More on White House Reform Proposal

As Bill Hing reported, the White House has floated an immigration reform proposal.  See Download white_house_republican_immigration_principles.pdf The criticism has begun.  The Service Employees International Union isued a statement captioned “WHITE HOUSE IMMIGRATION REFORM `PRINCIPLES’ DEAD ON ARRIVAL.”  It reads as follows:

For several weeks, the White House has been working on a set of immigration principles with Senate Republicans. Yesterday these principles were leaked to the press. The following is a statement by SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina condemning the proposed plan: “SEIU is alarmed by the White House’s proposed immigration reform plan which fails to address any of the key elements needed to pass practical, humane solutions to the current broken system. Taking a major step away from our nation’s values and our history as a nation of immigrants, the White House plan would make inequality – rather than opportunity – the centerpiece of our immigration system and deny basic rights to our hardest workers. The so-called ‘merit’ system for gaining permanent legal status would favor the rich and well-connected, but would create a bar to entry for the millions of hard-working janitors, child care providers, and construction workers that our economy and society depend on. Any program that fails to bring all undocumented immigrants out of the shadows is unworkable, and would be a train wreck to implement. Likewise, the proposed guest worker program would further stratify our labor force and create a disturbing loophole to long-established labor protections. This is a particularly bad proposal at a time when recent reports warn of growing wealth inequality in this country. And for an Administration that professes to embrace family values, the proposed elimination of visas to reunite close family members is outrageous. If we are to fix our broken system and restore the rule of law, we need legislation that creates a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants working and putting down roots in the U.S. We must reject exploitative guest worker programs, and create a new system that guarantees immigrant workers long-term visas, full labor and civil rights protections, and a road to U.S. citizenship. If we follow this sensible path, we will break the cycle of border deaths, worker abuse, and economic exploitation. The White House ‘proposal’ fails to address any of these key principles for reform. Not only is the legislation impractical but it ignores the values of equal opportunity and rewards for honest hard work that have made our Nation great. If the White House is as serious as we are about passing comprehensive immigration reform this year, we urge them to adjust their course and do it now.

KJ