Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e6OEiQT11514; Mon, 24 Jul 2000 10:44:26 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 10:44:26 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <397C5503.8CCBACA4@interaccess.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Aliza Becker <alzbec@interaccess.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:4703] [Fwd: ACTION ALERT: Update on Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act] X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: multipart/mixed; X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; I) Status: O Content-Length: 13009 Lines: 299 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------909F9CB4B1DB6CF5A3E50287 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit -- Aliza Becker Phone: (773) 267-0746 Fax (773) 478-5091 E-mail alzbec@interaccess.com --------------909F9CB4B1DB6CF5A3E50287 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from immigrationforum.org ([209.176.25.196]) by buffy.interaccess.com (8.9.0/8.9.0) with ESMTP id QAA28695 for <alzbec@interaccess.com>; Sun, 23 Jul 2000 16:14:16 -0500 (CDT) Received: from maurice [206.114.225.190] by immigrationforum.org (SMTPD32-5.05) id AD525AA10390; Sun, 23 Jul 2000 17:02:10 -0400 Reply-To: <Mbelanger@immigrationforum.org> From: "Maurice Belanger" <Mbelanger@immigrationforum.org> To: <MAURICEB@EROLS.COM> Subject: ACTION ALERT: Update on Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 17:10:44 -0400 Message-ID: <C33A7612CA73D111812F00600897801133C520@NTSERVER> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 National Immigration Forum Date: July 23rd To: Forum Associate E-mail List From: Maurice Belanger Re: Update on Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act ---------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS (Text was sent by fax on July 21) No deal on vote in the Senate. Senators still need to hear concerns. Monday conference call is CANCELLED ---------------------------------------------------- SENATORS STILL NEGOTIATING SO-CALLED "H-1B PLUS" ISSUES * Senate leaders have no agreement to bring "Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act" to a vote next week after negotiations broke down Thursday night. * Impasse may continue until Senate offices are aware that these issues matter to a lot of people. * Calls still needed to Senate offices to get them to ACT before adjournment next Friday. UPDATE On Thursday, the Forum sent out an alert based on information we had from Senate offices that the Democrats were seeking an agreement that, in exchange for clearing the way for consideration of the H-1B bill, they would be allowed to offer an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that would include Central American parity, Registry update, and the restoration of Section 245(i). Late Thursday night, negotiations between Democratic and Republican leaders broke down. As of this writing, there is no vote scheduled to take place next week. MONDAY CONFERENCE CALL CANCELLED There will be no conference call on Monday, as announced on 7/20. FRIDAY'S CONFERENCE CALL On Friday, there was a conference call with about 30 individuals from around the country. Given that there is no agreement among Republicans and Democrats in the Senate on what to do about the immigration issues, it was suggested on the call that folks proceed as if the Senate may consider the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act next week. (Congress recesses on Friday, July 28th .) Since there is no agreement in the Senate, what we call for is a bit tricky. The Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act is a construct of Senate Democrats, with the three issues of parity, registry, and 245(i) wrapped in one. Between now and the Congressional recess next week, Senators should be contacted about these issues, and their offices should be prepared to vote on the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act as such. Our basic message should be that we want these issues addressed now; that it is unacceptable that Congress finish the session without addressing these important issues. In addition to calls from advocates, the issue will be brought to the attention of Senators through the press. On Monday, there will be a press conference organized by the Forum that will feature speakers from unions and from business, conservative, and civil rights organizations. If the Senators fail to act next week, the package of issues now called the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act will be revisited. Other issues important to advocates may be considered in future bargaining, such as a reduction in family visa backlogs, and restoration of due process. Senators that should be targeted are listed below (the same list as circulated on 7/20). If there is a vote, it will be crucial to have some Republicans voting in favor of our issues. Communications to Republicans offices on this list is particularly important. The number for the Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. Democrats Republicans Daniel Akaka (HI) Spencer Abraham (MI) Max Baucus (MT) Lincoln Chaffee (CT) Jeff Bingaman (NM) Susan Collins (ME) John Breaux (LA) Peter Fitzgerald (IL) Richard Bryan (UT) Orrin Hatch (UT) Robert Byrd (WV) Jim Jeffords (VT) Kent Conrad (ND) Connie Mack (FL) Byron Dorgan (ND) Gordon Smith (OR) John Edwards (NC) Olympia Snow (ME) Daniel Inouye (HI) Arlen Specter (PA) Ernest Hollings (SC) Tim Johnson (SD) Robert Kerry (NE) Carl Levin (MI) Blanche Lincoln (AR) Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY) Charles Robb (VA) Ron Wyden (OR) Below is a revised Backgrounder on the Latino Immigration Fairness Act, taking into account the lack of clarity on its immediate future. ====================== TEXT OF BACKGROUNDER ====================== THE SENATE SHOULD PASS THE LATINO AND IMMIGRANT FAIRNESS ACT The Senate may imminently be voting on the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act, a bill that would correct for past government mistakes and misdeeds that have kept long-established, hard-working immigrant families in bureaucratic limbo. The bill would also help sustain our nation's prosperity by making permanent and legal defined groups of immigrants who are already here and already working. By taking a common sense approach, this legislation would keep workers working, families together, and our economy strong. The Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act includes three issues. These issues are: * Updating a provision of immigration law known as "registry" by which our government recognizes that it makes more sense to allow long-time resident, deeply-rooted immigrants who are contributing to our