By Catherine Dodson

On January 7, 2004 President Bush announced his hopes that Congress would adopt a new guest-worker program, thereby opening the debate on immigration reform in this key election year. In his speech, the President acknowledged that while America is a nation of immigrants, her immigration system is broken – a fact shown by the largely illegal workforce that undergirds our economy.

Attention to this issue is long overdue, according to immigrant advocates, who cite the eight-to- ten million undocumented persons living in America’s shadows, and who decry the hundreds of migrant deaths each year caused by ineffective U.S. border policy.

Voices on both sides of the aisle have met President Bush’s proposal with criticism; the conservative cry of “no amnesty” evokes a response of “no more exploitation, we must create open paths to citizenship!” In reality, the Bush proposal falls somewhere in between, yet far short of the reforms actually needed to fix the broken system.

The President’s Proposal

The Bush Administration’s guest-worker plan seeks to match “willing foreign workers with willing American employers,” thereby improving the U.S. economy and increasing the security of our homeland.1 The President stated that any immigration reforms adopted by Congress should be guided by a desire for secure borders, should be mindful of the economic needs of the country, should not reward those who came here illegally, and should provide incentives for workers to return to their countries of origin in a timely manner.

The program would allow undocumented immigrants to attain legal temporary worker status if they pay a registration fee, and can prove that they are employed by a U.S. business. Anyone wishing to immigrate through the program would have to first establish a relationship with a U.S. employer, and if approved, could gain a work visa valid for three years. (The visa could be renewed once for another three years, or the worker would have to return to his country of origin.)

Enforcement of the program’s rules would fall largely upon employers, who would be responsible for reporting those employed as guest workers, and also would be held accountable for ensuring that undocumented persons are no longer hired.

In an attempt to motivate workers to emigrate home after their visas expire, the Administration promises to work with foreign governments to give temporary workers credit that would transfer to retirement savings when the worker returns to his country of origin. The proposal also includes tax-preferred savings accounts for temporary workers, accessible only after leaving the United States. No expedited method for gaining citizenship will be offered to participants in the guest-worker program. President Bush did state that the path to citizenship should be made accessible to more people, and called on Congress to increase the total number of visas available.

Response to the Proposal

There is almost complete agreement among immigrant advocates and champions of workers’ rights in their response to Bush’s proposal: It is right to address the issue of immigration reform, and we welcome the re-opening of debate on immigration policy; the Bush proposal, however, offers the wrong solution and does not go far enough to reform a system full of problems. One common criticism is that the Bush proposal does not offer a way for workers to become U.S. citizens, and instead treats immigrants as low-wage fuel for our economy, then deports them after only a few years. According to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (with whom the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been aligned with for several years through the Taco Bell Boycott), “it is difficult to imagine a policy more damaging to the very people it purports to help than a guest-worker program.”2

Further, the Bush program relies heavily upon employers to report both participants in the guest- worker program, as well as workers in violation of their visas. If the current illegal workforce residing within our borders is any indication of the effectiveness of employer sanctions as incentive to enforce immigration laws, it should be clear that a different enforcement and worker protection mechanism should be included in any reform plan.

The National Immigration Forum names priorities that should be included in any immigration policy reform: circularity and citizenship, employer access and worker protections, worker visas and family visas, realistic limits and effective enforcement.3 House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi highlighted some major concerns of her party: “Immigration policy must not be the subject of election-year window dressing. While the President’s framework is a start, we still need a committed effort to enact family-centered immigration policies that will reunite families...”4 Indeed, a path to legalization, portability (the ability to change employers without threat of deportation), protection of workers’ rights, and family reunification through visas—in addition to a reduction of the backlog in the system—are all necessary elements for any immigration reform, as defined by General Assembly policy.

Alternative Solutions: The Immigration Reform Act of 2004 (S 2010)

On January 21, 2004, Sens. Daschle (D-SD) and Hagel (R-NE) introduced an important piece of legislation that seeks to comprehensively reform the flawed U.S. immigration system.

