Thread: Immigration deal calls for biggest changes since 1965

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Immigration deal calls for biggest changes since 1965
By Jonathan Weisman

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — A sprawling bipartisan immigration deal announced Thursday is designed to bring an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants out of society's shadows while cracking down on U.S. border security and employers.

The compromise — three months in the making and a 380-page product of talks among key Senate Republicans and Democrats and Bush administration officials — could become the most significant change to the nation's immigration system in more than 40 years. President Bush hailed the deal as "one that will help enforce our borders, but equally importantly, it will treat people with respect."

[quote:2bc655m0]Major provisions

CURRENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Could receive probationary legal status immediately;

Four-year, renewable "Z visa" for those present in the U.S. before Jan. 1;

May adjust status to lawful permanent resident after paying $5,000 in fines and $1,500 in fees and after head of household returns to home country;

Green cards after three years, rather than eight, for those younger than 30 who were brought to U.S. as minors;

Green cards for farmworkers who have performed such work for 150 hours or three years;

No green cards until "triggers" for border security and workplace enforcement met and clearing of visa backlog, which takes eight years.

BORDER SECURITY

18,000 new Border Patrol agents;

200 miles of vehicle barriers and 370 miles of fencing on U.S.-Mexico border;

70 ground-based radar and camera towers on southern border;

Deployment of four unmanned aerial vehicles;

No more illegal immigrants released upon apprehension;

Funds for detaining up to 27,500 immigrants per day;

New identification tools to prevent unauthorized work.

WORKPLACE

Electronic verification of employees' identity and work eligibility;

Increased penalties for unlawful hiring, employment and record-keeping violations.

GUEST WORKERS*

Temporary program with two-year "Y visas," initially capped at 400,000 per year with annual adjustments based on market fluctuations;

Y visa renewable up to three times, if worker returns home for a year each time (those bringing dependents restricted to one visa);

Families allowed only if they show proof of medical insurance and demonstrate that their wages were 150 percent above poverty level.

FUTURE IMMIGRANTS

Spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens and permanent residents eligible for green cards based purely on family connections.

380,000 visas a year awarded on point system, about 50 percent based on employment criteria, 25 percent on education, 15 percent on English proficiency and 10 percent on family connections;

New limits for U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country;

Visas capped at 40,000 annually for parents of U.S. citizens and at 87,000 for spouses and children.

* after border-security measures in place.

The Associated Press

But while immigration proponents and opponents lauded the effort, both sides — including Democratic leaders in the House and Senate — said they could torpedo the legislation, after the Senate takes up the bill next week and the House turns to its version in July.

The Senate deal would grant temporary legal status to virtually all illegal immigrants in the country, while allowing them to apply for residence visas and eventual citizenship.

A temporary-worker program would allow up to 400,000 migrants each year, but they would have to leave after two years. And the visa system, which stresses family ties, would be augmented by a point system that would favor skilled, educated workers. Those changes would take effect only after implementation of tough border controls and a crackdown on the employment of illegal immigrants.

"The question is do you want to solve the problem, or do you want to complain about it?" Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. "... This is about solving it."

But compromises needed to win the support of a liberal lion such as Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and a conservative illegal-immigration foe such as Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., opened it to attacks from all sides.

Democratic leaders were leery of three pivotal concessions to conservatives. The first pegs access to long-term visas for illegal immigrants and the new guest-worker program on implementation of the border crackdown — new agents, unmanned aerial vehicles, fencing, vehicle barriers, radar, camera towers, funds for the detention of illegal immigrants, and new identification tools to detect illegal workers.

Skeptics say that would take years; Chertoff insisted it could be done in 18 months.

Another sticking point came from replacing an immigration system primarily designed to reunify families with a point system that would give new emphasis to skills and education. Automatic family reunification visas no longer would apply to adult siblings and children of U.S. citizens, and visas for parents would be capped.

Instead, points would be granted for migrants with work experience in high-demand occupations, who have worked for a U.S.-based firm. Additional points would be based on education levels, English proficiency and family ties.

In 1965, an immigration system based on national origins was replaced with a system designed to unite families. It also shifted the origin of most immigrants, and limited visas.

To Republicans, the proposed point system would make the nation more competitive economically while opening access to a wider array of migrants. But to immigration groups, it would be a radical break from existing U.S. law.

"We want to see an immigration-reform debate on the Senate floor. We want to see this move forward. But we are wildly uncomfortable with a lot of what we're hearing," said Cecilia Munoz, chief lobbyist for the National Council of La Raza, a national Hispanic civil-rights and advocacy organization.

Finally, immigrants in the temporary-work program would have to leave after their permits expired, with no chance for permanent residence. Labor unions say such a system would depress wages and create an underclass; immigration advocates, including Hilary Stern, executive director of CASA Latina, a Seattle-based organization, said such a program would encourage temporary workers to go underground when permits expired.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also expressed serious concerns about the temporary-worker provision and the family-migration structure. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., refused to sign the deal he had helped negotiate.

