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| April 30, 2010 | ||||
Senators Release CIR Framework On Thursday, April 29, Senators Charles Schumer (New York), Reid (NV), Menendez (NJ), Leahy(VT), Durbin(IL) and Feinstein (CA), all Democrats, released the Real Enforcement with Practical Answers for Immigration Reform (REPAIR) proposal, a proposed framework for CIR legislation. The proposal does not contain legislative language; rather, it outlines the Senators' substantive ideas for an eventual bill. The REPAIR proposal includes plans for border and interior enforcement, legalization, a biometric social security card, employment and family visa reforms, a new immigrant worker visa, detention reform, and other measures. The Senators hope that their proposal will serve as a starting point for discussions with potential Republican co-sponsors and supporters. President Obama released a statement praising the framework and repeating the need for immigration reform legislation. Yet, the President's desired timeline remains unclear after he suggested just days ago that CIR may need to wait, given other legislative priorities. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) issued a statement saying that the United States must first secure the border before moving to immigration reform. Read the framework here: http://www.politico.com/ Immigration Framework Needs Work, but "Important First Step", says U.S. Bishop Bishop John C. Wester, Chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Migration, issued a statement Friday calling the REPAIR proposal "an important first step" and urged federal officials to enact immigration reform legislation. Bishop Wester expressed concern with the level of border enforcement spending in the proposal and the lack of any foreign development measures aimed at improving Mexican and Central American economies to reduce migration pressures. He also noted USCCB opposition to permitting partners in same-sex relationships to come to the United States at the same level as traditional married couples. He urged Congress to act now to fix what he called a "badly broken system in need of immediate repair." Read the full statement here: http://www.usccb.org/comm/ Arizona Passes Immigration Enforcement Law On April 23, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070, a law concerning immigration enforcement in Arizona. Under SB 1070: (1) if an Arizona law enforcement officer stops or detains a person for an unrelated offense; and (2) then has "reasonable suspicion" to believe that person is an unauthorized immigrant (SB 1070 prohibits the officer from using race as the sole reason for suspicion); then (3) the new law requires the officer to make a "reasonable attempt" to determine that person's immigration status. Responding to questions about the term "reasonable suspicion" after its passage, the law's authors noted that they adopted the term from Supreme Court decisions regarding the proper bases for officers to stop or detain persons. The law also makes it a state misdemeanor to willfully fail to carry documentation proving one's lawful immigration status. Those who produce a valid driver's license or state-ID will be presumed to be lawfully present. Those convicted of this new offense must serve jail time and pay fines, with certain limited exceptions. Opponents of the law argue that it will lead to racial profiling and create distrust between Hispanic residents and law enforcement. Proponents of the law argue that the law requires officers to prove their actions were based on criteria other than solely race or ethnicity. In a new development, the authors also point to amendments they made to the law after its passage to assuage concerns over racial profiling (Gov. Brewer must approve the changes). Arizona is the first state to criminalize unlawful presence. Currently, it is a civil offense to be unlawfully present in the United States and a criminal offense to unlawfully enter the United States. Read the law here: http://www.azleg.gov/ Read a summary of the law here: http://www.azleg.gov/ Read the changes made April 29 here: http://www.abc15.com/content/ USCCB Migration Committee Chairman Opposes Arizona Law On April 27, Migration Chairman Bishop John Wester issued a statement saying he "strongly opposes" Arizona's SB 1070, a new immigration enforcement law. Bishop Wester argued that the law would affect how immigrants are "perceived and treated" throughout the nation. He also stated: "SB 1070 gives law enforcement officials powers to detain and arrest individuals based on a very low legal standard, possibly leading to the profiling of individuals based upon their appearance, manner of speaking, or ethnicity." Bishop Wester concluded that Arizona's law demonstrates the absence of federal leadership on immigration, and called on Congress to swiftly enact comprehensive reform. He said that he spoke in solidarity with Arizona's Catholic Bishops who have expressed public opposition to the law. Read the full statement here: http://www.usccb.org/comm/ CIR Proponents Call for Immediate Introduction of Schumer/Graham Bill Following Congress' return from its Easter recess, CIR backers grew more vocal in calling on Congressional leaders to take up CIR legislation immediately. Prior to the recess, large numbers of legalization proponents traveled to Washington to take part in large-scale immigration demonstrations demanding legislative action on CIR. At the same time, Sens. Schumer and Graham published an op-ed in the Washington Post outlining the principles their bill will