters. Indeed, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) offered immigrant groups virtual veto power over this year's bill.
"Unless the stakeholders are going to believe that it's worthy of their support, no matter what we do here in the United States Senate, it isn't going to work," he said.
And, this year, the issue is tangled in presidential politics. One White House hopeful, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), has all but renounced a career-long stance favorable to immigrant rights. And the co-author of last year's bill, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), has been largely absent from this year's negotiations, as he soft-pedals his pro-immigration stance.
McCain spokeswoman Eileen McMenamin said yesterday that the senator remains committed to a bill that would strengthen border controls, back guest workers and offer illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
But Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said McCain's absence from the negotiations has been "a big factor" in the rising tide of Republican opposition. Another factor is a president whose authority on Capitol Hill is in steep decline. "The president's approval ratings do not exactly create a dynamic political force," Durbin said.
In that vacuum, Republican senators who opposed last year's bill have emerged as key players in this year's battle, and they have already succeeded in raising issues that were barely discussed in 2006. Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), an ardent opponent of last year's bill, said the measure got only so many GOP votes because Republican senators expected the final bill to be far tougher after emerging from negotiations with House GOP hard-liners. With Democrats now in charge of the House, Senate Republicans are taking a tougher stand, he said.
Senators are nearing agreement on some of the most contentious issues. Once again, an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants would probably get new avenues to find legal work and earn citizenship once they have established a strong work record, cleared a criminal-background check, and paid penalties and back taxes. Beefed-up border security would be linked to tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants and to new tools for businesses to screen job applicants.
But Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided over the flow of new immigrants. Republicans, with the White House's backing, are proposing a three-year temporary-worker program that would allow 400,000 new workers to enter the country each year, provided they return to their home countries once their visas expire. A much smaller number, perhaps 20,000, would be able to apply for a work visa that could lead to legal permanent residency.
Even more controversial is a GOP effort to change current laws that allow legal U.S. residents to bring relatives into the country. Republicans want to drop large categories from that family immigration system, blocking the inflow of adult children and siblings of U.S. residents and capping the number of parents allowed to migrate. That move would make room for more skilled workers and educated professionals.
Last year's bill would have allowed guest workers to remain in the country indefinitely and work toward citizenship.
With the divisions so deep, Republican Senate leadership aides privately said that the bill is "on life support." Democrats were no more optimistic. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the fate of comprehensive immigration legislation rests with Bush.
"The president has got to be personally involved," Leahy said. "He cannot just send up Cabinet members and ask them to speak with a few members of the president's party and think that that's going to get you through."
WASHINGTON POST
MSNBC: Bipartisan push to overhaul immigration laws
Bipartisan push to overhaul immigration laws
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Financial Times
Updated: 12:12 a.m. ET May 10, 2007
Congress must agree an overhaul of US immigration laws within the next fortnight or risk leaving the status of the US's nearly 12m illegal immigrants unresolved until after the next presidential election, Democratic leaders warned on Wednesday.
The Senate is scheduled to start debating immigration legislation on Monday,following weeks of bipartisan negotiations aimed at finding consensus over one of the thorniest issues in US politics.
Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican senator for Pennsylvania, said this week the two parties were close to a "grand bargain" that would strengthen border security but also open an avenue for illegal immigrants to become legal.
Immigration is viewed as one of the few policy areas where there exists a chance of agreement between the Democratic-controlled Congress and Republican President George W. Bush, who holds more moderate views on the issue than much of his party.
For Mr Bush, immigration reform provides perhaps his last chance of a significant second-term legislative achievement after the failure of his push to overhaul the Social Security system.
But senior Democrats warned on Wednesday that there was only a brief opportunity in which to pass a bill before electoral politics makes a deal impossible.
"If it does not happen in the next two weeks, it probably will not happen under the administration of George Bush," said Ken Salazar, Democratic senator for Colorado. "It's time for it to happen now."
The Senate debate is expected to focus on proposals to offer visas to temporary workers and create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the US.
Republicans have demanded that illegal immigrants must return to their native countries and pay a stiff financial penalty before being allowed to re-enter the US legally.
Both parties are cautious about agreeing any measures that could be viewed as an "amnesty" for illegal immigrants, amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment among manyvoters.
But the parties are anxious not to alienate the Hispanic community as it grows in political power.
Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, on Wednesday re-introduced an immigration reform bill that was approved by the Senate last year but blocked by the House of Representatives. However, he voiced hope that it would be replaced by new bipartisan legislation stemming from the recent negotiations.
Immigration reform has a better chance of success in the House since the Democratic takeover of Capitol Hill in last November's midterm election.
Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigration group, said the two parties were "inching closer" to compromise. "But the gap is still as wide as the Grand Canyon," she said.
Audrey Singer, immigration expert at the Brookings Institution, said: "The risk is that we're going to end up with a bill that nobody likes and we will spend a lot of time in future trying to fix it."
MSNBC
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Financial Times
Updated: 12:12 a.m. ET May 10, 2007
Congress must agree an overhaul of US immigration laws within the next fortnight or risk leaving the status of the US's nearly 12m illegal immigrants unresolved until after the next presidential election, Democratic leaders warned on Wednesday.
The Senate is scheduled to start debating immigration legislation on Monday,following weeks of bipartisan negotiations aimed at finding consensus over one of the thorniest issues in US politics.
Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican senator for Pennsylvania, said this week the two parties were close to a "grand bargain" that would strengthen border security but also open an avenue for illegal immigrants to become legal.
Immigration is viewed as one of the few policy areas where there exists a chance of agreement between the Democratic-controlled Congress and Republican President George W. Bush, who holds more moderate views on the issue than much of his party.
For Mr Bush, immigration reform provides perhaps his last chance of a significant second-term legislative achievement after the failure of his push to overhaul the Social Security system.
But senior Democrats warned on Wednesday that there was only a brief opportunity in which to pass a bill before electoral politics makes a deal impossible.
"If it does not happen in the next two weeks, it probably will not happen under the administration of George Bush," said Ken Salazar, Democratic senator for Colorado. "It's time for it to happen now."
The Senate debate is expected to focus on proposals to offer visas to temporary workers and create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the US.
Republicans have demanded that illegal immigrants must return to their native countries and pay a stiff financial penalty before being allowed to re-enter the US legally.
Both parties are cautious about agreeing any measures that could be viewed as an "amnesty" for illegal immigrants, amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment among manyvoters.
But the parties are anxious not to alienate the Hispanic community as it grows in political power.
Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, on Wednesday re-introduced an immigration reform bill that was approved by the Senate last year but blocked by the House of Representatives. However, he voiced hope that it would be replaced by new bipartisan legislation stemming from the recent negotiations.
Immigration reform has a better chance of success in the House since the Democratic takeover of Capitol Hill in last November's midterm election.
Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigration group, said the two parties were "inching closer" to compromise. "But the gap is still as wide as the Grand Canyon," she said.
Audrey Singer, immigration expert at the Brookings Institution, said: "The risk is that we're going to end up with a bill that nobody likes and we will spend a lot of time in future trying to fix it."
MSNBC
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
San Fransisco Chronicle: Immigrant Plan
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
(05-09) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Key senators and the White House are attempting to negotiate a "grand bargain" on immigration that would grant visas to immigrants based more on their skills as workers than their family ties to those already here.
As part of the deal, the estimated 12 million people now in the country illegally -- including about 2.1 million in California -- would be allowed to remain here.
After two months of intense, closed-door negotiations, major stumbling blocks remain, and time has all but run out before the Monday deadline set by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for debate to begin on a comprehensive immigration overhaul.
Both sides in the immigration debate that has roiled the country for more than a year are under intense pressure to reform a system that all agree is broken. Legislators are getting heat from businesses, immigrant lobbying groups and those most opposed to easing immigration -- as well as the broader public. Polls indicate that voters are dismayed by what they perceive as widespread law-breaking by those entering the country illegally but shrink from such punitive measures as mass deportation.
In the closely divided Congress, neither party alone has the power to change immigration law to suit its tastes. House Republicans tried and failed to do so last year with a border crackdown. This year, Democrats, who narrowly control the chambers, need a hefty chunk of the GOP in the House and Senate to pass any legalization plan, given the fractures in their own party over such issues as a giant temporary worker program that could intensify wage competition among lower-skilled workers.
President Bush is bent on making immigration reform a legacy of his presidency, and he has detailed two Cabinet secretaries, Michael Chertoff of Homeland Security and Carlos Gutierrez of the Commerce Department, to try to hammer out a deal. Shifting the overall immigration policy from a reliance on family ties to a skills-based system represents a last-ditch effort to win over Republicans who were opposed to Bush's earlier overtures on legalization.
The proposal would require both sides to swallow hard, but it offers each the tantalizing prospect of long-sought goals that otherwise appear unattainable.
Republicans who have taken a hard line on immigration, such as Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, would have to consent to a sweeping legalization program for the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country -- an effort conservatives denounce as amnesty.
Democrats, particularly Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, would have to agree to a big shift in the system Kennedy authored in 1965, which established family ties as the basis of U.S. immigration. Immigrant groups, particularly Latinos and Asians who make heavy use of the extended family categories, are deeply wedded to the principle of what they call family reunification.
But both sides could see huge payoffs.
Democrats would get a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and more green card slots to clear up the long backlogs for family members now waiting for legal entry.
Republicans would get a change in the system that would weigh a prospective immigrant's skills more heavily than kinship. That is a key concern of Republicans who oppose legalizing the 12 million in the country now because under today's system, these new legal permanent residents could sponsor their extended families later. So-called chain migration proved a potent restrictionist argument last year, causing worries in both parties.
Many Republicans also contend that the U.S. immigration system should prioritize the national economic interest rather than the personal interest of immigrants themselves and that the United States is admitting far too many unskilled people, many of whom are high school dropouts.
They cite the 1997 findings of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, led by the late Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-Texas, that called for "shifting admission priorities away from the extended family and toward the nuclear family, and away from the unskilled and toward the higher skilled immigrant."
Key Democratic negotiators have shown interest in such a bargain. They are not necessarily averse to giving more preference to skilled immigrants. But they want to see the details of how such a system would be structured.
Supporters are quick to note that immediate families -- spouses and minor children -- still would be allowed under any new system to accompany the primary immigrant, as current law allows.
The proposal "doesn't include immediate family," said Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican and Cuban immigrant who is a key broker in the talks. "It has to be understood, this is about extended family, about changing the dynamics of immigration for future flows to one that is more in keeping with what every other country in the world does pretty much. Which is, what is in the best interests of the country, what are the immigration needs of the country, not just what is the need of the family, particularly distant family."
Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are cited as models. All are immigrant-receiving countries that use point systems, which place priorities on such things as education, work experience and language to receive immigration benefits.
