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Critiques of President Bush's Immigration Reform Plan
- Immigrant
Workers Freedom Ride Coalition
Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition
Statement on President Bush’s announcement of a new temporary
worker program
In his statement today, President Bush acknowledged that immigrants
have been and continue to be a vital part of American life, and
that the U.S. immigration system “is not working.”
On this, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition concurs.
However, President Bush then went on to propose something far
less than a reform of immigration policy and the system it governs.
His proposal, in his own words, is simply “a new temporary
worker program.”...more
- AFL-CIO
(www.aflcio.org)
Statement by AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney
on President Bush's Principles for Immigration Reform
Immigration reform is a long ignored crisis that demands urgent
action. But President Bush's announcement today of his principles
for immigration reform is a hollow promise for hardworking, undocumented
workers, people seeking to immigrate to the U.S. and U.S. workers
alike. It creates a permanent underclass of workers who are unable
to fully participate in democracy. The plan deepens the potential
for abuse and exploitation of these workers, while undermining
wages and labor protections for all workers...more
- National
Immigration Forum (www.immigrationforum.org)
National Immigration Forum on President
Bush's Immigration Reform Plan
The White House Proposal Does Not Provide a Path to Permanent
Status for Undocumented Immigrants in the US - The White
House proposal is a guest worker program. Workers who participate
in the program may receive a three year work visa. (It is not
clear if the visa is renewable.) At the end of the life of the
visa, those who participate will not have the option of applying
for permanent residency. In fact, it appears that the only options
people will have will be to return to their home country or revert
to an illegal status. What the program seems to be creating is
a permanent underclass of workers, or a path to removal from the
U.S.
The White House Proposal Fails to Fix our Limited and Broken Immigration
System - The proposal is only about temporary workers. It
may permit potentially millions to register for a temporary work
permit. It won’t change the limited and already oversubscribed
employment immigration categories. What this means is that participants
in the program will NOT have a means to apply for permanent status
at the program’s end. It is disingenuous to claim that the
White House is offering a solution to our broken immigration system
unless it also updates our immigration laws to accommodate the
millions of workers who have been working in the U.S., contributing
to our economy, and desire to become fully and legally integrated
into our society.
The Proposal Does Not Change Existing Family Categories—The
White House proposal does not address the backlogged family-based
immigration categories that have cause family members to be separated
for 5 to 10 years or sometimes even longer. Immigrants and their
family members who are separated because of our outdated immigration
system will remain separated or will be in the U.S. in illegal
status...more
- National
Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (www.nnirr.org)
Bush Administration’s Immigration
Reform Pitches False Hopes
The proposal for immigration reform outlined today by President
George Bush promises little hope for fair wages or decent working
conditions, much less opportunity for legal status, for the millions
of undocumented immigrant workers in the U.S. Instead, the proposed
“new” policy amounts to little more than another “guestworker”
program, with even fewer protections and opportunities than programs
currently under consideration in Congress. The Bush proposal might
be good for employers wanting cheap and vulnerable labor, but
does little to contribute to the human rights and well-being of
immigrant workers...more
- National Council of
La Raza (www.nclr.org)
NCLR
Strongly Critical of White House Immigration Proposal
Hispanic Americans are extremely disappointed with the President’s
announcement today on immigration policy, which appears to offer
the business community full access to the immigrant workers it
needs while providing very little to the workers themselves. This
represents a major departure from the Administration’s posture
when they initiated this debate in 2001. This is a bitter disappointment
to Latinos who were excited by the President’s apparent
willingness two years ago to consider creating a path to permanent
legal status for undocumented immigrants living and working in
the United States...more
- American Immigration
Lawyers Association (www.aila.org)
THE
BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S IMMIGRATION PLAN:
Right Issue - But Is It the Right Solution?
it is unclear if the proposal would create meaningful access
to permanent legal status for newcomers or if the proposal adequately
addresses other major concerns such as the long backlogs in legal
immigration. AILA has long maintained that comprehensive immigration
reform is needed to address the current situation. Such a comprehensive
solution has three main components: permanent legal status for
undocumented immigrants already here, a new worker visa program
for future migrants, and family backlog reduction so that close
family members are not separated for decades from close family
members.
...more
- Farmworker Justice
Fund
The President’s Temporary
Foreign Worker Proposal Is Ill-Conceived -- The AgJOBS Compromise
on Farmworker Immigration Should be Supported
The President’s proposal in his immigration policy speech
on Wednesday was vague but is specific enough for us to know that
he is essentially proposing a new era of indentured servants.
This nation has experimented with indentured servitude and “guestworker”
programs; they failed miserably and caused great misery. His proposal
should be rejected as inconsistent with our nation’s democratic
traditions and our history as a nation of immigrants...more
- National Employment Law
Project (www.nelp.org)
Immigrant Workers Deserve Fair and
Meaningful Immigration Reform: Bush Plan Falls Short
The President’s proposal on immigration is centered on the
needs of business, in the form of an extended “guestworker”
program. Current guest worker programs are descendants of the
“Bracero” program from the middle of the last century.
Guest workers do not acquire any rights to live or work in the
U.S. beyond their temporary employment with a particular employer.
The proposal does nothing to recognize immigrant workers’
participation in civil society and right to become part of the
political process our country treasures...more
- PCUN--Oregon’s Farmworker
Union, and CAUSA--Oregon’s Immigrant Rights Coalition
(www.pcun.org)
PCUN,
CAUSA, Oppose Bush Immigration Reform
PCUN, Oregon’s farmworker union, and CAUSA, Oregon’s
immigrant rights coalition, join hundreds of immigrant rights
organizations across the country in expressing our disappointment
in and opposition to President Bush’s immigration reform
plan announced January 7th.