contain. However, the Senators have still not committed to a timeline for introduction of their bill. In addition, recent comments from Sen. Graham seem to indicate that he is unwilling to push for introduction in 2010. Given the upcoming nomination of and confirmation hearings for a replacement for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens as well as other pending Senate business, CIR proponents are urging Sen. Schumer to garner the political support he needs to introduce his legislation as soon as possible See the Schumer/Graham Op-Ed here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Reid Counts 56 Votes for CIR; Clarifies Timeline for Senate Action Speaking at a re-election rally in Las Vegas over the weekend of April 10, Majority Leader Harry Reid told a crowd of supporters: "We're going to come back, we're going to have comprehensive immigration reform now....We cannot wait." He also declared that he had 56 democratic senators committed to voting for CIR legislation. Sen. Reid's comments sowed confusion among political observers who questioned whether CIR introduction was in fact imminent. Sen. Reid moved quickly to address such questions, telling reporters: "We won't get to immigration reform this work period (referring to the time period between the Easter and Memorial Day recesses)". Reid's office also issued a press release clarifying that the timeline for Senate action on the bill depended on many factors including Sens. Schumer and Graham. See more on Sen. Reid's comments here: http://thecaucus.blogs. Groups Call for End to 287(g) Program; DHS Inspector General Releases Report Following on the heels of a Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Report on the 287(g) program, the Reform Immigration For America Campaign called for an end to the program citing what the Campaign sees as its fundamental flaws. Other organizations including the National Immigrant Law Center, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the ACLU chimed in with their own criticisms of the 287(g) program, which authorizes state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law. The DHS/OIG report set forth 33 recommendations for improvements in the program related to oversight, management, training, performance evaluation, data collection, and transparency. Read the DHS/OIG Report here: http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/ ICE Responds to Leaked "Quotas" Memo A March 26 Washington Post story featured a leaked memorandum from a DHS official that appeared to endorse "quotas" for the number of immigrants DHS seeks to detain. ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton quickly disavowed the memo, saying it was not cleared through his office and that it did not reflect ICE priorities or plans. He also met with concerned non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to further explain the episode and to field NGO questions. Also appearing at the meeting was James Chapparo, the official who had authored the memo on only his sixth day of employ with DHS. A number of NGO's continue to call for stronger public comments from DHS rejecting the use of detention quotas, and for the release of relevant DHS policy guidance to officers in the field. See the Post story here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ New Report Finds Legalization Would Have Small Effect on Labor Markets On April 12, the Public Policy Institute of California released a report arguing that legalization would not have a major impact on the labor market for either legalizing workers or for native workers, particularly in tax revenues and welfare programs. Its authors assert that the majority of unauthorized immigrants already pay taxes and therefore legalization would not significantly boost tax revenues. They also claim that the newly legalized will not qualify for most welfare programs. In addition, they argue that newly legalized workers will not compete directly with native workers because of their lack of occupational mobility and their inability to attract competitive wages. Read the report here: http://www.ppic.org/main/ Supreme Court Rules on Immigration Legal Advice Case On March 31, the Supreme Court ruled in Padilla v. Kentucky that immigrants who are offered plea agreements have a Sixth Amendment right to correct information on how their plea could affect their immigration status. In many cases, this will not involve more than a warning that a guilty plea could carry with it adverse immigration outcomes. However, in mandatory detention cases, accurate advice on the question of the accused's immigration status will be required. In this case, Mr. Padilla's conviction was not overturned; rather, his case was sent back to the lower court for further proceedings. POWER Act Introduced On April 14, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NY) introduced the Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation (POWER) Act. The bill is designed to protect unauthorized immigrant workers against employer retaliation by providing crime-victim visas to those who have been threatened with force or abuse after filing a workplace claim. The bill is also meant to encourage whistleblowers to come forward by staying the removal of any unauthorized immigrant worker who filed a workplace claim against their employer and is now facing deportation. Removal would be delayed until the U.S. Department of Labor has investigated the worker's abuse claim. Learn more about the POWER Act here: http://www.nilc.org/ | ||||
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