The current U.S. system of family-based preferences dates to 1965 and is weighted heavily to kinship, or what is called family reunification. More than 60 percent of all legal immigrants enter under family preferences, the reverse of the ratios used in Canada and other countries using point systems. About 15 percent are employment based. In addition, about half of the quotas reserved for employment-based migrants are taken by spouses and children.
The family categories include not only spouses and children of legal immigrants but their adult children and siblings. U.S. citizens can also sponsor their parents. Waiting lines to receive legal permanent residence, or green cards, under such categories extend more than a decade for relatives from China and India, and as long as two decades and more from Mexico and the Philippines.
"Denying brothers and sisters (immigration benefits) would impose on ethnic groups a narrow definition of family," said Bill Ong Hing, a professor of law and Asian American Studies at UC Davis who testified Tuesday to the House Judiciary Committee's panel on immigration, chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose.
Republicans asked Reid for more time Tuesday, but the Senate leader said a deal must be in place by next week when he intends to begin debate.
"I appreciate the pressure he's put on us," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who supported last year's sweeping Senate legalization bill. "The only thing that will fix the problem would be a bipartisan new bill."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The plan
Democrats would get:
A path to citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, plus more green card slots.
Republicans would get:
A new immigration system that would weigh the skills of a prospective immigrant more heavily than family connections.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
The Denver Post: Immigration talks continue
Immigration talks continue
The administration and senators are still scrambling to put together legislation to provide a path to citizenship.
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
The Associated Press
Washington - The Bush administration and key senators are struggling to agree on draft legislation to secure the U.S.-Mexico border before putting millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship that could take 13 years.
Even then, immigrants would have to leave the country and pay large fines before gaining legal status.
Officials familiar with the discussions say that despite concessions by both Republicans and Democrats, a final agreement may not come before the Senate opens debate on the issue next week - if at all.
Still, the outlines of a possible deal have taken shape in almost daily secret talks attended by two members of President Bush's Cabinet. As contemplated, the proposal would bar undocumented immigrants from gaining legal status until the administration beefs up border security and implements a high-tech ID system for temporary workers.
Such measures are expected to take up to two years.
Even after that, officials said, it could take more than a decade before the 12 million men, women and children estimated to be in the U.S. illegally could get permanent legal status, or green cards. First the government would clear an existing legal immigration backlog, a task estimated to take eight years. Then the government would begin processing green cards for the 12 million here illegally, expected to take another five years.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D- Mass., has been leading negotiations with Republican senators and White House officials.
To jump-start debate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will move today to bring up a measure from 2006 - either a Senate-passed bill or one approved by the Judiciary Committee. Both are regarded as much more liberal than the one now being hammered out.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., one of the lawmakers involved in the negotiations, made a plea Tuesday for more time, warning that moving too quickly could provoke a GOP filibuster.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is working with Kennedy and other senators. He backs a format that provides for enhanced enforcement at the border, a guest- worker program, and what he calls "humane treatment" for illegal immigrants.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., opposes any legislation that would grant legal status to those who entered the U.S. illegally.
Denver Post staff writer Anne Mulkern contributed to this report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details of possible deal
Package negotiated by Senate Democrats, Republicans and Bush administration officials:
Delays any guest-worker program or path to citizenship for illegal immigrants until certain "triggers" are met. They include hiring thousands of new border guards, erecting hundreds of miles of fencing and vehicle barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and having a biometric identification system for immigrant workers in place.
Allows illegal immigrants who paid large fines and returned to their countries of origin to earn permanent residency and eventually apply for citizenship. Narrows visa preferences for family members of legalized immigrants.
Imposes up to a 13-year wait on illegal immigrants seeking legal status to obtain green cards for permanent residency. Visa backlogs for those already waiting in line would be cleared in eight years, and then the government would begin processing the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants over a five-year period.
Creates a temporary-guest-worker program and bars immigrant workers from bringing their families to the U.S. unless their incomes exceed 150 percent of the poverty level and they have health insurance.
The administration and senators are still scrambling to put together legislation to provide a path to citizenship.
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
The Associated Press
Washington - The Bush administration and key senators are struggling to agree on draft legislation to secure the U.S.-Mexico border before putting millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship that could take 13 years.
Even then, immigrants would have to leave the country and pay large fines before gaining legal status.
Officials familiar with the discussions say that despite concessions by both Republicans and Democrats, a final agreement may not come before the Senate opens debate on the issue next week - if at all.
Still, the outlines of a possible deal have taken shape in almost daily secret talks attended by two members of President Bush's Cabinet. As contemplated, the proposal would bar undocumented immigrants from gaining legal status until the administration beefs up border security and implements a high-tech ID system for temporary workers.
Such measures are expected to take up to two years.
Even after that, officials said, it could take more than a decade before the 12 million men, women and children estimated to be in the U.S. illegally could get permanent legal status, or green cards. First the government would clear an existing legal immigration backlog, a task estimated to take eight years. Then the government would begin processing green cards for the 12 million here illegally, expected to take another five years.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D- Mass., has been leading negotiations with Republican senators and White House officials.
To jump-start debate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will move today to bring up a measure from 2006 - either a Senate-passed bill or one approved by the Judiciary Committee. Both are regarded as much more liberal than the one now being hammered out.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., one of the lawmakers involved in the negotiations, made a plea Tuesday for more time, warning that moving too quickly could provoke a GOP filibuster.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is working with Kennedy and other senators. He backs a format that provides for enhanced enforcement at the border, a guest- worker program, and what he calls "humane treatment" for illegal immigrants.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., opposes any legislation that would grant legal status to those who entered the U.S. illegally.
Denver Post staff writer Anne Mulkern contributed to this report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details of possible deal
Package negotiated by Senate Democrats, Republicans and Bush administration officials:
Delays any guest-worker program or path to citizenship for illegal immigrants until certain "triggers" are met. They include hiring thousands of new border guards, erecting hundreds of miles of fencing and vehicle barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and having a biometric identification system for immigrant workers in place.
Allows illegal immigrants who paid large fines and returned to their countries of origin to earn permanent residency and eventually apply for citizenship. Narrows visa preferences for family members of legalized immigrants.
Imposes up to a 13-year wait on illegal immigrants seeking legal status to obtain green cards for permanent residency. Visa backlogs for those already waiting in line would be cleared in eight years, and then the government would begin processing the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants over a five-year period.
Creates a temporary-guest-worker program and bars immigrant workers from bringing their families to the U.S. unless their incomes exceed 150 percent of the poverty level and they have health insurance.
Reuters: U.S. Senate talks on immigration bill threatened
U.S. Senate talks on immigration bill threatened
By Donna Smith
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - A bipartisan push to overhaul U.S. immigration laws is in danger of falling apart if Democratic leaders force a debate in the U.S. Senate before lawmakers reach agreement, Republicans said on Tuesday.
Republican and Democratic senators have been negotiating for weeks on a broad bill that would clamp down on illegal immigration and create a guest worker program while providing a way for illegal immigrants to eventually become citizens.
Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said lawmakers had an outline of a bill. But he said more time was needed to reach final agreement and he threatened to block efforts to start debate next week.
"We are not yet ready to proceed next Monday," Specter said.
Democrats worry that delay could doom chances of enacting legislation this year as lawmakers gear up for next year's presidential election and plan to press forward with debate.
"They've had ample time to come up with some type of an alternative," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said.
Reid plans to start the debate on Monday with a version of the comprehensive bill passed by the Senate last year over significant Republican opposition. That bill, which was supported by Specter, would have created a guest worker program backed by President George W. Bush and given millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn citizenship.
'CLOSE FOR SEVERAL DAYS'
Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who opposed last year's bill, said a bipartisan agreement was crucial to winning passage of a new bill this year and moving too swiftly on the debate could "blow up" the talks.
"We would not want a process to go forward which would break up any chance for bipartisan agreement," Kyl told reporters. "We've been close for several days. There is not full bipartisan agreement on all of the major issues. Until we have that agreement we should not move forward."
The Senate-passed bill last year failed in faced stiff opposition in the House of Representatives from a group of Republicans who said it gave amnesty to people who broke U.S. laws.
A group of House Republicans renewed their opposition at a news conference on Tuesday to legislation that provides a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
"Just because someone is in the country illegally doesn't mean we have to give him citizenship, which is the greatest honor our country can bestow," said Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican. "Some even want to sell citizenship to lawbreakers to the price of a fine. I would oppose that as well."
The bipartisan legislation being negotiated in the Senate would allow some of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants to legalize their status, but they would face stiffer fines and more hurdles to get on the path to citizenship than last year's bill.
Specter said the group had agreed to more border controls and tough sanctions against employers hiring illegal workers.
"We are trying to structure a temporary worker program which is temporary, coming only for the purpose of filling needs and then returning to their native countries," Specter added.
Last year's Senate bill provided a way for temporary workers to eventually get permanent status and citizenship.
REUTERS
By Donna Smith
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - A bipartisan push to overhaul U.S. immigration laws is in danger of falling apart if Democratic leaders force a debate in the U.S. Senate before lawmakers reach agreement, Republicans said on Tuesday.
Republican and Democratic senators have been negotiating for weeks on a broad bill that would clamp down on illegal immigration and create a guest worker program while providing a way for illegal immigrants to eventually become citizens.
Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said lawmakers had an outline of a bill. But he said more time was needed to reach final agreement and he threatened to block efforts to start debate next week.
"We are not yet ready to proceed next Monday," Specter said.
Democrats worry that delay could doom chances of enacting legislation this year as lawmakers gear up for next year's presidential election and plan to press forward with debate.
"They've had ample time to come up with some type of an alternative," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said.
Reid plans to start the debate on Monday with a version of the comprehensive bill passed by the Senate last year over significant Republican opposition. That bill, which was supported by Specter, would have created a guest worker program backed by President George W. Bush and given millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn citizenship.
'CLOSE FOR SEVERAL DAYS'
Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who opposed last year's bill, said a bipartisan agreement was crucial to winning passage of a new bill this year and moving too swiftly on the debate could "blow up" the talks.
"We would not want a process to go forward which would break up any chance for bipartisan agreement," Kyl told reporters. "We've been close for several days. There is not full bipartisan agreement on all of the major issues. Until we have that agreement we should not move forward."
The Senate-passed bill last year failed in faced stiff opposition in the House of Representatives from a group of Republicans who said it gave amnesty to people who broke U.S. laws.
A group of House Republicans renewed their opposition at a news conference on Tuesday to legislation that provides a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
"Just because someone is in the country illegally doesn't mean we have to give him citizenship, which is the greatest honor our country can bestow," said Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican. "Some even want to sell citizenship to lawbreakers to the price of a fine. I would oppose that as well."
