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TALKING POINTS
TALKING POINTS ON SENATE NEGOTIATIONS
Background.
Democratic and Republican Senators, along
with Administration officials, are currently negotiating a potential
compromise immigration reform bill. USCCB and other JFI agencies have
focused upon three areas to influence the discussions:
1. a
legalization program which is workable and achievable;
2. a new
worker program with appropriate worker protections and a path
to citizenship; and
3. the
preservation of family reunification in our immigration system.
The Bush Administration has proposed
an immigration plan which would undermine family immigration in several
ways. It would:
1. eliminate several categories of
family reunification, including adult sons and daughters, siblings, and
parents of U.S. citizens;
2. prevent persons legalized under
the legalization program from bringing in immediate family members
(spouse and minor children); and
3. prevent temporary workers from
bringing with them immediate family members. These family members would
be re-directed toward an employment-based “point” system which would
make family ties only one of several criteria considered for admission.
Church position.
Any compromise immigration reform legislation must
include essential components in order to warrant Catholic support.
First, any earned legalization program must be fair, workable, and
achievable for all eligible participants, must include a path to
citizenship, and must allow for families to remain together. A new
worker program must include important labor protections, family unity,
and a path to citizenship. In addition, family reunification categories
must be preserved and family backlogs must be eliminated. USCCB is
strongly opposed to the elimination of family reunification categories
in any immigration reform legislation and to the separation of families
in a new worker program or in any new legalization program.
TALKING POINTS:
·
The Senate may soon consider
compromise immigration legislation which is currently being negotiated
between Democratic and Republican Senators and the Bush Administration.
It is important than any legislation:
1) includes a legalization program
with a path to citizenship for immigrants and their families; 2) a new
worker program with worker protections, family unity, and a path to
citizenship; and 3) the preservation of family reunification as a
cornerstone of the U.S. immigration system.
·
Any legalization program and new
worker program must include a path to citizenship for those who are
eligible as well as family unity for immediate family members.
Otherwise, we will create a permanent underclass of persons in this
country as well as unintended social consequences in our immigrant
communities.
·
We/I am strongly opposed to the
elimination of family reunification in any comprehensive immigration
reform legislation. Family reunification has been the cornerstone of the
U.S. immigration system for decades and has served our nation well.
·
The Administration has proposed the
elimination of several categories of family immigration, including the
adult sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and parents of U.S.
citizens. Their plan also would prevent the reunification of immediate
family members (spouse and minor children) in a new worker program and
in any legalization program.
·
These proposals could lead to family
breakdown and to unintended social consequences in immigrant communities
and throughout the nation. Immigrant families are the backbone of
immigrant communities and help each other assimilate into their new
homes and communities. Immigrant families:
1) start
new businesses;
2) reduce
government dependency among their members; and
3)
promote good stewardship and citizenship.
·
Studies have shown that family-based
immigration may lead to the creation of businesses that otherwise would
not be created. A study by the Urban Institute and the National Science
Foundation found that immigrant communities that are facilitated by
family ties may lead to the development of businesses that otherwise
might not be created.
·
Family members are less likely to
become dependent on government programs if they are supported within a
family unit. Immigrant families come from cultures in which the family
is supportive of each member and from countries in which there is not a
well-developed government welfare system. They take care of one another
in times of economic, physical or emotional hardship.
·
Immigrant families also promote good
citizenship and stewardship. Having family members with them in a
country strengthens their ties to the country and encourages the respect
of that country’s laws, customs, and resources.
·
The family reunification system only
allows for the petitioning of close relatives, not extended family
members such as cousins, uncles, and aunts. U.S. citizens are allowed to
petition for parents, spouses, minor and adult children, and siblings.
Legal permanent residents are allowed to petition for spouses and
unmarried children.
·
Family immigration does not lead to
‘chain’ migration, in which one immigrant will petition for all his or
her relatives. Governmental reports and academic studies show that chain
migration does not occur on a geometric scale. After the implementation
of the 1986 legalization bill, the General Accounting Office reported
that massive chain migration was not occurring. A Georgetown University
report of October 2006 found that historically a new immigrant will
sponsor only 1.2 dependents.
·
Preventing immediate family members
from joining their loved ones in a new legalization program or new
worker program could lead to family breakdown and disruption in
immigrant communities. In addition, it could lead to additional
undocumented immigration, as close family members seek to enter the U.S.
illegally to join loved ones.
·
Abandoning our family-based
immigration system would be short-sighted. It could lead to unintended
social consequences and would deprive our country of the industry and
vibrancy that immigrant families bring to us.
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