Date:
May 12, 2006
To: Interested
Immigration Advocates
From: Maurice Belanger
On
May 11, Senator Bill Frist, the Republican leader and Senator Harry
Reid, the
Democratic leader, reached an understanding that will bring the
immigration
debate back to the Senate floor.
Senators
Frist and Reid announced
on May 11 that they will try to begin debate on the immigration
bill
the week of May 15. The Senate intends to consider “a lot” of
amendments, but Senator Frist said that he will try to wrap up the
Senate’s work by the Memorial Week recess, beginning May 26.
The
Senate floor debate will provide us with an opportunity to improve the
“Hagel-Martinez compromise.” As it is written now, the compromise
immigration reform bill contains many provisions that advocates are
concerned
about. There are a number of provisions that would make it difficult,
if
not impossible for undocumented immigrants to participate in the
program—thus making the reform itself less effective than it is
intended
to be. There are also many provisions in Title II of the bill that
would
strip due process rights from immigrants, and there will be amendments
offered
in hopes of ameliorating some of these provisions.
Some
of the due process issues raised in Title II are summarized in a
document on
the Forum’s Web site at:
http://www.immigrationforum.org/documents/PolicyWire/Legislation/Hagel-MartinezHighlightsLowlights.pdf
To
get many improvements in the enforcement-related provisions will be
difficult. Even among friends of comprehensive reform, there is a
perceived need to show a simultaneous toughness on enforcement. This
perception is reinforced by the calls coming in to Senate offices. An
article in New
America Media reports that anti-immigrant calls coming in to Senate
offices
are out-numbering pro-immigrant calls by as much as 20 to 1. The
mobilization of immigrants and their supporters has been on the
streets, but it
is not yet on the phones.
The
fear of facing the wrath of constituents who are vocal on this issue
has led to
a paucity of Senators willing to carry amendments to ameliorate the
enforcement
provisions in the bill. Senate staff have been given reams of paper
prepared by advocates in Washington—analyses of how specific provisions
of
the Hagel-Martinez compromise must be fixed; amendment language that
would fix
the problems; and backup documents to make the case for each
amendment.
Ultimately, however, it is Senators who will decide to offer and argue
these
amendments or not, and they will make their decisions based in part on
how much
heat they will take for doing so, and whether or not what they offer
has a
snowball’s chance of passing.
Your calls will certainly
help. While the bill is on
the Senate floor, please call the offices of your Senators.
You can find the phone numbers of your Senators here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Here
are a few general things you can say, but feel free to tell the person
you are
speaking to something that relates to your particular circumstance:
§
The
Senate is now considering immigration reform.
§
We
urge you to support real comprehensive reform that does the following.
·
it
provides an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
·
it
provides for timely reunification of families,
·
it
contains a program that allows immigrant workers to come legally in the
future
and that protects both immigrant and native-born workers, and
·
it
targets enforcement so that it both improves the orderliness of our
immigration
system and protects the civil rights of immigrants.
§
There
will be many amendments offered on the Senate floor. We urge you to
oppose harsh amendments that will undercut the ability of immigrants to
participate in the legalization program, and support amendments that
will
improve the bill.
§
The
Hagel-Martinez compromise bill, that the Senate is considering,
contains many
flaws. We urge you to support amendments that will fix those flaws.
For
those of you who can get on and want to get an update about
developments in the
Senate, the New American Opportunity Campaign is sponsoring a
conference call
for 2:00 PM Today.
Here is
the information about the call that was circulated by the New American
Opportunity Campaign:
Join a nationwide call
tomorrow, FRIDAY May 12th
at 2pm Eastern (1pm
Central, noon Mountain, 11am
Pacific) for updates on legislative developments, strategy, and the
recently
announced We Are America National Lobby Day.
Call 800-416-4956 or 978-964-0050
(from cell phones); passcode 65777554#.
(Please note: this could be a very large call; it may take more than
one
try to get into the conference.)
==============================
Maurice Belanger
Director of
Public
Information
National
Immigration
Forum
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://www.immigrationforum.org
http://www.communityresourcebank.org
SAVE
THE DATE!
Our Keepers
of the
American Dream Awards Dinner is May 18.
For
details, CLICK
HERE. Find out how you can be
a
sponsor.