According to Sen. Daschle, “This bipartisan legislation cuts through ideology and offers a straightforward way to secure American borders, strengthen our economy, and help immigrants, while protecting American workers.”5 While the bill fails to offer a complete solution to fix the broken immigration system, it does have several provisions which will go far to improve the status quo. It allows for family re-unification and seeks to fix the current system eliminating the visa backlog. It provides econ- omic stability by creating a new temporary visa program to bring foreign workers to fill jobs that would otherwise be unfilled. S 2010 also allows a worker to petition to remain in the U.S. permanently after three years, and provides worker protection under national labor laws. It includes a mechanism for complaints, and limited ability to change employers. Most importantly, there is a provision for earned adjustment, a path to citizenship for people who meet a list of requirements, including:

• Passed security and criminal background checks,
• Lived and worked in the U.S. for at least five years preceding the date of introduction,
• Worked a minimum of four years in the U.S. (including one year post-enactment),
• Paid all federal taxes,
• Demonstrated knowledge of English and understanding of American civics,
• Paid $1000 fine, in addition to required application fees.6

The DREAM Act (S 1545)

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2003 seeks to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit states to determine state residency for higher education purposes, thereby allowing children of undocumented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition. Further, it provides a path to legal permanent resident status for students who graduate from high school and meet a list of requirements, including having lived in the United States for five years or more. The DREAM Act is currently on the Senate calendar and has 42 co-sponsors.

Suggested Action

Contact your Member of Congress and express concern over the broken U.S. immigration system. Emphasize the importance of the inclusion of a path to legalization in any guest-worker program, the reunification of families, the protection of workers’ rights and worker portability, and a reduction of the backlog in the visa system. Ask your Senators to support bipartisan legislation that offers real reform, like the Hagel-Daschle bill (S 2010) and the DREAM Act (S 1545).

CALL the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator or Representative.

WRITE:

The Honorable _____________

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable _____________

US House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

EMAIL by using the Presby Legislative Action Center. If there is not an urgent alert on this issue, you can compose your own message.

Please also contact President Bush and let him know your concerns and priorities for any form of guest-worker program or immigration reform. The phone number for the White House is (202) 456-1414, and the address is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.

General Assembly Policy

The 202nd General Assembly (1990) passed a resolution which recognized the special claim that immigrants make on Christian conscience and the contributions they make to U.S. society, and thereby took the following actions:

Reaffirm the following principles, which are part of past General Assembly actions, as the basis for evaluating the [Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986] IRCA and advocating changes in U.S. immigration policy. Any policy must:

1. provide for the human needs of refugees and immigrants;
2. assure non-discriminatory humanitarian aid and application of laws and policies;
3. uphold full constitutional and civil rights for refugees and immigrants as well as U.S. citizens;
4. protect the lives of persons;
5. give special consideration to the needs of women, children, individuals with special needs, and the unification of families;
6. insure provision of adequate resources, as needed, to communities in order to reduce possibilities of conflict between immigrant groups and racial/ethnic U.S. citizens; and
7. combat vigorously any expression of racism either in policies or the implementation of them.

Affirms that a just and compassionate U.S. immigration policy must also:

1. recognize that a sovereign nation has a legitimate need to regulate immigration;
2. uphold international standards and accords regarding protection to refugees and persons in refugee-like situations;
3. affirm, in concert with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment;”
4. address the U.S. economic, political, and military policies that may contribute to conditions compelling human displacement and migration; and
5. require that, as a goal of alleviating the root causes of migration, the consideration of human displacement be an essential part of shaping U.S. foreign policies.

That [the General Assembly] regarding pubic policy concerns:

1. advocate for the repeal of employer sanctions as a provision of immigration legislation.
2. calls upon the administration to provide comparable legal residency status to immediate family members of amnesty applicants granted temporary residency in order to ensure family unity, in accord with the congressional intent of IRCA;
3. call for an updated amnesty program with a more recent cutoff date to provide for legalization of undocumented immigrants established in the U.S. who were unable to benefit from the limited legalization provisions in IRCA. . . (Minutes, 1990, Part I, pp. 520-521)

The 211th General Assembly (1999) approved the Resolution on “Transformation of Churches and Society Through Encounter with New Neighbors” which included the following actions:

• Reaffirm[s] the guiding theological and ethical principles contained in the historical review of Presbyterian policy on immigration and refugee issues, and commit to rediscover its identity as a church of the stranger.
• The Christian confession of Jesus Christ as Lord transforms “strangers” into neighbors who are welcomed into our communities.
• Christians have the responsibility to challenge and to shape government policy regarding refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
• Refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants should be treated humanely and justly in government policies and in our communities...
• Sovereign nations should exercise their authority to regulate immigration with a presumption toward generosity rather than restrictiveness.
• The United States should open jobs to neighbors with a strong and continuing historical connection who need and want to work so long as there are jobs available and the poor already residing in the U.S. are not further disadvantaged.