In Washington state

Farmers have been pressing for guest-worker provisions for years in a bill called AgJOBS. Several, including members of the Washington Growers Association and the Washington Apple Commission, were in Washington, D.C., this week to lobby for support for hiring immigrant workers before harvests starting with cherries next month.

Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., co-sponsored House AgJOBS bills the past three years. He has called the current visa process overly burdensome. A spokeswoman said Larsen is eager to see details of Thursday's immigration deal.

Alicia Mundy, Seattle Times Washington, D.C., bureau

Conservatives were no less skeptical. Immigration legislation passed by the Senate last year identified three categories of illegal immigrants, based on length of time in the country, and would have granted immediate legal status only to those in the longest. Others would have had to return home or faced deportation. House differences scuttled that bill.

This year's legislation would grant any illegal immigrant in the country before last January a permit to stay. They then could apply for a new, four-year "Z visa," renewable indefinitely, as long as they pay a $5,000 fine and a $1,500 processing fee, show a clean work record and pass a criminal check.

The bill's authors "seem to think that they can dupe the American public into accepting a blanket amnesty if they just call it 'comprehensive' or 'earned legalization' or 'regularization,' " said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a presidential candidate and strong opponent of illegal immigration. "The president is so desperate for a legacy and a domestic-policy win that he is willing to sell out the American people and our national security."

The authors asked both sides to consider the alternative. Democrats and Republicans said the coming weeks represent the last window of opportunity before the 2008 elections. If the bill fails, a system that both sides see as hopelessly broken could go unremedied for years.

"Year after year, we've heard talk about reforming our system. We've heard the bumper-sticker solutions, the campaign ads, and we know how divisive it is," Kennedy said. "Well, now it is time for action. 2007 is the year we must fix our broken system."Washington Post reporter Michael Abramowitz, the Associated Press and Seattle Times staff contributed to this report.[/quote:2bc655m0]

Hey there, Kennedy, I have an idea!!!!

How about we simply enforce the CURRENT LAWS ?

Hi Curious Pat,

Originally Posted by The Washington Post

Green cards after three years, rather than eight, for those younger than 30 who were brought to U.S. as minors

Well, Curious Pat, readers of ALIPAC know who these under 30 people are - Kennedy wants it this way - the MS-13 street gang.

So, why would Comrade Kennedy, Comrade Bush, and Comrade Hillary want it this way (putting the MS-13 ahead, in the queue, over non-immigrant H-1Bs and other illegals)? The MS-13 is best suited to spearhead the demise of American society and, particularly, the middle class. Watch for presidential pardons to go with it.

Originally Posted by curiouspat

Hey there, Kennedy, I have an idea!!!!
How about we simply enforce the CURRENT LAWS ?

A most laudable suggestion, Curious Pat, however this goes against the wishes of the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations that the Senate is bound to follow.

It isn't the Senate - well, yes it is. Senators have allowed themselves to become subservient to our real government, Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations. Consider, Curious Pat,

Are they bring bribed?
Are they being blackmailed? What have they done to be blackmailed for?
Come clean, Senator!
Why are you being BLACKMAILED,
to the point of SELLING OUT YOUR CONSTITUENTS?
to the point of committing TREASON?

Well, good morning, COTO,

No sarcasm there at all. I KNOW BETTER THAN MOST, don't I?

Remember?

I am the victim of illegals...Cuban, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Peruvian, &
Mexican. These kids were in an international gang that robbed me off and
on for 1 1/2 years (when I was at work at night as an ER RN, helping
people!), before they threatened my life (spray-painted "We're going to
kill you, you f...... Anglo bitch", all over my walls), broke in while I
was there with a gun, then when I left for my safety, burned my house
down, putting me into $25,000 in debt. Yes, the police gang unit was
trying, but the professionalism of the gang, as well as the physical
layout of the neighborhood, always gave the gang members time to escape.
They only got the gang member, who removed his glove, while he sprayed the
accelerant all over my furniture and my thousands of books. His
thumbprint was left on the accelerant can.

Just folk with great family values, willing to jobs AMERICANS won't do. Yep. And these dear folk, get amnesty if this bill goes through. Sigh.
Guess they count, more than we AMERICANS, and LEGAL immigrants.

You're right, NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE, except to the NWO folk, the traitors in congress and the administration, and the activist judges who assist them.

Hi Curious Pat,
We're going to see the need for innovative home security and personal protection measures for those who can afford.
With middle class Americans losing their jobs to non-immigrant H-1Bs
and to amnesty recipients, where's the money gonna come from?

Wall with broken glass cemented into the top
to discourage street gangs from crossing.