DRAFT Immigration Outilne

8/9/2019 DRAFT Immigration Outilne

1/5

DRAFT Immigration Outline

By

Francisco J. Gonzlez05/26/2010

TALKING POINTS

The recommend reforms will accomplish the following: end illegal immigrationpermanently; secure the border, reunite families and allow for open, lawful and

productive immigration into the US

Increase accountability for employers that recruit and employ unauthorized workers

Secure the border by freeing the Border Patrol and other State and Federal law

enforcement agencies from the time consuming tasks intercepting immigrants to arresting

drugs and weapons smugglers

Permanent deployment of regular Army & Marine Corps units to assist in securing theUS-Mexico border.

End undocumented immigration by eliminating the incentives employers may have for

hiring cheaper labor, while at the same time allowing for the influx of temporary workersto meet short-term labor needs of US businesses.

Recognition that the current immigration system penalizes families by requiring longwaits between the approval of an application to the issuance of a visa. Reform must

include the elimination of a backlog of those family members allowed under current lawto rejoin the US or Lawful Permanent Resident relative (parents, children spouse andsiblings).

No amnesty, but earned legalization.

SPECIFICS OF THE REFORM: 3 TRACS

1- Secure the border and permanently ending illegal immigration

2- Fixing the short-term inequalities and problems of the current failed

system

3- Stop-gap measures to be considered at the state and local level while

pursuing 1 & 2 above

1


2/5

1- Secure the border and long-term future immigration system

A- border security:

increase use of electronic devices (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles-drones, sensors,etc.) to monitor border.

permanent deployment of regular Army & Marine Corp units to the US-Mexicoborder. Cost of these will be on the federal government and not on the states,

which would be the case if National Guard troops were used. Also, soldiers and

marines could use this as training for similar border protection missions in Iraq

and Afghanistan (similar terrain, etc.)

provide additional economic and military (equipment, training, etc.) assistance toMexico in exchange for allowing joint (US-Mex.) law enforcement patrols on

drug smuggling routes from northern Mexico into the US southwest.

B- End to illegal immigration

Strict liability penalties for employers that hire unauthorized workers: meaning

that not knowing that worker was unauthorized is no defense for civil or

criminal charges under existing laws.

Requirement that all employers use E-Verify

Whistleblower visa: based on the U visa currently available for victims of

crimes. Undocumented immigrants that report to law enforcement a business that

is later found guilty of employment of undocumented workers, can receive a visavalid for up to 10 years

Labor exchange system: the US Congress would set up a task force ofeconomic, demographic, business and labor experts to determine prospective need

for foreign workers across industries and professions. The task force will

recommend the number of employment-related temporary visas needed by the US

economy every year.

Foreign countries would then enter into an agreement with the US government for

the creation of a labor exchange: the USCIS would set up labor exchange or

center on a particular country to receive and process visa applications. The cost ofthe labor exchange would be covered by the host foreign government and/or byfees from the applicants. The visa applicant must show that they have clean

criminal record, no health issues, etc.

Temporary Visa for the labor exchange: based on the new category of visa, the Y

visa, proposed under McCain-Kennedy. The actual number of visas available

every year would depend on the recommendations of the Commission above-

2


3/5

mentioned, but it would be no less than 400,000 temporary guest workers. The

visa will allow the worker to remain in the country for two years, after which they

would have to return home. They could bring their dependents (spouse &children) but these dependents would NOT count towards the 400,000-visa cap.

Increase in permanent worker-immigrant visas for professional or skilled workersin occupations facing shortages. These foreign professionals would no longer

need a US employer sponsorship. Congress would set the number of these visas

upon the advice of the task force.

2- Fixing the short-term inequalities and problems of the current failed system

Earned legalization: Undocumented immigrants without a criminal record and

who meet other requirements (based on the IRCA 1986 law signed by Pres.

Reagan) would be allowed to apply for a Z visa (based on the provision from

the McCain-Kennedy bill of 2007) but would be required to return to theircountry of origin in order to complete the process*

*UNLESS A WAIVER is granted by the USCIS (immigration authorities):

waiver criteria: economic hardship; undocumented immigrant provides

evidence of strong links to the community and disruption to the lives of UScitizens of legal immigrants. These will be very soft criteria to meet so the

vast majority (if not all!)of the undocumented immigrants would qualify for the

waiver, but by mentioning the go back home requirement this would make

reform more palatable for the anti-amnesty folks.