The bipartisan legislation being negotiated in the Senate would allow some of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants to legalize their status, but they would face stiffer fines and more hurdles to get on the path to citizenship than last year's bill.
Specter said the group had agreed to more border controls and tough sanctions against employers hiring illegal workers.
"We are trying to structure a temporary worker program which is temporary, coming only for the purpose of filling needs and then returning to their native countries," Specter added.
Last year's Senate bill provided a way for temporary workers to eventually get permanent status and citizenship.
REUTERS
HOUSON CHRONICLE:Senate plan for immigration fix up in air
May 9, 2007, 10:21AM
Senate plan for immigration fix up in air
Democrats ready to move forward, but GOP says the talks need time
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Staring down a deadline to make a deal on immigration, Republican and Democratic senators skirmished Tuesday over how to reach their goal of a comprehensive fix of the issue.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted Tuesday that the Senate will begin a two-week immigration policy debate next week even though the bipartisan team scrambling to achieve a deal with the White House has yet to do so — and appears increasingly unlikely to finish its work in the coming days.
"They've had ample time to come up with some type of an alternative," Reid said.
If no deal is struck, he said, he intends to bring up the immigration bill approved by senators last year. If an agreement is reached, it could be substituted for the old bill.
But Republicans criticized the Democrat's insistence on going forward, saying Reid should give the bipartisan negotiators more time to develop a bill palatable both to immigrants' allies and those who favor strong enforcement of laws against illegal immigration.
The Senate Judiciary Committee's top Republican threatened obstruction if Reid re-introduces the bill passed by the Senate last year.
"There may be a filibuster there," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Tuesday.
Talks to revive old bill
Other Republicans didn't go quite as far but made clear that if their only choice is to vote on last year's legislation, even its GOP authors will vote against it.
"There is no use going to a bill that will not carry the day," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "The only thing that will solve immigration, fix the problem, would be a bipartisan new bill."
Last year's bill is a non-starter for many Republicans in part because it is viewed as more lenient than the proposals under discussion.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, among the senators engaged in marathon, closed-door talks for two months with White House emissaries, urged Reid to back off his plan.
"The talks are not there yet," the Texas Republican said. "This is a very complicated subject, and if it takes a little more time to get something where we know what the consequences would be, I think we should take more time."
Said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.: "This is far too important to have what is, in effect, an artificial deadline kill the bill."
Graham said he was cautiously optimistic that a deal could be reached, but others engaged in the talks were more pessimistic. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., assessed the chances as "less than 50-50."
The senators, reluctant to publicly discuss their negotiations, have reached tentative agreement on a plan to give the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a chance to eventually become citizens.
In a concession to Republicans, legalization wouldn't begin until the government meets goals such as the hiring of more Border Patrol agents and creation of a tamper-resistant identification document.
Illegal immigrants would have to wait up to 13 years to gain legal status under the compromise, which has yet to determine the size of the fines they would pay or whether they'd have to return to their home country to apply.
The negotiators also have reached agreement on creation of a temporary worker program, allocating 400,000 visas annually for foreigners to work in the United States.
Contentious issue
Among the biggest sticking points: Whether to reduce the legal immigration system's decades-old focus on family reunification in favor of a GOP-backed model of bringing in immigrants with essential skills and education.
Such a move would be opposed by immigrant-rights groups, the Catholic Church and others who insist family reunification should remain central to U.S. immigration policy.
The House has largely been on the sidelines in the immigration debate, awaiting Senate action before taking up its own legislation.
Several conservative Republicans joined by one Democrat, Heath Shuler of North Carolina, cautioned the Senate Tuesday against approving what they termed "mass amnesty on an unprecedented scale."
Illegal immigrants should be deported, not placed on a path to eventual citizenship, said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio.
"Some even want to sell citizenships to lawbreakers to the price of a fine. And I would oppose that," said Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Senate plan for immigration fix up in air
Democrats ready to move forward, but GOP says the talks need time
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Staring down a deadline to make a deal on immigration, Republican and Democratic senators skirmished Tuesday over how to reach their goal of a comprehensive fix of the issue.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted Tuesday that the Senate will begin a two-week immigration policy debate next week even though the bipartisan team scrambling to achieve a deal with the White House has yet to do so — and appears increasingly unlikely to finish its work in the coming days.
"They've had ample time to come up with some type of an alternative," Reid said.
If no deal is struck, he said, he intends to bring up the immigration bill approved by senators last year. If an agreement is reached, it could be substituted for the old bill.
But Republicans criticized the Democrat's insistence on going forward, saying Reid should give the bipartisan negotiators more time to develop a bill palatable both to immigrants' allies and those who favor strong enforcement of laws against illegal immigration.
The Senate Judiciary Committee's top Republican threatened obstruction if Reid re-introduces the bill passed by the Senate last year.
"There may be a filibuster there," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Tuesday.
Talks to revive old bill
Other Republicans didn't go quite as far but made clear that if their only choice is to vote on last year's legislation, even its GOP authors will vote against it.
"There is no use going to a bill that will not carry the day," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "The only thing that will solve immigration, fix the problem, would be a bipartisan new bill."
Last year's bill is a non-starter for many Republicans in part because it is viewed as more lenient than the proposals under discussion.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, among the senators engaged in marathon, closed-door talks for two months with White House emissaries, urged Reid to back off his plan.
"The talks are not there yet," the Texas Republican said. "This is a very complicated subject, and if it takes a little more time to get something where we know what the consequences would be, I think we should take more time."
Said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.: "This is far too important to have what is, in effect, an artificial deadline kill the bill."
Graham said he was cautiously optimistic that a deal could be reached, but others engaged in the talks were more pessimistic. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., assessed the chances as "less than 50-50."
The senators, reluctant to publicly discuss their negotiations, have reached tentative agreement on a plan to give the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a chance to eventually become citizens.
In a concession to Republicans, legalization wouldn't begin until the government meets goals such as the hiring of more Border Patrol agents and creation of a tamper-resistant identification document.
Illegal immigrants would have to wait up to 13 years to gain legal status under the compromise, which has yet to determine the size of the fines they would pay or whether they'd have to return to their home country to apply.
The negotiators also have reached agreement on creation of a temporary worker program, allocating 400,000 visas annually for foreigners to work in the United States.
Contentious issue
Among the biggest sticking points: Whether to reduce the legal immigration system's decades-old focus on family reunification in favor of a GOP-backed model of bringing in immigrants with essential skills and education.
Such a move would be opposed by immigrant-rights groups, the Catholic Church and others who insist family reunification should remain central to U.S. immigration policy.
The House has largely been on the sidelines in the immigration debate, awaiting Senate action before taking up its own legislation.
Several conservative Republicans joined by one Democrat, Heath Shuler of North Carolina, cautioned the Senate Tuesday against approving what they termed "mass amnesty on an unprecedented scale."
Illegal immigrants should be deported, not placed on a path to eventual citizenship, said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio.
"Some even want to sell citizenships to lawbreakers to the price of a fine. And I would oppose that," said Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
NATIONAL CALL DAYS: PICK UP YOUR PHONE AND LEGALIZE THE IRISH!
NATIONAL SENATE CALL-IN DAYSMon, May 7 - Fri, May 11
Call every day this week and urge your Senators to support reform!
Your Senator needs to hear from you!
Call this number, and follow the instructions to connect to the offices of your Senators.
1-800-417-7666
Tell your Senators to
ACT NOW IN FAVOR OF COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!
Comprehensive immigration reform is the solution to fixing our broken immigration system, and now is the time to act. Families, workers, and communities across the country are counting on Congress to get it done, get it right, and do it now. You can help make it happen with your call - join the effort!
New York Times: Senators Reach Outline on Immigration Bill
May 9, 2007
Senators Reach Outline on Immigration Bill
By JULIA PRESTON
WASHINGTON, May 8 — Key senators said Tuesday that they had agreed on the outlines of a bipartisan bill that would toughen border enforcement and provide a path to legal status for illegal immigrants.
But they remain deeply divided on many details, lawmakers and Congressional aides said, and it remains unclear whether a deal can be reached by Monday, the deadline set by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, for putting a compromise bill on the floor.
A group of Republican and Democratic senators and senior Bush administration officials have been negotiating intensively for the last several months to see if a bipartisan deal is possible this year on immigration, a politically volatile issue that has exposed fissures between and within the parties. President Bush, eager for a big second-term domestic accomplishment, has been pushing for legislation that he can sign, but his own party has been wary of any compromise that is seen as being too lenient toward the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said negotiators had reached what they called a “grand bargain.” It includes a series of triggers, Mr. Specter said, that require new border security measures to be up and running before the start of any programs to give legal status to people in the country illegally.
Points of continuing contention include the severity of penalties that illegal immigrants would have to face to seek legal status; whether temporary guest workers should be allowed an avenue to stay and become citizens; and what family members future immigrant workers should be allowed to bring to the United States, Senate aides and administration officials said.
Mr. Specter said there was agreement that illegal immigrants would “have to earn being on the citizenship path,” by, at minimum, paying back taxes, showing they had a substantial period of employment in the United States and learning English.
The package also includes expanded temporary worker programs for both low- and high-skilled workers; severe sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants; and new identification methods and verification programs to ensure that immigrants who seek jobs are authorized to work, Mr. Specter and other lawmakers said.
Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, called it “a pretty good skeleton of a bill.” But senators said it was highly unlikely they could complete any bill in the next few days to meet Mr. Reid’s deadline. As of Tuesday there was no working draft of what would be a huge measure, they said.
The negotiations to overhaul the nation’s foundering immigration system have been surprisingly quiet, substantive and bipartisan, participants say. Almost every day, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff either worked the phones or hunkered down for several hours behind closed doors with lawmakers led by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Jon Kyl, the conservative Arizona Republican, trying to hammer out what would be the broadest revision of the immigration laws in two decades.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez also joined in, as did Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both Republicans, and Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, among half a dozen others. Often staff aides were sent out of the room, leaving only senators and cabinet officials to go head to head over hard points of difference.
“By nature of hours invested, it’s hard to conceive of any other piece of legislation during the Bush presidency where they have been more committed and more involved,” Mr. Martinez said, referring to the administration.
Staff aides and analysts said the discussions had moved beyond some demands made by conservatives last year, with widespread deportation of illegal immigrants no longer part of the discussion.
In the Senate, “the debate about amnesty is coming to an end,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, referring to the term Republicans used last year to reject Mr. Bush’s plan to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. “The debate has shifted to much more important ground: Are we going to create an immigration system going forward that deals with our labor needs in a legal way?”
There is also new agreement on requiring illegal immigrants to leave the United States, at least briefly, to start obtaining legal status, a step that was rejected by Democrats last year.
Mr. Kennedy does not agree with Republican negotiators on provisions introduced by the White House that would shift the priority of the immigration system to supplying the nation’s labor needs, by sharply reducing chances for legal immigrants to bring parents and siblings.
