Legislation
Immigration: The Elephant in the Presidential Debates
After two presidential debates and one vice-presidential showdown, the American public is still waiting to hear what John McCain and Barack Obama have to say about the elephant in the room: immigration. Everyone from the Latino community to immigration advocates to probing journalists have been eagerly awaiting the immigration topic to be addressed by both candidates. Obama and McCain have been more than willing to address immigration in their conflicting Spanish-language ad campaigns. The debate is an opportunity for both candidates to set their records straight once and for all, including: Who really was responsible for the fall of 2007's immigration bill? What should be done about the 12 million immigrants here in the U.S. without papers? How will Obama and McCain address the problem of unscrupulous employers who hire workers, take advantage of them, and undercut their competitors? Opponents to a path to citizenship say anything that provides legal status to those here illegally is amnesty: how do Obama and McCain define amnesty? Do they support amnesty? If not, what do they support? How can Obama and McCain promise they will actually fix our immigration system rather than pass reforms that perpetuate the problem and lead to another 12 million coming in illegally in the future? Read More
Menendez-Kennedy Raids Bill Reintroduces Rule of Law to DHS
Last week, Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a bill that promises to reintroduce the rule of law and the basic principles of fairness and humanity to the enforcement of our country’s immigration laws. The Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act (S.3594) seeks to establish minimum standards of treatment for U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and immigrants who are impacted by immigration enforcement operations. In recent months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dramatically stepped up interior enforcement efforts and it’s no secret that hundreds of ICE detainees have been grossly denied not only due process protections, but also the fair treatment that every person, regardless of their immigration status, deserves. This failure to abide by the rule of law has resulted in utter chaos: U.S. citizens and lawful residents have been mistakenly detained; workers have been retaliated against for exercising their rights to organize in the workplace; and DHS officials have raided private homes without a warrant. Read More
McCain Feels the Heat from Anti-Immigration Movement
John McCain was an early supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, but in this presidential campaign, McCain has changed his position to come down harder on the issue. Many political analysts say he did so to appease anti-immigration activists in key swing states-Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada. Read More
Lou Dobbs and Immigrant Hate Groups Put Fear First, Leave Solutions Behind
When did extreme become mainstream?--That's the question immigrant advocates, labor leaders, civil rights groups, and Latino organizations are asking in a full page ad in Capitol Hill newspapers this week as supporters of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) march into the offices of Congress, demanding an impractical and hateful agenda of mass deportations, worksite raids, and other expensive and ultimately ineffective approaches as part of their "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" gathering. The September 10 broadcast of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight program will further stoke FAIR's flames as it airs live from the site of the annual "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" event, along with dozens (or so FAIR claims) of radio hosts from across the country. Hateful extremism is a difficult challenge and sad reality that our nation faces. However, its appearance in mainstream politics and media marks a disturbing social regression for the United States as hate groups and extremists are allowed to define the debate on immigration. Read More
Recapture of Unused Immigrant Visas: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Critics of H.R. 5882, a bill that would would allow visas that have gone unused due to bureaucratic delays to be "recaptured" and issued to family- or employment-based legal immigrants, claim it will needlesly create new visas. The fact is that "recapturing" lost visas would not authorize any new green cards; it would allow the government to issue green cards that Congress has already authorized. Read More
What Obama’s Speech Means for Immigration
Immigration was not overlooked during Barack Obama's momentous closing speech on Thursday night. "Passions fly on immigration," said Obama, "but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort." At the very end of a Democratic National Convention during which immigration was often shadowed by the politics of the race and the burning issues of Iraq and the economy, Obama made sure that immigration was written into his history-making speech. Read More
DNC Live: National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
Yesterday the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA)--a nonpartisan association of Hispanic organizations and leaders--announced a bold new policy agenda at the DNC, calling upon elected officials, candidates, political parties, the media and the general public to consider and adopt the NHLA platform. The Hispanic Policy Agenda addresses prime policy issues facing Hispanics in six main issue areas: Education Civil rights Immigration Economic Empowerment Health Government Accountability NHLA Chair and President of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), John Trasvina, began by introducing the purpose of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda as being the establishment of a set of principles and priorities that the candidates need to adopt if they want to gain the support of the Latinos. "We need to make sure that the truth is spoken about immigration and the needs of the Latino community and we don't let others define what we are," said Trasvina. Read More
DNC Live: Janet Murguia Concludes NDN Immigration Forum
Janet Murguia, CEO of President of National Council of La Raza was the final speaker at NDN's Immigration Reform and the Next Administration forum event at the DNC. Murguia wanted to add another dimension to the conversation by pointing out that as a Latina, she and her fellow Latinos care about a lot of issues--yet immigration is the single issue that crosses across the community and is mobilizing Latinos across the country. Read More
DNC Live: NDN Immigration Forum Resumes with Frank Sharry
Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America's Voice was the third speaker featured at NDN's Immigration Reform and the Next Administration forum event. Sharry began by providing a definition for attrition through enforcement: From the policy point of view, attrition through enforcement assumes we have good laws and bad people and what we have to do is enforce the good laws so that the bad people go away. The idea is to make life so miserable so people will leave. He referred to it as more accurately being a form of "non-violent ethnic cleansing"--making a bad problem worse. Read More
DNC Live: Marco Lopez Continues NDN Immigration Discussion
The next speaker at the NDN's Immigration Reform and the Next Administration forum event at the DNC was Marco Lopez of Arizona, a rising star in American politics. Lopez talked about what Arizona has had to do "creatively" to tackle the growing trend of migration from South to North, acknowledging that Arizona--as one of the fastest growing states--needs workers. Read More
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