Elimination of backlog for family-based visas. Under current immigration laws,US citizens are allowed to petition for their children, spouse, parents and siblings;Lawful Permanent Residents are allowed to petition for their spouses and

children. However, even after the applicant meets all the requirements, visas may

not be available for years. To allow for family integration, all of the abovecategories will be placed on a preferred category, meaning no waiting period for

visa. The US or LPR filing the petition to bring a relative is currently required to

provide an Affidavit of Support, indicating that the relative coming into the USwill not be eligible for federal welfare programs (except emergency medical).

3- Stop-gap measures to be considered at the state and local level while pursuing 1

& 2 above

Minnesota (or Mid-West) guest worker program: just 2 years ago, Arizona was in

the forefront of innovative immigration reform by seeking permission from

Congress to implement a guest worker program to bring temporary workers toArizona. Colorado also considered a similar provision. The economy is starting to

3


4/5

recover, and soon there will be labor shortages. See link below for information on

the AZ and CO proposed guest worker programs

http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2008/03/arizona_considers_guest_worker_1.html

Minnesota (or Mid-West) Lawful Family Reunification Program: That thelegislature approve a law requesting that the US Congress enact an exemption

from the visa quota requirements for aliens with approved immigration

applications based on a family reunification category filed by a US citizen orLawful Permanent Resident (LPR), who had resided in Minnesota for at least 1

year OR who filed the initial relative petition while residing in Minnesota. The

immigrant relatives would be allowed to enter the US and relocate to Minnesota.- Program ONLY available to foreigners residing overseas, who had followed the

legal process and have been found eligible to enter the US as a relative of a US

citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)

- Current immigration laws ALREADY requires that the sponsoring USC/LPR befinancially responsible for the immigrant relatives (see

Affidavit of Support informationhttp://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3183.html)

- The program is really a benefit for USC/LPR who simply wants to be close totheir relatives. This proposal affirms the value placed by the state on families,

marriage and children being raised in two- parent households.

- While promulgation and enforcement of immigration laws is the

responsibility of the Federal government, not only Arizona but many states

(including Minnesota) had voluntarily assumed the role of enacting immigration-related legislation. This law (and the guest worker law already mentioned) can bedefended as continuing a trend of immigration solutions at the state level.

Minnesota US Citizen Protection Act: law that prohibits State and local law

enforcement officials from requesting proof of citizenship or immigration status

(different from proof of IDENTITY) from US citizens. This law can be presented

as protecting the privacy of US citizens and against the introduction of a nationalID card.

However, this law is intended as a pre-emtive strike against the Arizona law,which allows police officers to demand proof of immigration status from people

reasonably suspected of being illegal aliens. The law I propose is the flip side

of this: a police officer should use reason and be prohibited from asking UScitizens for proof of immigration status.

The idea is that police officers would be reluctant to ask ANYONE about theirimmigration status for fear of asking the wrong person (a US citizen) and thus

4
http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2008/03/arizona_considers_guest_worker_1.htmlhttp://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3183.htmlhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2008/03/arizona_considers_guest_worker_1.htmlhttp://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3183.html


5/5

violating the law. Supporters of the AZ law insist that police officers would be

able to tell who is an undocumented alien: my proposal put their belief to

the test by including legal consequences for harassing a US citizen.

For more information about this initiative or to comment on the immigration draftoutline, please contact:

Richard Aguilar [email protected]

or

Francisco J. Gonzlez at

[email protected]

References:

McCain-Kennedy Comprehensive Immigration reform 2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Immigration_Reform_Act_of_2007

Pres. Reagans Immigration reform (IRCCA) 1986

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986

Bill HCM 2012 urging the Congress of the United States to enact federal legislationauthorizing the state of Arizona to implement the Arizona temporary worker program.http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/48leg/2r/bills/hcm2012p.htm

5
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Immigration_Reform_Act_of_2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/48leg/2r/bills/hcm2012p.htmmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Immigration_Reform_Act_of_2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/48leg/2r/bills/hcm2012p.htm

DRAFT Immigration Outilne

Documents

Transcript of DRAFT Immigration Outilne