More on Immigration
Okay, so I spent some time last night looking up information on the protests and on the actual immigration reforms that are up right now.
--Just want to note before I begin: the strike Monday was a direct result of reform bills in the Senate that drastically change current immigration laws, including laws regarding immigrant workers. While they use the buzzwords freedom, and rights, they aren't demanding full citizenship status. They are attempting to stop the passage of several bills. Many of the protestors are citizens, many are legal workers who are not considered citizens but are here legally, many are 'illegal' aliens who have been in the process of getting a green card for many many years, and many have tax id. cards. ((I know I keep mentioning the tax ID cards-- that's just the biggest thing that bugs me. We can tax them, but we won't let them have any of the benefits of being taxed. It's freaking taxation without representation.))
These websites proved useful:
http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=4650
"In 2004, President Bush praised proposed a temporary guest-worker program in which, “Immigrants willing to work in jobs for which US workers are scarce may be granted a three-year work visa, which could be renewed once for an additional three years. After those six years, the workers would be required to return home.”
----Basically, every person in Washington recognizes that there are enormous numbers of immigrants in this country doing the jobs that no one else is willing to do. The above proposal is one of many involving the over 400,000 immigrant workers (many of who were part of the protests) who have come to this country legally to work. However, these individuals are not enough to fill the jobs according to many economic statisticians. Also, these immigrant workers have severely limited rights because of the reasons they are allowed into the country. Their access to full legal processes, health care, and many other such programs are strictly limited, even though they do indeed pay taxes.
The new law, outlined here:
http://www.immigrationforum.org/documents/PolicyWire/Legislation/Hagel-MartinezSnapshot.pdf
proposes the changes that are being opposed en mass by much (but not all) of the Hispanic community (legal, illegal, migrant workers, citizens of Hispanic descent-- all of whom were part of the protests).
---REQUIRES the detention of undocumented immigrants located at or between ports of entry by DHS without legal action ((for an unspecified amount of time))
---new criminal penalties for evading inspection ((Making illegal immigration a felony as opposed to a criminal misdemeanor))
---expands the definition of “Criminal alien smuggling” ((making feeding/clothing/housing an illegal a felony--- with a provision for preapproved religious organizations))
---undercuts TWO Supreme Court decisions by also allowing DHS (department of homeland security) to indefinitely detain foreign nationals with final orders of deportation who cannot be deported through no fault of their own, or for any reason the DHS deems necessary
((the country cannot deport individuals to countries where we lack diplomatic ties, or if their home countries refuse to accept their return, or the individuals are stateless.))
---increases detention bed space by 10,000 (mostly in the SW)
---severely limits judicial review of DHS decisions, even when the decision is based on factual or legal errors
---temporary worker program that requires the worker to pay $500 fee plus application costs
---allows up to 325,000 (lowered from 400,000) taxable immigrant workers only allowed to stay for six years and who pay taxes (also to be one of these workers you have to pay $500 dollars American and all the paperwork processing fees and be on a waiting list. Employers of legal immigrant workers- not citizens- really don't like this part of the bill)
---Builds a 700 foot wall along the Rio Grande Valley.
---Decreases a number of the rights/services attainable by immigrant workers.
---And many many other things decreasing the amount of immigrant workers from the latin american countries, while still making provisions to provide TAX ID CARDS to completely illegal immigrants who stay in the country for more than a year.
And finally did you know:
That the wait to get immigrant approval in the Phillipines is 11 years and the wait for most of Western Europe is 2 months. That there is a lottery every year where 55,000 South American individuals are offered the chance to gain citizenship AT RANDOM (literally it's called a lottery)- but that Mexican citizens are excluded from this lottery.
Pres. Bush opposes this bill as too harsh, saying that it fails to recognize immigrants brough into this country under other immigrant laws, immigrants granted amnesty (like those working in New Orleans) for a period of time that has now run out, and fails most importantly to account for the economic need for immigrant workers.
In the 1940's the United States swept Latin Ameican areas of cities, picking up people at random and literally shipping them back to Mexico. Many of these individuals were US citizens. Many were not allowed to come back to the country. Many re-entered the country illegally.
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/PolicyBrief13_Jan06_13.pdf
--this is a really good article talking about the problems of immigration in more detail and addressing a WIDE variety of immigration reform suggestions
--And CNN.com has been running some interesting stuff on what it takes to get citizenship.
