February 2006
The Status of Comprehensive Immigration Reform
and the DREAM Act
Senate
House
DREAM Act
Additional Information
Immigration Reform
What’s
happening in the Senate
A number
of bills have been proposed in the Senate that address immigration reform. Senators
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) have all proposed
bills that are comprehensive and address a combination of the following: the future flow of migrants seeking jobs, the 11
million undocumented persons currently living in the United States and border enforcement
and security. Other bills proposed in the Senate are enforcement-only ones, which
will not improve our currently-flawed immigration system.
Senator
Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee responsible for immigration legislation, prepared a “mark-up” bill
late last year that has been criticized by several leading immigrant rights groups.
Sen. Specter called for another mark-up in February, now delayed to early March, of legislation that would serve as
a compromise bill, combining different aspects of the bills so far proposed in the Senate.
Unfortunately, this request for a compromise bill means that it is unlikely that the bill that many immigrant advocacy
groups supported, The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act (S. 1033), co-sponsored by Kennedy and McCain, will be
voted on in the Senate.
The
biggest concern is that the final Senate bill will stray from the positive proposals in the Kennedy-McCain bill and will mirror
aspects of the harmful bill (HR 4437, sponsored by Sensenbrenner) that passed recently in the House. For more information on HR 4437, see below.
Act
Now:
Write
your Senators to urge them to support comprehensive immigration reform and to exclude the harmful provisions from the Sensenbrenner
bill. Our sample letters can be found here. Always try to personalize your letters!
What’s
happening in the House
In December
of last year, the House passed HR 4437, The Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration
Control Act of 2005, sponsored by Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). This
bill does nothing to address the hardships now faced by the 11 million undocumented people currently in the United States and the millions more that will come, nor does it address the root
causes of immigration. It is a hindrance to true immigration reform. The following is a summary, composed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB)
Justice for Immigrants Campaign, of some of the harmful provisions of HR 4437:
- “Unlawful
presence” would now be considered a crime and a felony, meaning that undocumented immigrants may have to serve jail
time and would be barred from future legal status and from re-entry into the country.
- Immigrants,
including asylum-seekers, victims of human trafficking, victims of domestic abuse, and children who are apprehended along
an international border or at a port-of-entry would be detained until such time as they are removed from the nation or otherwise
provided immigration relief.
- Anyone or any
organization who “assists” an individual without documentation “to reside in or remain” in the United States knowingly or with “reckless disregard”
as to the individual’s legal status would be liable for criminal penalties and five years in prison. This
could include church personnel who provide shelter or other basic needs assistance to an undocumented individual.
Property used in this act would be subject to seizure and forfeiture.
- The use of
expedited removal, which would permit DHS enforcement personnel to remove a potential asylum-seeker without providing an opportunity
to appear before an immigration judge or qualified adjudicator, would be mandated within 100 miles of the border and within
14 days of a person’s entry into the country.
- The Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) would be required to erect up to 700 miles of fencing along the Southwest border at points with
the highest number of immigrant deaths.
- State and local
law enforcement are authorized to enforce federal immigration laws. State and local governments which refuse to participate
would be subject to the loss of federal funding.
- Asylum seekers
and refugees who are convicted of a minor offense, such as petty theft, would be barred from permanent legal residence and
eventual citizenship.
- Document fraud
would be considered an aggravated felony and would subject an asylum-seeker to deportation and bars to re-entry.
- Nationals from
countries who do not accept the return of aliens who commit crimes in this country would not be admitted to the United States. This would include countries
such as China, Vietnam,
and Cuba.
- DHS would be
given the authority to continue to detain individuals who have served their sentences based upon a determination that they
are a “dangerous alien,” contrary to Supreme Court rulings barring indefinite detention.
- The diversity
visa lottery program, which allows 50,000 immigrants each year from countries around the world to permanently reside in the
United States, is eliminated.” *
* The above bullet points were taken directly from the USCCB’s
website.
Act Now:
Write your representatives urging them to support comprehensive
immigration reform. Sample letters can be found here. If your Representative voted for HR 4437, express your disappointment;
if your Representative voted against the bill you can thank him/her and encourage him/her to support comprehensive immigration
reform.
The Dream Act
In the Senate…
On November
18th, 2005, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) re-introduced the DREAM
Act in the Senate. The DREAM Act is a bill that specifically targets immigrant
students; it does not attempt to deal with border security or other immigration issues.
The DREAM Act is a critical immigration bill for hard-working students who are undocumented and would allow them to
pay in state tuition, receive state and federal loans, private scholarships and allow them to work legally in the United States.
It would eventually allow them to become residents and then citizens of the United States. Many of the students
that the DREAM Act would help were brought to the United States at very
young ages and consider the US to be their
home. They are denied access to higher education and the chance to better themselves
and achieve their dreams because of their undocumented status. These students
include class valedictorians, straight “A” students and other talented young adults who are eager to learn and
to work. The DREAM Act was introduced last year and passed 16-3 in the Senate
Judiciary Committee but was never brought to the floor for a final vote.
In the House…
The
House, however, has yet to re-introduce their version of the DREAM Act, called The Student Adjustment Act. The Student Adjustment Act was introduced last year in the House by Chris Cannon (R-UT).
So, what needs to happen?
- The DREAM Act needs to pass in the Senate
- The Student Adjustment Act needs to be re-introduced in the House, and then passed.
What are undocumented students saying?
The
National Advocacy Center receives comments from undocumented students regarding their need for the DREAM
Act to pass. The following are comments we have received:
“Hello, my name is Lorena I was brought to the United States when I was 12 and I have been here
ever. I would love to do something to support the DREAM ACT because, the only reason I did not go to college is
because I was denied goverment help. I cannot get a student loan or credit; it's hard trying to survive without so many things. I
can't even get a driver's license. So let me know what I can do to help support the DREAM ACT.”
“Hi. I was 10 years old when I first came to the U.S. I graduated from high school in
the year 2000. I wanted to go to college but I couldn't because of my legal status. I wanted to become a nurse
to help my little sister who is disabled. It kills me to know that there's nothing I can do. I don't want to leave
my mother and my sister all alone. I need a miracle I guess."
“Hi, my name is Gabriela V. Hernandez and I'm 23 years old. I have been here since
I was three years old and I graduated from high school in june of 2000 in Sacramento, California. It has been really
hard for my self and for my mother because my father passed away in may of 2004. I have not been able to continue my
education nor have I been able to work nor get my drivers license because of
my status. To me it is very fusterating and deeply it makes me angry inside to know that there are so many
people in my same situation that want to better themselves and be able to help there families but are not able to. I just
want to finish school and be able to take care of my family and my self and feel normal and also be able to talk about what
I have accomplished in life! And becoming a U.S. Citizen is one.”
Act Now:
Write
your senators to urge them to co-sponsor the DREAM Act if they haven’t already.
Urge them to make it a priority this year. You can also edit the letter
to thank your Senator if he is already a co-sponsor. Our sample letters can be
found here. Click here for a current list of co-sponsors.
Write
your Representative to urge him/her to push for the reintroduction of the Student Adjustment Act.
Additional Information
The myths and facts of immigration
Common immigration terms
Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration
Current articles on Immigration
Additional Immigration Websites
National Immigration Law Center - www.nilc.org
National Council of La Raza - www.nclr.org
American Immigration Lawyer’s Association - www.aila.org
For past immigration updates on our website click here and scroll down to immigration.
