Republican Candidates Debating Immigration

Two articles worth reading:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0607/Game_on_in_Goffstown.html 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401632.html 

"Immigration is to the Republicans what Iraq is to the Democrats. It's the preeminent issue with the base and the dividing line among the candidates." - Jonathan Martin's blog on politco.com

Republicans are divided on whether or not to support the immigration bill. Anti-immigration critics of the bill are not offering clear viable solutions, but instead are just denouncing the bill. Don't be fooled by popular catch phrases critics of the bill use to stir support from their constituents to appear tough, patriotic, and resolute.  While it might be good for a sound bite to call the bill "amnesty" and proclaim one stands for "border security" they are overlooking the bill's comprehensiveness and not offering a sensible option to actually secure our borders. 

Candidates won't hesitate to bring up 9/11 and link our immigration problem with terrorism - but polls show that most Americans understand that building a wall along our Southern border would do little or nothing to combat terrorism.  Would a terrorist more likely come through Mexico (which none of them have) than through other means - and what about our neighbor to the north - Canada? 

Our legislators should be working hard to come up with a fair, workable solution for our broken immigration system. Guiliani, who was an actively pro-immigration governor, now offers vague condescending remarks on the immigration reform bill while Mitt Romney tells reporters "I'm not a legislator, at least not currently, so I'm not going to give you legislative language," according to the Washington Post article, when questioned about his stance on immigration.  Most Republican candidates have decided to rally behind a vocal anti-immigration minority rather than embracing a comprehensive solution that polls show is supported by 76% of Republicans.

McCain has taken a positive position on the bill, realizing that it's time to deal with the problem, but has not quite taken as active of a role in this year's legislation.  Hopefully, these candidates will realize the urgency of this matter requires real solutions, not political rhetoric. While the immigration bill has flaws, it's important to work them out, and find reasonable solutions that promote human rights, families, and a competitive economy.

Be sure to watch their debate tonight at 7 pm ET on CNN.

- Liz Carlson 

Posted on Tuesday, June 05 | 0 comments | Permalink

In the Senate Self-Congratulation is Trumping Serious Reform

One gets the feeling that despite all of the self-congratulatory press conferences and the claims that Senators have made a real breakthrough in the immigration deal, members of that body are not taking the process nearly as seriously as they should. How else can one explain numerous provisions in the bill and its amendments that not only overturn decades of established immigration law and replace it with untested and poorly thought out proposals that could wreak havoc with people’s lives and have seriously detrimental effects on the US economy and our ability to remain globally competitive. And it would be one thing if many of the proposals had been introduced before, were the subject of extensive hearings and the affected parties had a chance to weigh in. But these are ideas seemingly worked out in a backroom over a few hours by people who are neither experts on business issues or immigration law.

One prime example of this nonsense involves the Sanders Amendment which would add a tax of $10,000 on top of already exorbitant H-1B filing fees (sometimes more than $6200 for an initial application and extension). That measure passed handily. The funds would go to a scholarship fund for US college kids. Sounds good, but the jobs those young people are being trained to do could very well be shipped overseas by the time they get there if measures like the Sanders Amendment become the norm.  Despite the claims of some, employers do not tend to hire professionals on H-1B visas in order to suppress wages. In the fields where H-1Bs tend to work the most, there are severe shortages of US professionals. In fact, in many of these fields – health care, information technology, education, for example – unemployment is below 2%. In many cases, available US workers are in one part of the country and are not willing to move to where the jobs are available. Getting an underemployed IT worker in Silicon Valley to move to Jackson, Mississippi is often just not going to happen.

