On Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Washington, D.C., the Democratic
Caucus released its updated Democratic Principles on Immigration.
The update was prompted by President George W. Bush’s Jan. 7
announcement that the current system is broken and immigration
policy reform is in U.S. national interests, as well as recent
proposed legislation by Senators Chuck Hagel (R.-Neb.) and Tom
Daschle (D.- S.D.).
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is very
pleased that both political parties are showing serious interest in
immigration policy reform. MALDEF urges Congress to take cues from
the leadership of both parties ““ from the president as well
as the Democratic Caucus ““ and work on enacting principled,
comprehensive immigration policy reform. As Bush stated,
immigration policy reform is in U.S. national interests.
MALDEF has been commenting on the president’s proposal and
has reviewed the new Democratic Principles on Immigration. MALDEF
is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit Latino civil rights
organization, and our principles take into account our 35 years of
experience on immigration policy reform, working for the best
interests of the Latino community.
First, MALDEF would like to emphasize this is a historic
opportunity for both parties to work together to reform finally the
United States’ broken immigration laws. The United States is
a nation made great by immigrants who contribute hundreds of
billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year. A legal system
that does not recognize this reality is not good for America. Both
parties must take this seriously and make real immigration policy
reform happen now.
Secondly, this issue is critical for the Latino community, and
Latino voters are very aware of the urgent need to reform U.S.
immigration laws. Latino families have been broken apart, small
businesses and entire communities have been damaged, and millions
of hard-working men, women and children have been forced to live in
the shadows.
One of the main causes is that, due to unacceptable backlogs,
millions who legally deserve immigration relief are forced to wait
up to 10 years to have any real access to legal status. This is
especially true in the case of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, who
compose 60 percent of applicants yet receive only 7 percent of
visas. This has led to the untenable situation in which even young
children have been risking their lives in the desert, simply to be
with their legal immigrant parents.
Both parties must work in the Congress to increase dramatically
the number of visas available for green cards and to decrease the
backlogs from Mexico, our close neighbor and trading partner. Both
parties seem to agree on the principles of family unity and the
need for backlog reduction but have not yet made them a priority.
MALDEF’s immigration principles aim to improve family unity
through reduction of backlogs ““ for family as well as
employment-based visas ““ and are at the top of the list of
priorities.
Third, MALDEF considers restoration of section 245(i), which
allows families to stay together, to be an essential component of
any form of immigration policy reform ““ without restoration
of section 245(i), any such reform will not be meaningful for the
Latino community.
Fourth, MALDEF respectfully suggests that either party seeking
the Latino vote should be aware that any temporary worker program
must be accompanied by a path to live in the United States as
permanent members of society. A temporary worker program alone
would lead to a permanent underclass, which is unacceptable. We
note that increasing the number of green cards and restoration of
section 245(i) are also needed to make this principle work.
Finally, MALDEF urges Congress to pass the DREAM Act (S. 1545),
and we also support the AgJOBs bill (S. 1645), both of which are
bipartisan bills that would provide permanent status to deserving
immigrants. The DREAM Act would make the dream of a college
education attainable for thousands of students.
The United States is a nation of immigrants, and this generation
of immigrants, many of whom are Latino, deserve the same chance as
earlier generations. They deserve the chance to become full members
of our society and to be treated with respect and equality. We urge
both parties to fix the currently broken immigration system by
making sure such relief is made available to the millions of
current and future immigrants who will continue to make the United
States great.
Culliton is an Immigrants’ Rights Attorney for MALDEF.
A national nonprofit organization founded 1968, MALDEF promotes and
protects the rights of Latinos through advocacy, community
education and outreach, leadership development, higher education
scholarships and when necessary, through the legal system.
MALDEF’s national headquarters are in Los Angeles.