For Mr. Bush, immigration is an issue where his views resonate with centrist Democrats, giving him perhaps his best chance at a major piece of bipartisan legislation in his second term, analysts said. It might also help the Republicans regain some of the ground lost with Latino voters in last year’s elections.
“Comprehensive immigration reform means that we’ve got to be humane about the nearly 11 or 12 million people who are already here,” Mr. Bush said last week to Hispanic evangelical pastors here, one of several recent speeches in which he has called for “neither amnesty nor animosity” in dealing with illegal immigrants.
A difference in the talks this year is the leading role played by Mr. Kyl, taking over the role of his fellow Arizona senator, John McCain, who has become less visibly active on the issue as he has campaigned for president, often encountering criticism from Republicans for his proposal to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. Mr. Kyl had been far more skeptical than Mr. McCain of granting legal status to illegal immigrants, and last year he and Mr. Cornyn offered a plan openly countering Mr. Bush’s proposals for legalization.
This year Mr. Kyl has taken a flexible, pragmatic approach, aides said. But he insisted that a new temporary worker program should not become a route for immigrants to become permanent residents and citizens, say Congressional aides.
On Tuesday Mr. Kyl said that a bipartisan agreement was within reach. “I think we can get there, so I think we need to keep working at it,” he said.
Mr. Reid said he would initiate procedures on Wednesday to bring some form of immigration bill to the floor by Monday. If there is no new bipartisan bill, Democrats said they might re-introduce the one that passed the Senate last year.
Senate Republicans will gather later this week to hear the results of the negotiations so far, and Mr. Kyl said he would like more time for the talks.
READ AT NEW YORK TIMES WEBSITE
Senators Reach Outline on Immigration Bill
By JULIA PRESTON
WASHINGTON, May 8 — Key senators said Tuesday that they had agreed on the outlines of a bipartisan bill that would toughen border enforcement and provide a path to legal status for illegal immigrants.
But they remain deeply divided on many details, lawmakers and Congressional aides said, and it remains unclear whether a deal can be reached by Monday, the deadline set by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, for putting a compromise bill on the floor.
A group of Republican and Democratic senators and senior Bush administration officials have been negotiating intensively for the last several months to see if a bipartisan deal is possible this year on immigration, a politically volatile issue that has exposed fissures between and within the parties. President Bush, eager for a big second-term domestic accomplishment, has been pushing for legislation that he can sign, but his own party has been wary of any compromise that is seen as being too lenient toward the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said negotiators had reached what they called a “grand bargain.” It includes a series of triggers, Mr. Specter said, that require new border security measures to be up and running before the start of any programs to give legal status to people in the country illegally.
Points of continuing contention include the severity of penalties that illegal immigrants would have to face to seek legal status; whether temporary guest workers should be allowed an avenue to stay and become citizens; and what family members future immigrant workers should be allowed to bring to the United States, Senate aides and administration officials said.
Mr. Specter said there was agreement that illegal immigrants would “have to earn being on the citizenship path,” by, at minimum, paying back taxes, showing they had a substantial period of employment in the United States and learning English.
The package also includes expanded temporary worker programs for both low- and high-skilled workers; severe sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants; and new identification methods and verification programs to ensure that immigrants who seek jobs are authorized to work, Mr. Specter and other lawmakers said.
Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, called it “a pretty good skeleton of a bill.” But senators said it was highly unlikely they could complete any bill in the next few days to meet Mr. Reid’s deadline. As of Tuesday there was no working draft of what would be a huge measure, they said.
The negotiations to overhaul the nation’s foundering immigration system have been surprisingly quiet, substantive and bipartisan, participants say. Almost every day, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff either worked the phones or hunkered down for several hours behind closed doors with lawmakers led by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Jon Kyl, the conservative Arizona Republican, trying to hammer out what would be the broadest revision of the immigration laws in two decades.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez also joined in, as did Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both Republicans, and Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, among half a dozen others. Often staff aides were sent out of the room, leaving only senators and cabinet officials to go head to head over hard points of difference.
“By nature of hours invested, it’s hard to conceive of any other piece of legislation during the Bush presidency where they have been more committed and more involved,” Mr. Martinez said, referring to the administration.
Staff aides and analysts said the discussions had moved beyond some demands made by conservatives last year, with widespread deportation of illegal immigrants no longer part of the discussion.
In the Senate, “the debate about amnesty is coming to an end,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, referring to the term Republicans used last year to reject Mr. Bush’s plan to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. “The debate has shifted to much more important ground: Are we going to create an immigration system going forward that deals with our labor needs in a legal way?”
There is also new agreement on requiring illegal immigrants to leave the United States, at least briefly, to start obtaining legal status, a step that was rejected by Democrats last year.
Mr. Kennedy does not agree with Republican negotiators on provisions introduced by the White House that would shift the priority of the immigration system to supplying the nation’s labor needs, by sharply reducing chances for legal immigrants to bring parents and siblings.
For Mr. Bush, immigration is an issue where his views resonate with centrist Democrats, giving him perhaps his best chance at a major piece of bipartisan legislation in his second term, analysts said. It might also help the Republicans regain some of the ground lost with Latino voters in last year’s elections.
“Comprehensive immigration reform means that we’ve got to be humane about the nearly 11 or 12 million people who are already here,” Mr. Bush said last week to Hispanic evangelical pastors here, one of several recent speeches in which he has called for “neither amnesty nor animosity” in dealing with illegal immigrants.
A difference in the talks this year is the leading role played by Mr. Kyl, taking over the role of his fellow Arizona senator, John McCain, who has become less visibly active on the issue as he has campaigned for president, often encountering criticism from Republicans for his proposal to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. Mr. Kyl had been far more skeptical than Mr. McCain of granting legal status to illegal immigrants, and last year he and Mr. Cornyn offered a plan openly countering Mr. Bush’s proposals for legalization.
This year Mr. Kyl has taken a flexible, pragmatic approach, aides said. But he insisted that a new temporary worker program should not become a route for immigrants to become permanent residents and citizens, say Congressional aides.
On Tuesday Mr. Kyl said that a bipartisan agreement was within reach. “I think we can get there, so I think we need to keep working at it,” he said.
Mr. Reid said he would initiate procedures on Wednesday to bring some form of immigration bill to the floor by Monday. If there is no new bipartisan bill, Democrats said they might re-introduce the one that passed the Senate last year.
Senate Republicans will gather later this week to hear the results of the negotiations so far, and Mr. Kyl said he would like more time for the talks.
READ AT NEW YORK TIMES WEBSITE
MIAMI HERALD: Martinez, immigration reform supporters spar over immigration
Martinez, activists spar over immigration
BY CASEY WOODS
cwoods@MiamiHerald.com
Sen. Mel Martinez, stung by a national immigrant advocacy group campaign urging him to be more aggressive on immigration law reform, defended his work on the issue Tuesday.
''It's disappointing there are groups out there ready to drive wedges and politicize this critically important issue,'' Martinez wrote The Miami Herald in an e-mail. ``I've been working since day one on this matter, and for clearly partisan groups to design a national campaign and put out advertisements signals to me that they're more interested in creating a divide than working toward a solution.''
The campaign to pressure Martinez will include ads on Spanish-language radio stations in Miami and vigils in several Florida cities.
''Martinez needs to stand by his values and stand by his position and break the gridlock on comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate,'' said the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform's Clarissa Martinez at a news conference at Little Havana's Versailles Restaurant on Tuesday. ``Martinez is a moderate leader in the party . . . and we need him to play a more aggressive role.''
Last year, Martinez -- now chairman of the Republican National Committee -- helped broker the compromise immigration-reform legislation supported by many advocates. The negotiations he is helping lead this year, however, have not yet produced a bill. And advocates warn that time is running out before the charged atmosphere of the presidential election cycle will make reform impossible.
Martinez is part of a bipartisan Senate committee working on an immigration reform compromise, and lawmakers have struggled over issues such as the possible path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
Organizers, who include the SEIU Florida Healthcare Union and Democracia Ahora, say they also will launch similar campaigns focusing on other lawmakers involved in the negotiations, such as Republican Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and John Cornyn of Texas.
The committee members are reportedly planning to dedicate time in mid-May to negotiate legislation.
BY CASEY WOODS
cwoods@MiamiHerald.com
Sen. Mel Martinez, stung by a national immigrant advocacy group campaign urging him to be more aggressive on immigration law reform, defended his work on the issue Tuesday.
''It's disappointing there are groups out there ready to drive wedges and politicize this critically important issue,'' Martinez wrote The Miami Herald in an e-mail. ``I've been working since day one on this matter, and for clearly partisan groups to design a national campaign and put out advertisements signals to me that they're more interested in creating a divide than working toward a solution.''
The campaign to pressure Martinez will include ads on Spanish-language radio stations in Miami and vigils in several Florida cities.
''Martinez needs to stand by his values and stand by his position and break the gridlock on comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate,'' said the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform's Clarissa Martinez at a news conference at Little Havana's Versailles Restaurant on Tuesday. ``Martinez is a moderate leader in the party . . . and we need him to play a more aggressive role.''
Last year, Martinez -- now chairman of the Republican National Committee -- helped broker the compromise immigration-reform legislation supported by many advocates. The negotiations he is helping lead this year, however, have not yet produced a bill. And advocates warn that time is running out before the charged atmosphere of the presidential election cycle will make reform impossible.
Martinez is part of a bipartisan Senate committee working on an immigration reform compromise, and lawmakers have struggled over issues such as the possible path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
Organizers, who include the SEIU Florida Healthcare Union and Democracia Ahora, say they also will launch similar campaigns focusing on other lawmakers involved in the negotiations, such as Republican Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and John Cornyn of Texas.
The committee members are reportedly planning to dedicate time in mid-May to negotiate legislation.
Alberquerque Journal: Senators are working quietly on Immigration Reform Bill
Wednesday, May 9, 2007Senators are Working Quietly on An Immigration Reform Bill Likely to Feature a Guest Worker Program
Albuquerque Journal
By Michael Coleman
WASHINGTON— A bipartisan group of a dozen senators— including Pete Domenici of New Mexico— is working behind closed doors to craft a new immigration reform proposal that could have an expanded guest worker program as its centerpiece.
Domenici, a Republican, said in an interview that the group, led by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is hoping to develop a measure that could come to the floor within days.
"I believe there is a chance we will get a bill that will be put together and offered— and this will not be put together by just two or three people," Domenici told the Journal.
If the group does not reach consensus, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he would use legislation introduced last year as a starting point for new floor debate.
The House and Senate tried to reach agreement on immigration reform before the midterm elections in 2006. President Bush, who has dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to many of the private Senate meetings, wants Congress to try again.