economy to remain here permanently. The amendment would change the registry cutoff date so that undocumented immigrants who have been residing in the country since before 1986 would qualify to remain here permanently. * Parity for Central Americans to correct for past unequal treatment among different groups of similarly-situated Central American and Caribbean refugees. Some refugees have been offered an opportunity to adjust to permanent status. Others-equally rooted in our country with jobs and family-face the prospect of deportation. * Restoration of Section 245(i) of the Immigration Act, a provision of immigration law that sensibly allows persons here, who are on the verge of gaining their immigration status, to remain in the U.S. to complete the process. WHO ARE THE IMMIGRANTS AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE? There are particular groups of immigrants who are already living in the United States but have been thwarted in their quest for resident status by a combination of administrative delays, unfair treatment by a hostile bureaucracy, and congressional neglect. But for the government's failure to properly administer and update the laws, most of these immigrants would have already become American citizens. Fighting the Bureaucracy for Over a Decade. One group of immigrants has been living in the U.S. since 1982. They qualified to apply for a legalization program that Congress enacted 14 years ago. Unfortunately, the immigration bureaucracy bungled implementation of this program, and some immigrants were turned away even though they qualified. Ever since, these immigrants have been in legal limbo while the Immigration Service has fought them in the courts. Today, even though these immigrants have now been in the country for nearly two decades, the Immigration Service is taking away their permission to work. To make matters worse for these immigrants, Congress neglected, when it passed sweeping legislation in 1996, to update a provision of law that rewards hard-working immigrants who have resided in the country for a long time. This provision of law-called "registry"-was last updated in 1986. The bureaucracy refuses to own up to its mistakes, keeping these immigrants in legal limbo and wasting taxpayer dollars in the process. The "registry" cutoff date must be updated. Regardless of whether they are part of the ongoing lawsuits, immigrants should, after so many years of working in this country, gain the ability to adjust to permanent status so that they may eventually become citizens. Refugees Who Would By Now Be Citizens. A second group of immigrants are refugees who fled civil wars and political chaos in Central America and Haiti in the 1980s and 1990s. Instead of finding refuge in the U.S., these immigrants were met with unsympathetic bureaucrats and judges with a bias against granting them permanent asylum. For years, they have lived in temporary statuses while trying-through the courts and in Congress-to permanently resolve their situation. If treated fairly by the bureaucracy when they originally sought protection, most would be U.S. citizens today. In 1997 and 1998, Congress, recognizing the contributions of long-resident Central American, Cuban, and Haitian war refugees to their communities in the U.S., passed legislation intending to allow them to resolve their legal limbo and become permanent residents. Unfortunately, the laws helped some, but not others in similar circumstances. The Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act would tweak the original law so that groups left out of that legislation will similarly be allowed to adjust their status, continue to work and support their American families, and eventually become eligible to earn U.S. citizenship. On the Verge of Gaining Residency and Forced to Leave. A final group of immigrants are those whose family or employer ties make them eligible for official immigrant status and are on the verge of gaining permanent legal status. This group of immigrants has been in the country with their family or working for a U.S. employer while awaiting their status adjustment. Although they technically should be waiting outside of the U.S. until their relative's or employer's petition can be considered by the bureaucracy, U.S. law recognized, until recently, that it made no sense to force someone who may have already begun to work and support their family in the U.S. to leave the country to get permission to come back and live permanently. In 1997, however, Congress did not renew the provision of law that allowed these immigrants to remain in the country. As a result, these immigrants find themselves facing the choice of leaving the country for a lengthy separation from their families or risk being denied residency for up to 10 years. In effect, our law now says that punishing immigrants for a simple status violation is more important than keeping them on the tax rolls, supporting their families, and serving as essential employees to American businesses. This simply does not make sense. The Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act would restore this provisions of law, (called "Section 245(i)") so that immigrants on the verge of gaining their immigrant visa will be able to remain with their families and American employers while they complete the final stages of the immigration process. Time to Take a Common Sense Approach. America today needs workers committed to this country and to their families. The particular groups of immigrants defined above have already proven their value to their communities, to our economy, and to our country. They have, for the most part, been here for many years, supporting their families, paying taxes, and working for American businesses. We should not, whether by government neglect or bureaucratic indifference, make it impossible to for them to support their families, and pay their fair share of taxes. It makes no sense to focus limited enforcement resources on removing immigrants who have sunk deep roots in this country. It makes no sense, in these prosperous economic times when we need more legal workers, to banish hard-working, tax-paying immigrants for up to 10 years, leaving their families to fend for themselves and forcing their employers to find new workers to replace these trained and productive employees. The Senate should support the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act. Prepared by the National Immigration Forum 7/21/00 ============================== Maurice Belanger Senior Policy Associate National Immigration Forum E-Mail: mbelanger@immigrationforum.org Web: http://www.immigrationforum.org --------------909F9CB4B1DB6CF5A3E50287--
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