Javier Bustamante,
Editor

Immigration Politics

Latest Republican Attack on Immigrants Goes Too Far

White House Support for Sensenbrenner bill Disappoints Hispanic Families

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take a vote tonight on one of the most controversial immigration bills in years. The Republican measure, the so-called Border Security Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437), would do nothing to address the issues of border security and immigration reform in a comprehensive and realistic way. This legislation is a cynical Republican effort that will, among other things, punish churches and charitable organizations, divide families, and hurt homeland security efforts.

"This Republican immigration bill is a failure of moral leadership," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said. "It is disappointing that while President Bush pretends to support Hispanics, the Bush Administration continues to support this vicious anti-immigrant bill that will clearly divide millions of immigrant families, including U.S. citizens. Instead of having one bad bill after another come to the House floor, we could have comprehensive bipartisan reform in the Kolbe-Gutierrez legislation that is also sponsored in the Senate by Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy."

Nearly 500 organizations, including a wide variety of civic, religious, and business groups have opposed this legislation sponsored by Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. Latino groups were especially disappointed after President Bush released his Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) supporting this anti-immigrant legislation. The bill includes language that would make it a crime to overstay a visa, and would make it criminally liable for any person or organization to aide an undocumented person, including churches that help the needy, shelters for victims of domestic violence, or children and spouses of undocumented immigrants.

"The Republicans once again showed their true colors by supporting one of the most deplorable pieces of anti-immigrant legislation ever to be debated in Congress," Congressman Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Immigration, said.  "This is a sad day in our nation's history and one that will not be soon forgotten. This bill will not fix our nation's broken immigration system. For the sake of millions of families adversely affected by our immigration laws, for the sake of national security, and for the sake of our economy, we need comprehensive immigration reform, not more failed policies of the past."

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Último ataque republicano a inmigrantes se pasa de la raya

Apoyo de Casa Blanca a proyecto de ley de Sensenbrenner decepciona a hispanos

Washington, D.C. -- Se espera que esta noche la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos lleve a votación uno de los proyectos de ley de inmigración más controversiales en años. La medida republicana, el mal llamado Proyecto de Ley de Seguridad en la Frontera del 2005 (H.R. 4437), no haría nada para atender la seguridad fronteriza ni reformará el sistema migratorio de una forma integral y realista. Los que se oponen a esta medida la describen como un esfuerzo cínico de los republicanos que, entre otras cosas, castigará a iglesias y caridades, dividirá a familias y le hará daño a la seguridad nacional.

"Este proyecto de ley republicano de inmigración demuestra una falta de liderato moral," dijo La Líder Demócrata en la Cámara de Representantes Nancy Pelosi. "Es decepcionante que mientras por un lado el Presidente Bush alega apoyar a los hispanos, por otro lado su administración sigue apoyando este proyecto de ley vicioso y anti-inmigrante que claramente va a dividir a millones de familias inmigrantes, incluyendo a ciudadanos estadounidenses. En vez de dejar que tantos proyectos dañinos vengan a votación, uno tras otro, en el Congreso, podríamos tener una reforma integral y bi-partidista con la legislación Kolbe-Gutiérrez que también auspiciaron los Senadores McCain y Kennedy."

Casi 500 organizaciones, incluyendo una amplia variedad de grupos cívicos, religiosos y de negocios, se han opuesto a esta legislación, que fue escrita por el Congresista republicano James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). Los grupos latinos demostraron una decepción particular luego de que el Presidente Bush apoyara la medida anti-inmigrante con su Declaración de Política Pública de la Administración (SAP, por sus siglas en inglés). Este proyecto de ley incluye medidas que criminalizarían el quedarse mas allá de lo permitido por la visa, y podría llevar a la cárcel a toda persona u organización que ayude a un indocumentado, incluyendo iglesias que ayudan a los necesitados, albergues para víctimas de violencia doméstica o niños y esposa(o)s de inmigrantes indocumentados.

"Los republicanos volvieron a demostrar sus verdaderas intenciones al apoyar una de las legislaciones anti-inmigrantes mas deplorables que jamás se haya debatido en el Congreso," dijo el Congresista Luis V. Gutiérrez, Presidente del Grupo de Trabajo de Inmigración del Caucus Demócrata en la Cámara. "Este es un día triste en la historia de nuestra nación y uno que no se olvidará con facilidad. Este proyecto de ley no arreglará nuestro sistema roto de inmigración. Por el bien de las millones de familias que sufren por nuestras leyes migratorias, así como por el bien de nuestra seguridad nacional y por el bien de nuestra economía, necesitamos una reforma de inmigración que sea integral, no mas políticas fracasadas del pasado."