Democratic Senate aides said Tuesday that negotiators from both parties are working in good faith, but the aides were skeptical that the Senate group could forge an agreement that Reid would agree to as a first step.
Domenici said the Senate group, in recent talks, has considered scrapping the idea of a so-called path to citizenship from last year's legislation in favor of an expanded guest worker program. Some members of Congress have proposed allowing the estimated 12 million undocumented workers already in the U.S. to remain and earn citizenship without being deported first if they meet certain requirements, such as paying fines and back taxes and learning English.
"It will be one or the other, but not both," said Domenici, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Even the expanded guest worker proposal might be put off until more border enforcement mechanisms are in place, which could take at least two years, Domenici's chief of staff confirmed.
However, Domenici and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said efforts to increase border security are well under way since last year's debate.
Domenici said the proposed guest worker program under discussion would allow illegal workers already in the U.S. to apply for a temporary legal guest worker permit under terms similar to the former "path to citizenship" proposals. Those terms could include paying back taxes and passing a citizenship test, his office confirmed.
The permit might be valid for two, three or four years and would be renewable, he said. Such a program could reduce calls to give undocumented workers a path to citizenship, Domenici predicted.
"The overwhelming majority (of undocumented workers) will say that's good enough," he said.
The Democrat-controlled House plans to wait for Senate action before it takes up the issue, members of New Mexico's House delegation said last week.
READ THE ALBERQUERQUE JOURNAL ARTICLE
Albuquerque Journal
By Michael Coleman
WASHINGTON— A bipartisan group of a dozen senators— including Pete Domenici of New Mexico— is working behind closed doors to craft a new immigration reform proposal that could have an expanded guest worker program as its centerpiece.
Domenici, a Republican, said in an interview that the group, led by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is hoping to develop a measure that could come to the floor within days.
"I believe there is a chance we will get a bill that will be put together and offered— and this will not be put together by just two or three people," Domenici told the Journal.
If the group does not reach consensus, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he would use legislation introduced last year as a starting point for new floor debate.
The House and Senate tried to reach agreement on immigration reform before the midterm elections in 2006. President Bush, who has dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to many of the private Senate meetings, wants Congress to try again.
Democratic Senate aides said Tuesday that negotiators from both parties are working in good faith, but the aides were skeptical that the Senate group could forge an agreement that Reid would agree to as a first step.
Domenici said the Senate group, in recent talks, has considered scrapping the idea of a so-called path to citizenship from last year's legislation in favor of an expanded guest worker program. Some members of Congress have proposed allowing the estimated 12 million undocumented workers already in the U.S. to remain and earn citizenship without being deported first if they meet certain requirements, such as paying fines and back taxes and learning English.
"It will be one or the other, but not both," said Domenici, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Even the expanded guest worker proposal might be put off until more border enforcement mechanisms are in place, which could take at least two years, Domenici's chief of staff confirmed.
However, Domenici and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said efforts to increase border security are well under way since last year's debate.
Domenici said the proposed guest worker program under discussion would allow illegal workers already in the U.S. to apply for a temporary legal guest worker permit under terms similar to the former "path to citizenship" proposals. Those terms could include paying back taxes and passing a citizenship test, his office confirmed.
The permit might be valid for two, three or four years and would be renewable, he said. Such a program could reduce calls to give undocumented workers a path to citizenship, Domenici predicted.
"The overwhelming majority (of undocumented workers) will say that's good enough," he said.
The Democrat-controlled House plans to wait for Senate action before it takes up the issue, members of New Mexico's House delegation said last week.
READ THE ALBERQUERQUE JOURNAL ARTICLE
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
KANSAS CITY STAR COMMENTARY: "The message, not the marches, reveals progress on immigration reform"
COMMENTARY
The message, not the marches, reveals progress on immigration reform
By MARY SANCHEZ, Columnist
Funny thing about rallies, marches and demonstrations. People tend to believe that you can judge the strength of a movement by the heads you can count.
Some commentators, for example, have made much of the fact that this year's May 1 immigrant rallies drew noticeably smaller crowds than the estimated 1 million people who poured into the streets in cities around the nation last year.
An Associated Press article, noting that "only a fraction" of the marchers of last year turned out, blamed the lesser numbers on "fear" about recent raids and "frustration" that reforms had yet to be passed by Congress. A New York Times article opined that the crowds "paled" in comparison to last year and blamed "splintering" of tactics among advocates.
Don't be fooled by such simplistic reasoning. The opposite is true. The smaller gatherings signify not a floundering movement, but a movement progressing forward.
True change to immigration policy is not going to come about quickly, or simply because large numbers of people march through downtowns and gather in town squares. Far more important are the laborious tasks of educating the general public about immigration reform, lobbying legislators, and getting industries that depend on immigrant labor to find a role in the debate. Progress has been made on all these fronts.
Organizers have registered thousands of U.S. citizens from immigrant communities to vote. Businesses heavily dependent on immigrant workers-landscaping, agriculture and other industries-have spent the year organizing and lobbying members of Congress to change visa regulations to accommodate their labor needs.
Most important of all, the movement has revamped its message. It's more about keeping families together, providing access to college for immigrant kids born elsewhere, and giving people an opportunity to fess up to their illegal status, pay fines and right themselves with the law. That's a far more nuanced message than last year's, when sheer numbers alone gave a face to a population of people who had been largely discounted as invisible.
Of course, some activists cling to a romanticized idea that protests alone will reshape U.S. policy. But public demonstrations have always been more for the benefit of those gathered than for advancing the issue with the broader public. They are about organizing and keeping momentum.
To expect demonstrations to bring real change is folly. If you are standing outside on the sidewalk protesting, do you really have the clout to make change happen? If you had it, you wouldn't be on the sidewalk-you'd have made a phone call and you'd be inside, seated around a conference table with the people who control policy and make laws.
That's a harsh reality some need to embrace. Success will come when they stop simply preaching to the choir.
Immigrants advance their cause best by doing what they do every day: going to work, rubbing up against naysayers and proving them wrong by example. That's why this year there were no calls for walkouts by students, no promotions of a "Day Without an Immigrant." Both would have reinforced the image of illegal immigrants not wanting to be a part of society-the wrong message.
While the pro-immigrant movement is getting savvier, their opponents are stuck in a rut. They keep showing the same inflammatory images and touting the same enforcement measures-Wall off the borders!-that lawmakers have rejected as impractical. The Minutemen organization, which last year drew an inordinate amount of publicity despite accomplishing little, has splintered in legal squabbles over finances. Politicians such as Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) continue to spout the same rhetoric, but they are increasingly at odds with the sentiments of most Americans.
In April, a USA Today and Gallup poll of 1,000 people asked if people in the country illegally should be given a chance to gain citizenship. Almost eight out of ten, 78 percent, said they favored the so-called path to citizenship. And a poll by the National Immigration Forum and the Manhattan Institute showed that 75 percent of likely voters nationwide support comprehensive immigration reform.
The general public is far better educated on immigration than it was a year ago, far more insistent on broad reforms that account for the nation's security and labor needs, and that keep families intact. They understand the immigration system is broken-and that solutions will come through long debates with many players represented, not in the streets through signs and chants.
Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.
KANSAS CITY STAR
The message, not the marches, reveals progress on immigration reform
By MARY SANCHEZ, Columnist
Funny thing about rallies, marches and demonstrations. People tend to believe that you can judge the strength of a movement by the heads you can count.
Some commentators, for example, have made much of the fact that this year's May 1 immigrant rallies drew noticeably smaller crowds than the estimated 1 million people who poured into the streets in cities around the nation last year.
An Associated Press article, noting that "only a fraction" of the marchers of last year turned out, blamed the lesser numbers on "fear" about recent raids and "frustration" that reforms had yet to be passed by Congress. A New York Times article opined that the crowds "paled" in comparison to last year and blamed "splintering" of tactics among advocates.
Don't be fooled by such simplistic reasoning. The opposite is true. The smaller gatherings signify not a floundering movement, but a movement progressing forward.
True change to immigration policy is not going to come about quickly, or simply because large numbers of people march through downtowns and gather in town squares. Far more important are the laborious tasks of educating the general public about immigration reform, lobbying legislators, and getting industries that depend on immigrant labor to find a role in the debate. Progress has been made on all these fronts.
Organizers have registered thousands of U.S. citizens from immigrant communities to vote. Businesses heavily dependent on immigrant workers-landscaping, agriculture and other industries-have spent the year organizing and lobbying members of Congress to change visa regulations to accommodate their labor needs.
Most important of all, the movement has revamped its message. It's more about keeping families together, providing access to college for immigrant kids born elsewhere, and giving people an opportunity to fess up to their illegal status, pay fines and right themselves with the law. That's a far more nuanced message than last year's, when sheer numbers alone gave a face to a population of people who had been largely discounted as invisible.
Of course, some activists cling to a romanticized idea that protests alone will reshape U.S. policy. But public demonstrations have always been more for the benefit of those gathered than for advancing the issue with the broader public. They are about organizing and keeping momentum.
To expect demonstrations to bring real change is folly. If you are standing outside on the sidewalk protesting, do you really have the clout to make change happen? If you had it, you wouldn't be on the sidewalk-you'd have made a phone call and you'd be inside, seated around a conference table with the people who control policy and make laws.
That's a harsh reality some need to embrace. Success will come when they stop simply preaching to the choir.
Immigrants advance their cause best by doing what they do every day: going to work, rubbing up against naysayers and proving them wrong by example. That's why this year there were no calls for walkouts by students, no promotions of a "Day Without an Immigrant." Both would have reinforced the image of illegal immigrants not wanting to be a part of society-the wrong message.
While the pro-immigrant movement is getting savvier, their opponents are stuck in a rut. They keep showing the same inflammatory images and touting the same enforcement measures-Wall off the borders!-that lawmakers have rejected as impractical. The Minutemen organization, which last year drew an inordinate amount of publicity despite accomplishing little, has splintered in legal squabbles over finances. Politicians such as Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) continue to spout the same rhetoric, but they are increasingly at odds with the sentiments of most Americans.
In April, a USA Today and Gallup poll of 1,000 people asked if people in the country illegally should be given a chance to gain citizenship. Almost eight out of ten, 78 percent, said they favored the so-called path to citizenship. And a poll by the National Immigration Forum and the Manhattan Institute showed that 75 percent of likely voters nationwide support comprehensive immigration reform.
The general public is far better educated on immigration than it was a year ago, far more insistent on broad reforms that account for the nation's security and labor needs, and that keep families intact. They understand the immigration system is broken-and that solutions will come through long debates with many players represented, not in the streets through signs and chants.
Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.
KANSAS CITY STAR
New York Times:
May 8, 2007
New Coalition of Christians Seeks Changes at Borders
By NEELA BANERJEE
WASHINGTON, May 7 — A new coalition of more than 100 largely evangelical Christian leaders and organizations asked Congress on Monday to pass bills to strengthen border controls but also give illegal immigrants ways to gain legal residency.