--Just want to note before I begin: the strike Monday was a direct result of reform bills in the Senate that drastically change current immigration laws, including laws regarding immigrant workers. While they use the buzzwords freedom, and rights, they aren't demanding full citizenship status. They are attempting to stop the passage of several bills. Many of the protestors are citizens, many are legal workers who are not considered citizens but are here legally, many are 'illegal' aliens who have been in the process of getting a green card for many many years, and many have tax id. cards. ((I know I keep mentioning the tax ID cards-- that's just the biggest thing that bugs me. We can tax them, but we won't let them have any of the benefits of being taxed. It's freaking taxation without representation.))
These websites proved useful:
http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=4650
"In 2004, President Bush praised proposed a temporary guest-worker program in which, “Immigrants willing to work in jobs for which US workers are scarce may be granted a three-year work visa, which could be renewed once for an additional three years. After those six years, the workers would be required to return home.”
----Basically, every person in Washington recognizes that there are enormous numbers of immigrants in this country doing the jobs that no one else is willing to do. The above proposal is one of many involving the over 400,000 immigrant workers (many of who were part of the protests) who have come to this country legally to work. However, these individuals are not enough to fill the jobs according to many economic statisticians. Also, these immigrant workers have severely limited rights because of the reasons they are allowed into the country. Their access to full legal processes, health care, and many other such programs are strictly limited, even though they do indeed pay taxes.
The new law, outlined here:
http://www.immigrationforum.org/documents/PolicyWire/Legislation/Hagel-MartinezSnapshot.pdf
proposes the changes that are being opposed en mass by much (but not all) of the Hispanic community (legal, illegal, migrant workers, citizens of Hispanic descent-- all of whom were part of the protests).
---REQUIRES the detention of undocumented immigrants located at or between ports of entry by DHS without legal action ((for an unspecified amount of time))
---new criminal penalties for evading inspection ((Making illegal immigration a felony as opposed to a criminal misdemeanor))
---expands the definition of “Criminal alien smuggling” ((making feeding/clothing/housing an illegal a felony--- with a provision for preapproved religious organizations))
---undercuts TWO Supreme Court decisions by also allowing DHS (department of homeland security) to indefinitely detain foreign nationals with final orders of deportation who cannot be deported through no fault of their own, or for any reason the DHS deems necessary
((the country cannot deport individuals to countries where we lack diplomatic ties, or if their home countries refuse to accept their return, or the individuals are stateless.))
---increases detention bed space by 10,000 (mostly in the SW)
---severely limits judicial review of DHS decisions, even when the decision is based on factual or legal errors
---temporary worker program that requires the worker to pay $500 fee plus application costs
---allows up to 325,000 (lowered from 400,000) taxable immigrant workers only allowed to stay for six years and who pay taxes (also to be one of these workers you have to pay $500 dollars American and all the paperwork processing fees and be on a waiting list. Employers of legal immigrant workers- not citizens- really don't like this part of the bill)
---Builds a 700 foot wall along the Rio Grande Valley.
---Decreases a number of the rights/services attainable by immigrant workers.
---And many many other things decreasing the amount of immigrant workers from the latin american countries, while still making provisions to provide TAX ID CARDS to completely illegal immigrants who stay in the country for more than a year.
And finally did you know:
That the wait to get immigrant approval in the Phillipines is 11 years and the wait for most of Western Europe is 2 months. That there is a lottery every year where 55,000 South American individuals are offered the chance to gain citizenship AT RANDOM (literally it's called a lottery)- but that Mexican citizens are excluded from this lottery.
Pres. Bush opposes this bill as too harsh, saying that it fails to recognize immigrants brough into this country under other immigrant laws, immigrants granted amnesty (like those working in New Orleans) for a period of time that has now run out, and fails most importantly to account for the economic need for immigrant workers.
In the 1940's the United States swept Latin Ameican areas of cities, picking up people at random and literally shipping them back to Mexico. Many of these individuals were US citizens. Many were not allowed to come back to the country. Many re-entered the country illegally.
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/PolicyBrief13_Jan06_13.pdf
--this is a really good article talking about the problems of immigration in more detail and addressing a WIDE variety of immigration reform suggestions
--And CNN.com has been running some interesting stuff on what it takes to get citizenship.