IndiaPost.com - Failure of Bill disappoints but keeps hopes alive

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Democratic lawmakers and immigration reform activists across the country expressed extreme disappointment over the failure of the Senate Immigration Reform Bill early June, but remained hopeful of a revival of the reform process last week.

The Senate failed to complete its work on the legislation June 7, when immigration restrictionists led by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) voted down Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) effort to move the legislation forward for a final vote.

With President Bush jumping in to rally Republican Senators to not let the bill die down, lawmakers remained hopeful on a comprehensive immigration reform despite the setback; political strategists feel it would have been better to have a bill in place, even if flawed, than to have none in the path to reform; and immigrant rights activists, on their part, are urging the community to continue putting pressure on legislators to fix the nearly broken immigration system. Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus In a statement following the withdrawal of the Immigration Bill, Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), who is Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus said, "The Republicans in the Senate blocked an immigration bill that attempts to fix our nation's dysfunctional immigration system.

The road has been long and hard, and the bill was far from perfect. But at the end of the day, a bill would have been a starting point to address this critical issue for our nation. Now, the House will study what our options are in regard to passing a bipartisan immigration bill. "A good bill for our nation is one that secures our borders and enforces our laws, while also protecting against discrimination and adhering to the rule of law.

It is one that regularizes the status of the 12 million undocumented immigrants who now work and live here. It is a bill that allows us to must meet our economy's need for additional workers when they are needed and ensure that there are strict labor protections for all workers. "And finally, a good bill is one that promotes family unification because family values are American values, and this tenant has been central to our immigration policy.

We look toward the future and hope that President Bush and our Republican colleagues in both chambers will work with Democrats to get the job done." Chair of CAPAC's Immigration Task Force, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) said, "I remain opposed to the Senate's proposed reforms to our nation's immigration system because they fail to preserve and improve a family-based system. The proposals, instead, would shift our immigration system to one based on advanced degrees, English proficiency, and particular job skills.

However, it is my hope that the vote (last night) does not end the search for real solutions that will fix our broken immigration system. And we must preserve an immigration system that enables families to continue serving as the necessary foundation on which those wishing to integrate into our culture can build their futures." Asian American Justice Center Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) President Karen K. Narasaki condemned the efforts by restrictionists to block comprehensive immigration reform. In particular, AAJC raised concerns about efforts by restrictionists to vote down provisions that would have helped to protect the ability of immigrants to keep their families together. Restrictionists voted against family amendments sponsored by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Barack Obama (D-IL) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT), two of which were cosponsored by Chuck Hagel (R-NE), he said in a statement.

"These family amendments would have fixed provisions in the Senate immigration bill that are particularly unfair to Asian Americans," said Narasaki. "Senator Cornyn and others also sought to undermine and eliminate due process and other protections for immigrants, and are demanding votes on additional amendments that would further damage an already severely flawed bill." Narasaki also questioned actions by the Bush Administration and Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) that made it harder to get support for the legislation.

Kyl sought to block votes on family-friendly amendments. He also pushed his own amendment to the family provisions which made the law even more biased against Asian families by further eliminating consideration of petitions already filed for married adult children and siblings of US citizens - over 60 percent of the visas in these categories went to Asian family members in 2005, according to AAJC. Narasaki noted: "Asian Americans who played by the rules and petitioned for their adult children and for siblings are being unfairly penalized by this legislation.

Moreover, by successfully lobbying Republican senators against the family amendments, the Bush administration further undercut support for the bill." "Senate Republican leadership needs to get serious about passing legislation that includes a workable solution to the problem of undocumented immigration along with a sensible path to citizenship for any new immigrants, and realistic measures to keep families from having to choose between obeying the law - or face years of separation," said Narasaki.

"This issue is too important for failure to be an option. The Senate needs to get it right and get it done now." US-India Political Action Committee Expressing his disappointment that the Senate was not able to pass the legislation, Sanjay Puri, Chairman of the US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) said he hoped the bill would have included provisions allowing for a more compassionate family-based immigration system, an increase in the number of H1-B visas and green cards, an expedited green card backlog process, and an easier way for employers to retain high-skilled workers.

USINPAC too had opposed the bill as it was introduced in the Senate. "The bill should have done a lot more to ensure that some of the best and brightest could stay in the US permanently. Instead, the Senate voted down or failed to bring up amendments that would have given them - and their families - a chance to stay here and ensure that the United States - is the destination of choice for these talented individuals thus enabling us to stay on top of the technological and competitive marketplace for skills," said Puri. USINPAC strongly supported strong amendments supporting family-based immigration. An amendment introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) would have granted up to 833,000 more visas than what the current bill offers by changing the date of the family-based clearing process from May 1, 2005 to January 1, 2007.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced an amendment that would have removed the cap on visas for spouses and children of Legal Permanent Residents. The bill would have only allowed that right for citizens. Unfortunately, both amendments failed. Additionally, USINPAC circulated a letter to every Senator to co-sponsor or vote in favor of Senate Amendment 1249 (SA 1249) to the Comprehensive Immigration bill.

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced this bipartisan amendment that would have created an employer-based merit system with 140,000 green cards for higher skilled immigrant workers identified by employers and made it easier for visa holders to get green cards. Unfortunately, SA 1249 was never allowed to come up for a vote. Members of USINPAC also met with various Senate and House Member offices to express the views of the Indian American community regarding this issue.

The House or Senate is considering debating immigration reform again later this year and USINPAC assures it will continue to work to ensure that any final law will include provisions that will allow the United States to remain competitive in the global marketplace and for family-reunification. South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow Commenting on the withdrawal of the bill, the South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT) said, the immigration reform package that the Senate had been considering contained provisions which raised serious concerns for the South Asian community. SAALT says that although the Senate debate on immigration is temporarily on hold, it is likely that Congress will return to this very important issue later this year.

The organization has asked the members of the community to actively call their local Senators, Representative and the White House and urge them to support a fair and humane immigration policy that must include provisions that eliminate the visa backlog; expand worker protections; provide a means for new temporary workers to adjust status; legalize undocumented immigrants; and preserve due process rights for immigrants.