The announcement spotlights evangelical leaders’ increasingly visible efforts to push for what they say is a more humane policy in keeping with biblical injunctions to show compassion for their neighbors, the weak and the alien.
The new group, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, includes members like the Mennonite Church U.S.A. and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which represents Latino evangelicals.
It includes individuals like Dr. Joel C. Hunter, pastor of Northland, a megachurch in Longwood, Fla., and Sammy Mah, president of World Relief, an aid group affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals.
The concerns of the coalition mirror those of many evangelical leaders who have often staked out conservative positions on other social issues or who have avoided politics entirely.
In late March, Dr. Richard Land, the conservative president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, stood with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, in supporting routes to legalization for illegal immigrants.
The Rev. Joel Osteen, whose television ministry reaches millions but who steers clear of politics, has also spoken out for compassionate changes.
Immigration “for us is a religious issue, a biblical issue,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis, president of a liberal evangelical group, Call to Renewal, and a member of the coalition. “We call it welcoming the stranger.”
Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform does not back particular measures, said Katie Barge, a spokeswoman for Faith in Public Life, the organizers of a news conference about the group.
Rather, the coalition calls for bills that would push for border enforcement while improving guest worker programs and offering chances for illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, an approach similar to bills that Congress is considering.
The group advertised in newspapers like Roll Call here on Monday and plans to expand to other papers and radio. It is also trying to present at least 200,000 letters to Congress and the White House on immigration, the first 50,000 of which arrived at the news conference.
The group plans to focus its initial efforts on the news media and church members in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, because of the high visibility of the immigration debate in some of those states and the pivotal role some of their members of Congress have in the debate.
Evangelical leaders have a delicate balance to strike among their rank and file. A poll in March 2006 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that white evangelicals favored a more conservative policy toward immigrants than other Americans. That position is largely based on concerns that immigrants threaten the American way of life, rather than economic worries, the survey said.
Immigrants, many of them illegal, have flocked to evangelical congregations, and evangelical pastors understand that immigration changes increasingly affect their congregants directly.
The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution last year calling for improved border protection and financial and language tests for legalization along with ministry to immigrants, a position most heartily backed, Dr. Land said, by Hispanic Baptists.
John Green, senior fellow with the Pew Forum, said: “There are risks coming out with any positions for evangelical leaders. They risk taking a position that many in their pews don’t agree with.”
But given the great efforts that evangelicals have been making to reach out to Asians and Hispanic immigrants, Mr. Green added, “if they remain silent, there are great risks as well.”
New Coalition of Christians Seeks Changes at Borders
By NEELA BANERJEE
WASHINGTON, May 7 — A new coalition of more than 100 largely evangelical Christian leaders and organizations asked Congress on Monday to pass bills to strengthen border controls but also give illegal immigrants ways to gain legal residency.
The announcement spotlights evangelical leaders’ increasingly visible efforts to push for what they say is a more humane policy in keeping with biblical injunctions to show compassion for their neighbors, the weak and the alien.
The new group, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, includes members like the Mennonite Church U.S.A. and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which represents Latino evangelicals.
It includes individuals like Dr. Joel C. Hunter, pastor of Northland, a megachurch in Longwood, Fla., and Sammy Mah, president of World Relief, an aid group affiliated with the National Association of Evangelicals.
The concerns of the coalition mirror those of many evangelical leaders who have often staked out conservative positions on other social issues or who have avoided politics entirely.
In late March, Dr. Richard Land, the conservative president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, stood with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, in supporting routes to legalization for illegal immigrants.
The Rev. Joel Osteen, whose television ministry reaches millions but who steers clear of politics, has also spoken out for compassionate changes.
Immigration “for us is a religious issue, a biblical issue,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis, president of a liberal evangelical group, Call to Renewal, and a member of the coalition. “We call it welcoming the stranger.”
Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform does not back particular measures, said Katie Barge, a spokeswoman for Faith in Public Life, the organizers of a news conference about the group.
Rather, the coalition calls for bills that would push for border enforcement while improving guest worker programs and offering chances for illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, an approach similar to bills that Congress is considering.
The group advertised in newspapers like Roll Call here on Monday and plans to expand to other papers and radio. It is also trying to present at least 200,000 letters to Congress and the White House on immigration, the first 50,000 of which arrived at the news conference.
The group plans to focus its initial efforts on the news media and church members in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, because of the high visibility of the immigration debate in some of those states and the pivotal role some of their members of Congress have in the debate.
Evangelical leaders have a delicate balance to strike among their rank and file. A poll in March 2006 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that white evangelicals favored a more conservative policy toward immigrants than other Americans. That position is largely based on concerns that immigrants threaten the American way of life, rather than economic worries, the survey said.
Immigrants, many of them illegal, have flocked to evangelical congregations, and evangelical pastors understand that immigration changes increasingly affect their congregants directly.
The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution last year calling for improved border protection and financial and language tests for legalization along with ministry to immigrants, a position most heartily backed, Dr. Land said, by Hispanic Baptists.
John Green, senior fellow with the Pew Forum, said: “There are risks coming out with any positions for evangelical leaders. They risk taking a position that many in their pews don’t agree with.”
But given the great efforts that evangelicals have been making to reach out to Asians and Hispanic immigrants, Mr. Green added, “if they remain silent, there are great risks as well.”
Evangelicals Launch Immigration Reform Campaign
Evangelical leaders launched an ecumenical national grassroots and ad campaign on Monday advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.
Tue, May. 08, 2007 Posted: 07:15:34 AM EST
WASHINGTON – Evangelical leaders launched an ecumenical national grassroots and ad campaign on Monday advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.The campaign, under the title of Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR), plans to run ads nationally and locally in newspapers and mobilize at least 200,000 letters, tens of thousands of calls, and hundreds of lobby visits to Members of Congress by the August recess to demonstrate support for immigration laws that would both protect the U.S. borders yet provide a way for immigrants already in the States to gain legal status.
"We are coming together today because the Bible tells us again and again about the need to care for the stranger in our midst," said Jim Wallis, founder and president of the social justice group Sojourners.
“Compassionate immigration reform is also a critical step toward eradicating poverty in America."
The faith-based advocacy campaign will mobilize churches and faith groups across the nation with special focus on Florida, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania – states where CCIR will work with New Sanctuary Movement to show how the U.S. immigration crisis affects individual lives. CCIR supports the belief that immigrants are American neighbors and U.S. citizens are to love their neighbors and show mercy to those in need.
"We propose that Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the American commitment to the three formative pillars of our nation: the rule of law, our faith value system and the pursuit of the American Dream," said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, America's largest Hispanic Evangelical organization, which serves 10,700 Hispanic evangelical churches with 15 million members.
Signers of the coalition’s Joint Statement of Principles include Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla.; Sammy Mah, president/CEO of World Relief; and the World Evangelical Alliance.So far more than 50,000 letters have already been written out of the goal of 200,000 letters.
Michelle Vu
Christian Post Reporter
CHRISTIAN POST
Tue, May. 08, 2007 Posted: 07:15:34 AM EST
WASHINGTON – Evangelical leaders launched an ecumenical national grassroots and ad campaign on Monday advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.The campaign, under the title of Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR), plans to run ads nationally and locally in newspapers and mobilize at least 200,000 letters, tens of thousands of calls, and hundreds of lobby visits to Members of Congress by the August recess to demonstrate support for immigration laws that would both protect the U.S. borders yet provide a way for immigrants already in the States to gain legal status.
"We are coming together today because the Bible tells us again and again about the need to care for the stranger in our midst," said Jim Wallis, founder and president of the social justice group Sojourners.
“Compassionate immigration reform is also a critical step toward eradicating poverty in America."
The faith-based advocacy campaign will mobilize churches and faith groups across the nation with special focus on Florida, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania – states where CCIR will work with New Sanctuary Movement to show how the U.S. immigration crisis affects individual lives. CCIR supports the belief that immigrants are American neighbors and U.S. citizens are to love their neighbors and show mercy to those in need.
"We propose that Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the American commitment to the three formative pillars of our nation: the rule of law, our faith value system and the pursuit of the American Dream," said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, America's largest Hispanic Evangelical organization, which serves 10,700 Hispanic evangelical churches with 15 million members.
Signers of the coalition’s Joint Statement of Principles include Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla.; Sammy Mah, president/CEO of World Relief; and the World Evangelical Alliance.So far more than 50,000 letters have already been written out of the goal of 200,000 letters.
Michelle Vu
Christian Post Reporter
CHRISTIAN POST
Monday, May 07, 2007
RADIO IOWA: McCain touts work on immigration reform
McCain touts work on immigration reform
Monday, May 7, 2007, 2:11 PM
By O.Kay Henderson
Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he's working to resolve the debate over U.S. immigration policy yet this year.
Last week in Iowa, Democratic presidential hopeful Christopher Dodd accused McCain of backing away from immigration reform, but McCain says that's not the case.
McCain says the first task is to secure the borders. "Then you have to have a temporary worker program and the key to that is a tamper-proof biometric document. Any employer who hires someone without it would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," McCain says. "Then there's various categories of people of the 12 million who are already here and it's a little complicated."
McCain, a U.S. Senator from Arizona, says he hopes to hammer out the details of an immigration reform package in the next couple of weeks.
McCain spoke to about 200 people at a town hall meeting this morning in Davenport.
RADIO IOWA
Monday, May 7, 2007, 2:11 PM
By O.Kay Henderson
Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he's working to resolve the debate over U.S. immigration policy yet this year.
Last week in Iowa, Democratic presidential hopeful Christopher Dodd accused McCain of backing away from immigration reform, but McCain says that's not the case.
McCain says the first task is to secure the borders. "Then you have to have a temporary worker program and the key to that is a tamper-proof biometric document. Any employer who hires someone without it would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," McCain says. "Then there's various categories of people of the 12 million who are already here and it's a little complicated."
McCain, a U.S. Senator from Arizona, says he hopes to hammer out the details of an immigration reform package in the next couple of weeks.
McCain spoke to about 200 people at a town hall meeting this morning in Davenport.
RADIO IOWA
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Queens Chronicle: Immigrants voice concerns
05/03/2007Immigrants Voice Concerns Over Legalization Bill
by Jeffrey Moreno , Chronicle Correspondent
Students, residents and representatives from immigrant groups joined two congress members on Monday to discuss a new bill that would reform the nation’s immigration policy. On the eve of the international workers day, or May Day,
LaGuardia Community College’s aptly named Little Theater was filled with people who wanted to learn more about the Strive Act and express their concerns with it.
Groups like Desis Rising Up & Moving, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the Irish Lobby on Immigration Reform were there to speak on behalf of undocumented immigrants.