Dear Mr. President: The undersigned national Latino organizations write to express our extreme disappointment with the Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) issued yesterday supporting the “Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005” (H.R. 4437). This bill defies any attempt at serious or effective immigration reform, which you yourself acknowledged is urgently needed. Your SAP is baffling in light of recent statements made by RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, which correctly point out that the House Republican proposal overreaches in ways which are harmful to the country and which will alienate the Latino community. Your support of H.R. 4437 is inconsistent with the very principles for immigration reform that you have put forward.

The impact of H.R. 4437 on the Latino community would be devastating. This bill is excessively harmful to American families, businesses, and communities as well as immigrants. Among its many appalling provisions: it criminalizes 11 million undocumented workers; it subjects family members, employers, religious institutions, and others to criminal penalties under broadened definitions of smuggling, harboring, and transporting; it expands expedited removal and mandatory detention; and it creates an unworkable employer verification system that will displace millions of workers and disrupt the economy. All of these provisions will have a far-reaching impact on the entire Latino community, yet none would solve our very real immigration problems. H.R. 4437 does not put us on a path toward comprehensive immigration reform; rather it stymies constructive debate and is an affront to those who are truly interested in solutions.

As you know, leaders from both political parties have acknowledged the need to address our immigration problems in a comprehensive manner and are working on realistic, rational immigration reform legislation. However, House Republicans have provided this shortsighted and mean-spirited bill which is intended to appear tough on immigration without resolving our nation’s immigration problems. Only a comprehensive approach that provides a path to citizenship for current undocumented immigrants, creates new legal channels for future flows of needed immigrants, reduces family immigration backlogs, and protects worker rights will reduce undocumented immigration and bring order to our immigration system.

We are shocked and saddened by your Administration’s statement of strong support for H.R. 4437. It is difficult to understand how you will explain your posture on this legislation to the Latino community, which is following this debate very closely. We urge you to withdraw your support for H.R. 4437 and get back on the path toward comprehensive immigration reform.

Sincerely,

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Educational Fund National Council of La Raza (NCLR)

Under the present system, as determined by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the Census Bureau counts all people living in the country once every 10 years. This data is used when drawing up the 435 congressional districts and when determining each state's vote in the Electoral College that decides presidential elections.

Rep. Candice S. Miller, Michigan Republican, wants to change that so that both legal immigrants and illegal aliens would be excluded.

"This is about fundamental fairness and the American ideal of one man or one woman, one vote," Mrs. Miller told a hearing of the House Government Reform subcommittee on federalism and the census.

According to the 2000 census, there were 31 million foreign-born people in the United States, of whom an estimated 60 percent were not citizens. No one knows exactly how many illegal aliens are in the country, but estimates range from 10 million to 12 million.

Taking that into account, excluding noncitizens would have boosted President Bush's margin of victory in the Electoral College from four votes to 12 votes in the disputed 2000 election and from 34 votes to 42 votes in 2004, according to Clark Bensen of Polidata, a Virginia firm that analyzes demographic information.

Mrs. Miller's proposal comes amid a growing tide of anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly among Republicans in the House. Several proposals are under consideration to toughen border controls and make it more difficult for employers to hire illegal aliens.

Supporters of the amendment argue that the presence of noncitizens caused nine seats in the House to change hands between states in 2000.

California gained six seats it would not have otherwise, while Texas, New York and Florida each gained one seat. Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin each lost a seat and Montana, Kentucky and Utah each failed to receive a seat they otherwise would have gained.

"Immigration takes away representation from states composed almost entirely of U.S. citizens so that new districts can be created in states with large numbers of noncitizens," said Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors a slowdown of legal immigration and tough enforcement against illegal aliens.

Mrs. Miller's proposal ran into resistance from Democrats and Hispanic leaders. A former head of the Census Bureau also said it would politicize the count, diminish public confidence in the census and make it more inaccurate.

"The Census Bureau cannot become a quasi-investigatory agency and still perform its basic responsibilities as a statistical agency," said Kenneth Prewitt, who headed the Census Bureau from 1998 to 2000.

Lawrence Gonzalez of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials said the proposal harked back to the days before the abolition of slavery, when blacks were counted as three-fifths of a person.

Copyright © 2005 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mensaje Demócrata por Radio del
Congresista Raúl Grijalva de Arizona

sábado, 3 de diciembre de 2005