So when an employer cannot find enough qualified US professionals they have three choices –

1.         Raise salaries substantially to steal professionals from their competitors.

2.         Make do without the needed professionals and just hope to keep costs down in order to remain competitive

3.         Take your operations overseas where there are available and affordable workers.

The first and second choices are simply not options if a company is facing global competition. And so if H-1Bs are not available or they are so expensive that effectively the costs are more than option one, there is one logical solution – move the jobs overseas. This is not evil corporate America at work. This is about surviving. And it’s not just the corporation surviving. If an employer goes out of business, the American employees lose the jobs they thought were being preserved by making H-1Bs impossible or completely unaffordable.

Time for the grownups in the House of Representatives to take charge.

-Greg Siskind 

Posted on Thursday, May 31 | 0 comments | Permalink

The Sensenbrenners in 08

Interesting article in The Politico today: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/4160.html 

The group led by Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner that controlled last years house debate is finally losing its momentum. The HR 4437 supporters are no longer at the center of the debate as it has become clear that we need a meaningful solution, not a political solution.

The Republican Party is now divided, even the likes of Kyl & Lott support a plan that provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers.  This represents a tidal shift in the right direction.

Republican leaders are finally starting to realize that the people want meaningful, workable immigration reform.  We need to keep pushing them until they fall in line with the desires of the American people.

Yes, the people want a pathway to citizenship.  But they also want to unite families and restore due process & judicial review.  We've gotta keep pushing so we can build that pro-immigration reform Congress.

Posted on Thursday, May 24 | 0 comments | Permalink

Senator Sessions

Senator Sessions called family reunion "nice" but said we should be looking for immigrants who are in our "national interest."  Uniting families is in our national interest.  It is central to who we are as a nation.  

The current Senate legislation is not only bad for families.  It is also bad for businesses and bad for workers.  A bill like that isn't in our "national interest" it is in no ones interest. 

Posted on Tuesday, May 22 | 3 comments | Permalink

The Senate’s Compromise

The details of the Senate's bipartisan immigration plan are still being fleshed out.  The working plan will provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, increase employment based visa numbers, and strengthen boarder security.  The plan will also include some small improvements in judicial review & due process.

The new pro-business elements, however, come at the expense of family reunification, which historically has been of the utmost importance to who we are as a country. Our lawmakers must understand that both a strong economy and strong families are vital to keeping America a world leader.  We must not cast either of these elements to the side.

Senate Democrats are confident that the bill will improve in the House & in conference, emphasizing the need to keep the ball rolling if there is any hope of passing reform this year.  We must make Congress understand that the American people support meaningful, workable reform.  

Write Your Senators & support building a pro-immigration reform Congress today.

Posted on Thursday, May 17 | 3 comments | Permalink

It must be workable

As the Senate begins its debate on immigration reform, the focus must be on passing workable legislation, not scoring political points.  Provisions such as a "touchback" or $10,000 legalization fees may work politically, but they will not work in practice.  These provisions will discourage assimilation for hardworking individuals with families and keep people in the shadows.  

The purpose of immigration reform is to fix a broken system; creating new problems is not the answer.  

Also See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401400.html 

Posted on Tuesday, May 15 | 0 comments | Permalink

Immigration on Hold

Today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate Immigration Reform Bill will not be introduced until Wednesday.  You can view the Senate debate online at http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan2_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS2 or on C-Span 2.  Senator Reid was originally expected to reintroduce the 109th Congress's McCain-Kennedy Bill today.

Posted on Monday, May 14 | 0 comments | Permalink

One More Week

Next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he will bring a comprehensive immigration reform bill to the Senate floor  (See: Roll Call)  

What that bill will look like, remains to the seen.  The Senate may introduce an entirely new bill, or instead chose to reintroduce the 109th Congress's McCain-Kennedy Bill.  

Once introduced, the Senate has two weeks of scheduled debate on immigration.  If they do not reach a compromise by August, all parties seem to agree that immigration reform will not see the light of day until 2009. 

These next weeks are crucial.  Immigration reform cannot wait another day, much less another two years.

Click here to write your Senators! Tell them to support meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform. 

 

Posted on Monday, May 07 | 2 comments | Permalink