Congressmen Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) led the discussion. Gutierrez is a co-author of the bill, while Crowley is a co-sponsor.
Strive — an acronym for Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy — would allow undocumented people to work and travel legally. It would also allow them to eventually become permanent residents.
“As the son of an immigrant and a resident of New York, I know that immigrants who left everything to come here were responsible for building our great nation and city. This landmark legislation respects their sacrifice and hard work, and treats all immigrants with respect and dignity,” Crowley said.
The legislation would give undocumented workers temporary visas that start them on their way to permanent residency and eventual citizenship. Applicants would have to meet a host of prerequisites to qualify for the six-year visa. At the end of the six years, visa holders will be able to self-sponsor when applying for permanent resident status.
The Strive Act could potentially legalize millions of undocumented immigrant workers currently living and working in the U.S. illegally.
05/03/2007
U.S. immigration bill divides boro
By Adam Pincus
Legislators and some Queens immigration activists expressed optimism that a comprehensive immigration reform bill would pass this year, but other borough advocates attending a town hall meeting this week in Long Island City were suspicious of elements within the legislation.
U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) said this congressional session provided the best opportunity to pass the STRIVE Act, which beefs up border and security enforcement as well as offering a pathway for the 12 million undocumented residents in the country to become citizens.
"I think if it is not done this year, it would be virtually impossible in 2008," he said, when the issue could become more controversial during a election campaign.
Crowley and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) spoke about the legislation Monday at a forum attended by about 140 people at LaGuardia Community College, at 31-10 Thompson Ave. in Long Island City, a day before thousands rallied in Manhattan Tuesday to advocate for the reforms.
Hours after the meeting, a coalition of immigrants rights groups called Immigrant Communities in Action, issued a statement against the STRIVE Act.
"We feel millions of people will be excluded," said Luna Ranjit, the executive director of the Long Island City Adhikaar, which advocates for Nepalis.
Queens is the most ethnically diverse counties in the country, home to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants.
Ciaran Staunton vice chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, said he was hopeful that a bill would pass this year to help the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish and other groups.
"We are hoping that this is the year," he said.
READ FULL ARTICLE IN THE FOREST HILLS TIMES LEDGER
U.S. immigration bill divides boro
By Adam Pincus
Legislators and some Queens immigration activists expressed optimism that a comprehensive immigration reform bill would pass this year, but other borough advocates attending a town hall meeting this week in Long Island City were suspicious of elements within the legislation.
U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) said this congressional session provided the best opportunity to pass the STRIVE Act, which beefs up border and security enforcement as well as offering a pathway for the 12 million undocumented residents in the country to become citizens.
"I think if it is not done this year, it would be virtually impossible in 2008," he said, when the issue could become more controversial during a election campaign.
Crowley and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) spoke about the legislation Monday at a forum attended by about 140 people at LaGuardia Community College, at 31-10 Thompson Ave. in Long Island City, a day before thousands rallied in Manhattan Tuesday to advocate for the reforms.
Hours after the meeting, a coalition of immigrants rights groups called Immigrant Communities in Action, issued a statement against the STRIVE Act.
"We feel millions of people will be excluded," said Luna Ranjit, the executive director of the Long Island City Adhikaar, which advocates for Nepalis.
Queens is the most ethnically diverse counties in the country, home to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants.
Ciaran Staunton vice chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, said he was hopeful that a bill would pass this year to help the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish and other groups.
"We are hoping that this is the year," he said.
READ FULL ARTICLE IN THE FOREST HILLS TIMES LEDGER
President of Ireland visits the Bronx and urges U.S. immigration reform
(05/02/07) WOODLAWNIn a visit to Woodlawn Wednesday, the president of Ireland urged the U.S. government to quickly adopt new laws that would ease the path to American citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants across the country.
Mary McAleese, whose visit comes on the heels of immigration rallies across the country, highlighted the importance of a strong relationship between Ireland and those of Irish decent in the United States. She said she feels that those who have moved to America provide a positive path for further Irish emigration.
"No matter how much time has passed or how much geography separates us, we can say we’re kin ... we’re family," McAleese said.
McAleese also attended the ribbon cutting at the new Emerald Isle Immigration Center on Katonah Avenue.
For footage of the president of Ireland at the ribbon cutting of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, go to channel 612 on your digital iO Extra box and select iO Extra.
President Bush Participates in Meeting on Immigration and Assimilation
President Bush Participates in Meeting on Immigration and Assimilation (from the White House website):
"I'm looking forward to working with both Democrats and Republicans to get a comprehensive immigration bill done this year. We have a good chance to get it done. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand comprehensive immigration reform is in the nation's interest. And I'll continue working with members of Congress to encourage them to do the hard work necessary to make sure a system that is not working is reformed in a way that meets our national needs and listens to our national heart. After all, America is a land of immigrants. Immigration helps renew our soul. It helps redefine our spirit in a positive way."
President George W. Bush
May 3, 2007
WHITE HOUSE
"I'm looking forward to working with both Democrats and Republicans to get a comprehensive immigration bill done this year. We have a good chance to get it done. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand comprehensive immigration reform is in the nation's interest. And I'll continue working with members of Congress to encourage them to do the hard work necessary to make sure a system that is not working is reformed in a way that meets our national needs and listens to our national heart. After all, America is a land of immigrants. Immigration helps renew our soul. It helps redefine our spirit in a positive way."
President George W. Bush
May 3, 2007
WHITE HOUSE
Editorial from the New York Sun
Barack O'Bama
New York Sun Staff EditorialMay 3, 2007
So it turns out, the Daily Telegraph reports from Dublin, that Barack Obama's great-great-great-great grandfather was "Joseph Kearney, a well-to-do shoemaker from Moneygall, County Offaly, Ireland, who lived from 1794 to 1861."
Reports the Telegraph, "The presidential candidate comes from an Irish Anglican family, many of whom emigrated to the New World around the time of the famine and Ireland's decimated potato crop in the 1840s." Irish radio reported earlier this spring that while much has been made of Obama's Kenyan roots, little has been made of his Irish ancestry. The radio network's Web site reported that the Obama forbear "sailed from Ireland to New York in 1850 at the age of 19 on the S.S. Marmion arriving on the 20th of March."
It reminded us of the discovery by Seth Gitell, who is a contributing editor of the Sun, back in 1999 of Hillary Clinton's grandmother, Della Rosenberg, who a headline in the Forward at the time described as "The Feisty Wife of a Yiddish-Speaking Jewish Immigrant." Whatever you think of Senators Clinton or Obama or their politics, it's hard but to marvel at the American melting pot and at the way immigration strengthens America, sometimes in surprising, and nearly always in wonderful, ways.
On Tuesday in Washington, Senator Kennedy appeared at a conference in Washington of the Anti-Defamation League to announce the re-issuance of President Kennedy's essay of that title, "A Nation of Immigrants," which was published by the ADL in 1958.
Said the senator, "Every time the Senate takes up the issue of immigration reform, I reread my brother's book for inspiration. The words he wrote half a century ago ring just as true today. As he stated, ‘This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to explore new frontiers, people eager to build lives for themselves in a spacious society that did not restrict their freedom of choice and action.'"
The same day Senator Kennedy was addressing the ADL, Mayor Giuliani was speaking to the Latino Coalition.
Mr. Giuliani, speaking of immigration, said, "In trying to fix this problem, we can't lose being the country that more people want to come to than any country in the world or in the history of the world."
He quoted Lincoln as saying that "a good American is not determined by how long they or their family has been in the United States. You can be here a day and be a great American, and you can be here forever and not understand what it means to be an American."
He noted that if the anti-immigration forces had won out in American history, he might not be here, and he wondered, "Where would the people be that grew our economy, that fought our wars, that gave us the freedoms we have now?"
We fully comprehend how fraught immigration politics are at the moment. All the more inspiring Mr. Obama's example. The point isn't that Irish Americans will now vote lockstep for Obama, or that Jews would be more inclined to vote for Mrs. Clinton than they otherwise would have, or that Hispanics or Italians are going to flock to back Mr, Giuliani.
The point is that a majority of Americans of all backgrounds and political affiliations appreciate that we are a nation of immigrants, and that it is a fact that enriches us far more than it divides us.
NEW YORK SUN
New York Sun Staff EditorialMay 3, 2007
So it turns out, the Daily Telegraph reports from Dublin, that Barack Obama's great-great-great-great grandfather was "Joseph Kearney, a well-to-do shoemaker from Moneygall, County Offaly, Ireland, who lived from 1794 to 1861."
Reports the Telegraph, "The presidential candidate comes from an Irish Anglican family, many of whom emigrated to the New World around the time of the famine and Ireland's decimated potato crop in the 1840s." Irish radio reported earlier this spring that while much has been made of Obama's Kenyan roots, little has been made of his Irish ancestry. The radio network's Web site reported that the Obama forbear "sailed from Ireland to New York in 1850 at the age of 19 on the S.S. Marmion arriving on the 20th of March."
It reminded us of the discovery by Seth Gitell, who is a contributing editor of the Sun, back in 1999 of Hillary Clinton's grandmother, Della Rosenberg, who a headline in the Forward at the time described as "The Feisty Wife of a Yiddish-Speaking Jewish Immigrant." Whatever you think of Senators Clinton or Obama or their politics, it's hard but to marvel at the American melting pot and at the way immigration strengthens America, sometimes in surprising, and nearly always in wonderful, ways.
On Tuesday in Washington, Senator Kennedy appeared at a conference in Washington of the Anti-Defamation League to announce the re-issuance of President Kennedy's essay of that title, "A Nation of Immigrants," which was published by the ADL in 1958.
Said the senator, "Every time the Senate takes up the issue of immigration reform, I reread my brother's book for inspiration. The words he wrote half a century ago ring just as true today. As he stated, ‘This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to explore new frontiers, people eager to build lives for themselves in a spacious society that did not restrict their freedom of choice and action.'"
The same day Senator Kennedy was addressing the ADL, Mayor Giuliani was speaking to the Latino Coalition.
Mr. Giuliani, speaking of immigration, said, "In trying to fix this problem, we can't lose being the country that more people want to come to than any country in the world or in the history of the world."
He quoted Lincoln as saying that "a good American is not determined by how long they or their family has been in the United States. You can be here a day and be a great American, and you can be here forever and not understand what it means to be an American."
He noted that if the anti-immigration forces had won out in American history, he might not be here, and he wondered, "Where would the people be that grew our economy, that fought our wars, that gave us the freedoms we have now?"
We fully comprehend how fraught immigration politics are at the moment. All the more inspiring Mr. Obama's example. The point isn't that Irish Americans will now vote lockstep for Obama, or that Jews would be more inclined to vote for Mrs. Clinton than they otherwise would have, or that Hispanics or Italians are going to flock to back Mr, Giuliani.
