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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Illinois families push for immigration reform

    http://www.belleville.com/mld/bellevill ... 016950.htm

    Illinois families push for immigration reform

    REBECCA CARROLL
    Associated Press

    WASHINGTON - Maria Benitez came to America from Mexico 16 years ago and considers this her home. Her husband is a U.S. citizen, and so are her four children.

    But now her family is on the verge of being torn apart because her visa will expire in August - a situation condemned Wednesday by lawmakers and citizens seeking changes in U.S. immigration laws.

    "There's just something fundamentally wrong with an immigration policy that says to an American citizen that they cannot stay with their husband or wife," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.

    He and 11 Illinois families - including Benitez - called for more protection for the spouses of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Gutierrez is co-sponsoring legislation that would allow officials to overlook minor immigration violations one time in some non-citizens' efforts to legally stay in the United States.

    The main issue cited by the families, who came to Washington Wednesday by bus from Chicago, are cases where a non-citizen previously has been deported, setting up obstacles to that family member applying for legal residency or citizenship.

    Benitez, for instance, returned to Mexico several years ago for a brief visit with her ailing mother and re-entered the United States illegally. That caught up with her last year when immigration officials put Benitez, then four months pregnant, in handcuffs and deported her.

    She was allowed back in temporarily but faces the expiration of her visa.

    Under legislation that Gutierrez co-sponsored along with Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona and others, people with minor immigration violations but no criminal records could be given a pass when they apply for legal residency or citizenship, said Gutierrez spokesman Scot Frotman.

    It also would not count green cards for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens toward the limit of 480,000 family-sponsored green cards that are allowed each year. The bill would increase the number of green cards issued each year to relieve a backlog, as well as lower the income requirements for families who want to sponsor a relative immigrating to the United States.

    A companion Senate bill is sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

    There are at least 8 million undocumented people in the United States, said Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the citizenship and immigration services branch of Homeland Security. Up to 40 percent of those entered the country on legitimate visas, which they then overstayed.

    "The question is, 'Where do they go from there?'" Strassberger said, acknowledging that some type of reform is needed.

    "The different bills that have been put forth are attempting to deal with the complexity of what to do with the undocumented population," Strassberger said. "There are lots of people out there with few options available to them at this time."

    For Emma Lazano, who runs a Chicago-based community group called Centro Sin Fronteras, obstacles to immigration for Benitez and others is a family-values issue.

    "In a country where so many people are getting a divorce, we should not try to stop the ones that want to stay together," she said.
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  2. #2
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    "There's just something fundamentally wrong with an immigration policy that says to an American citizen that they cannot stay with their husband or wife," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
    You knew the deal when you came here. Don't whine about it now.
    You are a Mexican citizen.
    http://www.alipac.us Enforce immigration laws!

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