Republicans make a legislative run for the border

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August 2003

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Republicans make a legislative run for the border

Republicans make a legislative run for the border
After watching migrants endure gruesome deaths in sealed trailers and on the desert at a record pace this year, a group of Arizona Republicans have broken the ice on immigration reform. The issue has been long stalled by security misgivings following the devastating attacks of September 11, but on July 25 Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced "The Land Border Security and Immigration Improvement Act." Among other measures, the bill would grant permanent residency over several years to foreign workers who enter the country legally and to illegal workers already in the United States.

Another Republican, Texas' Senator John Cornyn, also introduced a guest worker bill last month. Critics from all points of the political spectrum have already attacked the proposals and the measures face an uncertain future in Congress, but advocates of immigration reform and normalization were cheered just to see the issue revived at all.

The new proposals constitute the first time Republicans in Congress have pushed for comprehensive changes in immigration laws since talks on the issue between President Bush and President Vicente Fox of Mexico collapsed after September 11. The two administrations had been working on a long-term strategy to regulate immigration flows from Mexico and legalize the status of millions of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

National Immigration Forum (NIF) Executive Director Frank Sharry told the New York Times, "To have Republicans stepping up and proposing these important but imperfect bills is something of a breakthrough. To me, it's the post-9/11 signal that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when we're going to legalize more migration so that we can better regulate it."

In a statement, Sharry said, "This legislation is a serious proposal that should reinvigorate the immigration reform debate, but the bill will have to be significantly improved to attract bipartisan support and fix the most vexing problems plaguing our immigration system."

The NIF charges that the McCain bill fails to address the issue of family immigration backlogs and calls for a complicated and arduous process for gaining permanent legal status—even for immirgants that have been working in the U.S. for many years. According to the group, the bill also does not go far enough to protect the rights of workers, "a key concern based on the historically exploitative nature of guest worker programs in this country and elsewhere." Finally, it charges that the legislation fails to recognize that "immigrant workers have families and children who would not be included in the program that is being proposed."

The Forum supports immigration reform that includes three main components:

Earned legalization: "hard-working, tax-paying immigrants already in this country need a path to legal status through a workable process;"

Expanded worker and family visas: "immigrant workers coming in the future to fill available jobs need expanded legal channels to enter the country, full labor rights, and the option of eventual permanent residence; we also need to address the tremendous backlogs in our family immigration system";

Smart enforcement: "to augment wider legal channels, we need a smart borders regime that targets smugglers and unscrupulous employers."

"It is a breath of fresh air to see border state Republicans recognizing the contributions of immigrants, understanding that the current system is broken, and putting forth an important proposal," said Sharry. "However, to meaningfully move the debate where it needs to be moved, we will need to improve upon this legislation."

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