The point is that a majority of Americans of all backgrounds and political affiliations appreciate that we are a nation of immigrants, and that it is a fact that enriches us far more than it divides us.
NEW YORK SUN
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
NATIONAL CALL-IN DAYSTue, Wed & Thu May 1 - 3
Call your Senators and urge them to move quickly to get real comprehensive reform done now!
Call this number, and follow the instructions to connect to the offices of your Senators.
Call this number, and follow the instructions to connect to the offices of your Senators.
1-800-417-7666
Tell your Senators to
ACT NOW IN FAVOR OF COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!
Tell your Senators to
ACT NOW IN FAVOR OF COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!
You can help make it happen with your call – join the effort!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
REPORT ON CHICAGO IMMIGRATION RALLY
Immigration rally draws activists frustrated by political deadlock
By MICHAEL TARM
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO
It's a march many immigration activists were not happy about making.An estimated 150,000 protesters marched through downtown Tuesday and to a rally at a lakefront park to call for immigration reform.
They carried with them American, Polish, Russian, Irish and Mexican flags, but also disappointment that the Democratic-controlled Congress voted into office last November has not approved legislation sympathetic to their cause.
"There's no reason a pro-immigration bill can't be passed. That's one of the messages being sent today," said Shaun Harkin, 34, of Northern Ireland, who has lived in the United States as a legal resident for 15 years.
READ FULL AP REPORT IN THE TIMES OF NORTH WEST INDIANA
By MICHAEL TARM
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO
It's a march many immigration activists were not happy about making.An estimated 150,000 protesters marched through downtown Tuesday and to a rally at a lakefront park to call for immigration reform.
They carried with them American, Polish, Russian, Irish and Mexican flags, but also disappointment that the Democratic-controlled Congress voted into office last November has not approved legislation sympathetic to their cause.
"There's no reason a pro-immigration bill can't be passed. That's one of the messages being sent today," said Shaun Harkin, 34, of Northern Ireland, who has lived in the United States as a legal resident for 15 years.
READ FULL AP REPORT IN THE TIMES OF NORTH WEST INDIANA
excerpt from Senator Kennedy's Remarks today at the ADL Leadership Conference:
SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY REMARKS
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Washington, D.C., May 1, 2007
Like President Kennedy, I hold the Anti-Defamation League in the highest esteem... you’re an indispensable ally today in the struggle to reform our immigration laws.
Our strong ties on that issue go back half a century. In 1958, it was the Anti-Defamation League that published the first edition of my brother Jack’s book, "A Nation of Immigrants."
He had been passionate about the issue as a Senator and had proposed far-reaching reforms as President. He was working on a revised edition of the book when he left us, and ADL published it in 1964 with a new introduction by my brother, Bobby. The book will be reissued again next year, and I’m deeply honored that you have invited me to write the new introduction for it.
The issue has been close to my heart as well throughout my years in the Senate. A century and a half ago, all eight of my great-grandparents crossed the Atlantic in the famous vessels that were known as "coffin ships" because so many failed to survive the arduous voyage. They
arrived in Boston Harbor, came up the "Golden Stairs" and passed through the city’s Immigration Hall on their way to a new and better life for themselves and their families. From my office today in Boston, I can still see those "Golden Stairs," and they’re a constant reminder of that heritage.
Every time the Senate takes up the issue of immigration reform, I reread my brother’s book for inspiration. The words he wrote half a century ago ring just as true today. As he stated, "This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to explore new frontiers, people eager to build lives for themselves in a spacious society that did not restrict their freedom of choice and action."
Immigrants still come to America in search of a better life for themselves and their families, and they make invaluable contributions to every aspect of our society. Our ability to protect their rights is a test of our own humanity, and we have to get it right today.
The recent federal immigration raids on worksites in Massachusetts and a number of other states underscore the urgent need for reform. People suddenly see the issue in a new and clearer light. They’re for strong enforcement of our immigration laws in the abstract, but they’re appalled at the idea of rounding up and deporting twelve million undocumented men, women, and children living among them as part of their communities.
These are people who work hard, love their families, practice their faith, and contribute to their communities. We should provide a way for them to earn the privilege of remaining in this country and becoming American citizens. The Torah and the Talmud teach us that we must welcome the stranger in our midst. It is written in Leviticus that "[t]he stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt …."
If we refuse to give the current undocumented population a pathway to legal status, stronger enforcement efforts will only force them deeper into the shadows and allow employers to continue to exploit them. It perpetuates the current two-tiered economy, which hurts willing American workers, too. The world is watching to see how we respond to the challenge – whether we can achieve a forward-looking reform that makes the most of the talents of new Americans, or whether we will give in to fear and recrimination...
I’m committed to working with Republicans in Congress and the White House to enact tough, but fair reforms that protect our borders, enforce our laws, and uphold the ideals on which our country was founded...
The more they learn about the issue, the more the American people agree that a comprehensive approach is the only viable way to heal our broken immigration system. The elements of the system are so closely tied together that it makes no sense to drive a wedge between them.
Border enforcement will be successful only if we regularize the status of the current undocumented population, create a temporary worker program that fulfills the needs of American business, and adopt a strict employment verification system to prevent employers from continuing to attract undocumented workers.
We face a critical choice – between a future as a nation of immigrants, or a future measured by higher walls and longer fences. We need to do all we can to create strong bipartisan support for this approach. The American people have waited long enough for immigration reform. The time is right, and the result is up to us.
May the beautiful words of the famous Jewish poet, Emma Lazarus, inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor inspire us now. May we always hold high her "lamp beside the golden door!"
Thank you very much.
READ FULL REMARKS
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Washington, D.C., May 1, 2007
Like President Kennedy, I hold the Anti-Defamation League in the highest esteem... you’re an indispensable ally today in the struggle to reform our immigration laws.
Our strong ties on that issue go back half a century. In 1958, it was the Anti-Defamation League that published the first edition of my brother Jack’s book, "A Nation of Immigrants."
He had been passionate about the issue as a Senator and had proposed far-reaching reforms as President. He was working on a revised edition of the book when he left us, and ADL published it in 1964 with a new introduction by my brother, Bobby. The book will be reissued again next year, and I’m deeply honored that you have invited me to write the new introduction for it.
The issue has been close to my heart as well throughout my years in the Senate. A century and a half ago, all eight of my great-grandparents crossed the Atlantic in the famous vessels that were known as "coffin ships" because so many failed to survive the arduous voyage. They
arrived in Boston Harbor, came up the "Golden Stairs" and passed through the city’s Immigration Hall on their way to a new and better life for themselves and their families. From my office today in Boston, I can still see those "Golden Stairs," and they’re a constant reminder of that heritage.
Every time the Senate takes up the issue of immigration reform, I reread my brother’s book for inspiration. The words he wrote half a century ago ring just as true today. As he stated, "This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to explore new frontiers, people eager to build lives for themselves in a spacious society that did not restrict their freedom of choice and action."
Immigrants still come to America in search of a better life for themselves and their families, and they make invaluable contributions to every aspect of our society. Our ability to protect their rights is a test of our own humanity, and we have to get it right today.
The recent federal immigration raids on worksites in Massachusetts and a number of other states underscore the urgent need for reform. People suddenly see the issue in a new and clearer light. They’re for strong enforcement of our immigration laws in the abstract, but they’re appalled at the idea of rounding up and deporting twelve million undocumented men, women, and children living among them as part of their communities.
These are people who work hard, love their families, practice their faith, and contribute to their communities. We should provide a way for them to earn the privilege of remaining in this country and becoming American citizens. The Torah and the Talmud teach us that we must welcome the stranger in our midst. It is written in Leviticus that "[t]he stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt …."
If we refuse to give the current undocumented population a pathway to legal status, stronger enforcement efforts will only force them deeper into the shadows and allow employers to continue to exploit them. It perpetuates the current two-tiered economy, which hurts willing American workers, too. The world is watching to see how we respond to the challenge – whether we can achieve a forward-looking reform that makes the most of the talents of new Americans, or whether we will give in to fear and recrimination...
I’m committed to working with Republicans in Congress and the White House to enact tough, but fair reforms that protect our borders, enforce our laws, and uphold the ideals on which our country was founded...
The more they learn about the issue, the more the American people agree that a comprehensive approach is the only viable way to heal our broken immigration system. The elements of the system are so closely tied together that it makes no sense to drive a wedge between them.
Border enforcement will be successful only if we regularize the status of the current undocumented population, create a temporary worker program that fulfills the needs of American business, and adopt a strict employment verification system to prevent employers from continuing to attract undocumented workers.
We face a critical choice – between a future as a nation of immigrants, or a future measured by higher walls and longer fences. We need to do all we can to create strong bipartisan support for this approach. The American people have waited long enough for immigration reform. The time is right, and the result is up to us.
May the beautiful words of the famous Jewish poet, Emma Lazarus, inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor inspire us now. May we always hold high her "lamp beside the golden door!"
Thank you very much.
READ FULL REMARKS
Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform participates in Immigration Town Hall at Laguardia Community College
Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform supporter Bernadette Gibbons testified yesterday in support of comprehensive immigration reforrm legislation that would provide an EARNED path to legal status for the 50,000 undocumented Irish living and working in the United States. Ms. Gibbons spoke at an Immigration Town Hall meeting held at Laguardia Community College.
Congressmen Joe Crowley of New York and Luis Guttierez of Illinois (pictured above) came to hear what New Yorkers had to say about the need for compprehensive immigration reform.
Over two dozen Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform supporters proudly wore LEGALIZE THE IRISH tee shirts to the Town Hall event to represent the Irish-American community. Great job, folks!
Call your Senators today!
NATIONAL CALL-IN DAYS
Tue, Wed & Thu May 1 - 3
Call your Senators and urge them to move quickly to get real comprehensive reform done now! The country needs action!
Keep the momentum for immigration reform surging ahead.
Tue, Wed & Thu May 1 - 3
Call your Senators and urge them to move quickly to get real comprehensive reform done now! The country needs action!
Keep the momentum for immigration reform surging ahead.
Your Senators needs to hear from you!
Call this number, and follow the instructions to connect to the offices of your Senators.
1-800-417-7666
1-800-417-7666
Tell your Senators to
ACT NOW IN FAVOR OF
COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!
Comprehensive immigration reform is the solution to fixing our broken immigration system, and now is the time to act.
Families, workers, and communities across the country are counting on Congress to get it done, get it right, and do it now.
You can help make it happen with your call – join the effort!
COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM!
Comprehensive immigration reform is the solution to fixing our broken immigration system, and now is the time to act.
Families, workers, and communities across the country are counting on Congress to get it done, get it right, and do it now.
You can help make it happen with your call – join the effort!
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