POSITION STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL

S. 2611 Criminalizes Immigrants and
Offers Unworkable Legalization that Separates Families

June 5, 2006

The recent Senate Compromise Bill does not fulfill the aspirations of millions of immigrants to be given the opportunity to live decent, dignified lives in the United States. Like H.R. 4437, S. 2611 fails to address the real problems facing immigrants. Its heavy-handed enforcement provisions will only foster racist and zenophobic sentiment against those who were not born in this country. What we need are reforms that integrate immigrant communities into American life as equals, not drive them deeper into second-class status.

The Senate's three-tiered legalization program – its supposed “crown jewel” – is designed to fail millions of undocumented immigrants. For those who have been here for less than five years, the bill creates no meaningful opportunities to be able to stay in the U.S. For those who have been here for more than five years, they will be forced to work for up to six years, then wait an unknown number of additional years for the backlogs to clear before being given a greencard. In total, this is a minimum twelve year waiting period before being able to apply for citizenship. This is not to mention the fact that all individuals who have an outstanding order of deportation or have committed fraud are ineligible for the program.

Should this bill be made into law, the deportation of Filipinos would no doubt increase. Since 9/11, Filipinos are already the largest Asian group facing criminal deportation. Even more Filipino families would be separated under the new law and would experience tremendous economic hardship. Most Filipino families have mixed legal immigration status: some are naturalized citizens, some are U.S. born, others legal permanent residents, and some undocumented. For many, it will be too risky to step forward because of the impact that deportation would have on the family unit.

Filipinos currently facing serious obstacles in the legal immigration system may see their problems continue. The ineffectiveness of these laws has been thoroughly documented as, for example, naturalized United States citizens have to wait for years, some decades, to be reunited with family members they left behind. This situation would theoretically improve under the Senate proposal because the number of available visas for family members and for employers would increase, as would the per country limit per year. However, there remains serious questions as to the ability of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and other government agencies to adjudicate the millions of current backlogged cases and the millions of future cases due to lack of resources in funding and personnel.

S. 2611 also deprives immigrants of basic rights:

The temporary worker provision expands the abusive and exploitative programs in which many Filipinos currently suffer. It is not uncommon for guestworkers to be paid less than their American counterparts, to have their documents withheld, to suffer discrimination from supervisors and co-workers, and to be forced to work long hours and irregular shifts. They frequently live in fear of asserting their rights. Guestworker programs amount to nothing more than legalized indentured servitude. Additionally, the Senate bill lifts the cap on skilled nurses and may lead to the deepening of the health care problem in the Philippines as more and more professionals leave for foreign shores.

Another supposed centerpiece of the legislation is the expansion of physical borders at our southern border. However, building such a fence will not deter migrants from coming. It is a waste of much needed resources, and only creates the conditions for more deaths at the border. The pressures to migrate are a permanent feature of the global economy. As long as the economies of sending countries like Mexico or the Philippines remain structurally underdeveloped, people are going to continue leaving at alarmingly high rates to find work abroad. The real solution to migration, undocumented or otherwise, lies in our foreign policy towards sending countries, and real economic development opportunities for people living there.

Today, there are approximately 10 million Filipinos living outside of the Philippines as overseas workers. No matter how many walls we build or restrictive laws we enact, Filipinos and other immigrants cannot afford to stop coming.

Though many in the Filipino community hail the bill because it grants special immigrant status to children of Filipino World War II veterans, we must view the legislation in its entirety. We need to recognize that our interests are being pit directly against the interests of other members of our community. This deal is divisive and should not be supported.

The struggle for genuine immigration reform is not found in S. 2611 or HR 4437. We have to reject the notion that in order to bring the undocumented out of the margins of society, we have to accept greater restrictions on the rights of immigrants. We must keep our eyes on the prize and not settle for false promises nor minor concessions. What we need is genuine, comprehensive legalization. Undocumented immigrants must have equal access to legalization regardless of how long they have been in the U.S. The family unification backlogs must be eliminated permanently. The expansion of temporary programs must be wholly rejected. Civil rights and workplace rights need to be safeguarded. Access to the courts must be restored. Indefinite detention must remain illegal.

We must continue to build the mass movement for the rights and welfare of immigrants until these changes are made real.
For more information, contact Christopher Punongbayan, Advocacy Director, Filipinos for Affirmative Action at chrisp@filipinos4action.org or 510-465-9876 x304.