Thread: Migrants' advocates look to '07 for reform

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... eform.html

Migrants' advocates look to '07 for reform

Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 20, 2006 12:00 AM

After organizing major street protests in Phoenix to focus attention on immigration reform, several key Valley immigrant advocates have given up hope Congress will be able to strike an election-year compromise.

But a delay may suit some immigration-reform proponents who support a shift in strategy: waiting until after the November elections in hopes that a newly elected Congress will come to an agreement on more favorable legislation.

"In one way, I want something to happen this year because we worked so hard. But in another way, I want to wait until next year and see what happens in November. We want to see if the power is there," said Magdalena Schwartz, president of Hispanos por America, a group of evangelical Christian Latinos.

The Republican-controlled House and Senate are gridlocked over a pair of competing immigration bills. The House favors an enforcement-heavy approach and passed a strict bill last December. The Senate supports a comprehensive package that adds a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants on top of enhanced border enforcement and tighter controls on illegal hiring.

The Senate's effort is closer to the plan favored by President Bush, who continues to push Congress for immigration reform this year and remains open to a compromise.

"I think immigration reform is dead. I think it may take an act of God for something to happen this year," said Elias Bermudez, president of the advocacy group Immigrants Without Borders. He is one of several advocates who now believe that waiting until after the November election may provide a better opportunity for reform.

They may be mistaken. Electing more Democrats to Congress doesn't ensure reaching a decision on immigration reform will be easy, experts said.


Breaking deadlock


Currently, key Senate leaders are considering a compromise deal to break the deadlock. The legislation would phase in a guest-worker and legalization program only after the government declared the border was more secure.

Immigrant advocates are split over the compromise, however. Some, such as Bermudez, support it. Others think it focuses too heavily on enforcement. Still, few believe the compromise will go anywhere.

"It's purely a political ploy. There is nothing behind this," said Alfredo Gutierrez, a former state legislator who hosts a talk radio program that targets Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Héctor Yturralde, treasurer of the Phoenix group We Are America, agreed. "I don't think anything is going to happen this year. I really don't," he said, echoing comments by several other immigrant rights advocates responsible for organizing a series of street protests, rallies, marches and economic boycotts in March and April to press Congress to pass a multifaceted immigration and border-security plan.

The House passed a bill in December that focuses on tougher enforcement and calls for tighter border security and greater penalties for employers of undocumented workers. The version passed by the Senate in May and supported by President Bush mixes increased border security and employer sanctions with a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for most immigrants.


Rethinking strategy


Most immigrant advocates favor the Senate version, but there are a number of criticisms and "those criticisms have only become more glaring" the longer Congress delays, Gutierrez said.

Advocates are particularly unhappy that under the Senate bill undocumented immigrants in the country less than two years do not qualify for legalization. So they say it may be better to wait until after a new Congress is elected in November.

"People are rethinking the strategy," Gutierrez said. "If we have a chance to change the makeup of Congress in November, maybe we will have a Congress that will listen to us."

To break the stalemate, Bush and some key Senate leaders say they are willing to agree to a compromise with the House that would require the border-security measure be put into place first before triggering a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Gutierrez said he would be willing to settle for a phased-in approach. Other immigrant rights advocates, however, say the compromise is unacceptable because it focuses too heavily on enforcement.

"If anything, it should be flip-flopped. They should create an easy method for immigration and then put money into securing the border," Yturralde said.

Even if Democrats take control of the House, however, it is unlikely Congress would be willing to pass a more liberal immigration bill, said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant advocacy organization.

That is partly because Democrats don't want to alienate labor unions worried that a guest-worker program could result in job losses and drive down wages.

"That's not the message coming from the House Democrats right now. Maybe that would all change come January, but I kind of doubt it," Kelley said. "There is nothing in the record now that a single House Democrat has said that indicates they want to go more liberal on this issue."



Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8312.

"In one way, I want something to happen this year because we worked so hard. But in another way, I want to wait until next year and see what happens in November. We want to see if the power is there," said Magdalena Schwartz, president of Hispanos por America, a group of evangelical Christian Latinos.

I bet this evangelical Christian Latinos group has a tax exempt status. They supposedly are not to be involved in politics. Time for the IRS to start investigating these groups.

The above article is the exact reason we need to keep the pressure on. A sign of weakening resolve will be our downfall!