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[quote]Advocates still hopeful on immigration bill
Jun Ilagan, Aug 08, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO — Immigration lawyer Traci Hong was overwhelmed when she received notice in March that she got a dream job: a post in the U.S. House of Representatives Immigration Subcommittee headed by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California).

Her excitement turned into disbelief, however. At the pre-employment routine, Basic Pilot — a screening system ran by the Department of Homeland Security since 1996, and which the House uses — flagged Hong as an illegal immigrant unauthorized to work.

Hong spent eight days agency-hopping to prove her circumstances. She emigrated with her family from South Korea when she was 10 years old, and became a U.S. citizen in 1992. She earned a law degree from the University of Texas and worked a fulfilling career with the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) where she managed its immigration program.

The case of Traci Hong was a preview of the present-day chaos in the country’s immigration system, following the June 28 negative Senate vote on the comprehensive immigration reform bill. Now more than ever, the broken system increases the vulnerability of foreign-born immigrants to indiscriminate screening, harassment, racial rhetoric, incarceration, and deportation.

Worse, long-term relief is nowhere in sight.

“Realistically, comprehensive immigration reform is dead under the Bush administration and in the 110th Congress,â€