Rather than express active support
of legislation such as AgJOBS and the DREAM Act, two pieces
of legislation that support earned benefits and security safeguards
for undocumented immigrants, President Bush failed to make any
mention of this already-introduced legislation. He instead proposed
the creation of a potentially huge new guest worker program
that would essentially create a workforce with second-class
status with no meaningful access to legal status or citizenship.
The President also neglected to provide a timeline or plan as
to when he hopes to draft legislation or introduce this plan
to Congress...more
-
National Grassroots Legalization
Collaborative
Bush
Immigration Principles Fail to Provide Real Relief for Immigrant
Families
President Bush announced that his
Administration would look to offer of a temporary foreign worker
program that would provide status to undocumented immigrants
and foreign workers who are employed (or would be) in the U.S.
Many immigrant rights advocates and immigrant communities are
skeptical and feel the announcement falls short of a genuine
legalization proposal for the millions of undocumented immigrants
currently in the U.S. Instead, the principles continue to scapegoat
immigrants by prioritizing “National Security” policies
that have lead to the criminalization, detention, and deportation
of thousands having nothing to do with terrorism...more
-
National Immigration Law
Center (www.nilc.org)
A compelling
vision but a seriously flawed proposal
The National Immigration Law Center
is encouraged by the fact that the President has decided to
address the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and we
welcome the sweep of his rhetoric. Sadly, the proposal he has
outlined is fatally flawed because it fails to live up to the
vision he expressed so eloquently. The question, now, is whether
his administration will work with Congress to pass legislation
that comports with that broad vision. It is nearly impossible
to conceive of comprehensive immigration legislation being enacted
during this election year. Therefore, in the short run, the
best indicator of the President’s intentions is whether
he presses for immediate passage of focused proposals such as
the DREAM Act that would make positive changes consistent with
his expressed values. We believe that the President’s
speech makes it more likely that these interim initiatives will
be enacted this year...more
- American Friends Service
Committee (www.afsc.org)
President’s New Approach To Immigration
Policy Filled With Sweeping Generalities And Little Details
When President Bush outlined the administration’s new approach
to U.S. immigration policy on Wednesday, January 7, he spoke mostly
in sweeping generalities, and offered few details about any specific
new legislation, which must be passed by Congress before any meaningful
changes are enacted...more
- The Gamaliel Foundation
White House Immigration
Proposal Questioned By Religious Group
Rev. Rudolph T. Juárez, President of the Gamaliel
Clergy Caucus, a one million member religious coalition, offered
this reaction today to President Bush’s announcement on
Immigration Policy:
The Gamaliel Foundation and its 1,200 faith congregations are
saddened by the President's proposed immigration policy. Since
the tragic event of September 11, 2001, we have been delayed and
sidetracked in passing the kind of immigration policies that would
be more reflective of a nation built on democratic ideals. The
Bush policy seems to be designed to offer the business community
full access to the immigrant workers while providing very little
in the way of protections or rights for the workers themselves...more
- Organization of Chinese
Americans (OCA)
OCA
STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT’S PROPOSAL FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national Asian
Pacific American (APA) civil rights advocacy and education organization
with over 80 chapters and affiliates nationwide, is pleased that
the President recognizes that our country’s immigration
system is in great need of reform.Last Wednesday, January 7, President
George W. Bush announced his proposal to reform the immigration
system. The President proposes a program for temporary workers
that will provide legal status to undocumented temporary workers
for a period of three years. The program will be renewable to
a certain extent after the three years...more
- National Asian Pacific
American Legal Consortium
NAPALC
Disappointed in the Administration's Immigration Reform Proposal
Today President George W. Bush announced his proposal to reform
the immigration system. The National Asian Pacific American Legal
Consortium and its affiliates, the Asian Law Caucus and the Asian
Pacific American Legal Center, are pleased that the President
is showing renewed interest in immigration reform. However, the
measures outlined in his proposal are inadequate and will not
fix the restrictive patchwork of laws that make up our broken
immigration system...more
-
National
Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
NAFFAA Welcomes Bush Immigration
Reform Proposal, But with Reservations
"We are heartened by President George W. Bush's
proposal to reform our country's immigration policy," says
NaFFAA National Chair Loida Nicolas Lewis. "Finally, he
has heard the clamor for justice of undocumented immigrants
who contribute to the national economy of the United States..."
Lewis is concerned that the measures outlined in the president's
proposal do not adequately address the fundamental problems
of the nation's immigration system. "We would like to see
the speedy processing of the petition for relatives of Filipino
immigrants for the purpose of family unification," Lewis
adds. "The reduction of the massive backlogs in family
immigration must be given top priority. Any meaningful reform
should also provide reasonable opportunities for people already
living and working in the United States to become lawful permanent
residents. Moreover, any temporary worker program must be accompanied
by an opportunity for lawful permanent residence and full labor
protections for U.S. and immigrant workers alike." ...more
-
National
Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
NAKASEC Statement On
The White House Announcement On Comprehensive Immigration Reform
January 9, 2004
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
(NAKASEC), and its affiliates the Korean Resource Center (Los
Angeles), the Young Korean American Service & Education
Center (New York) and the Korean American Resource & Cultural
Center (Chicago) welcome President Bush’s interest in
addressing immigration reform. Unfortunately, his much anticipated
announcement on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 fails to address
the legitimate concerns and views of immigrant communities...more
- Asian Pacific American
Labor Alliance
Asian Pacific American Workers Disappointed
with President Bush's Immigration Plans
The proposed changes to immigration laws announced by President
Bush are a "huge disappointment for immigrant workers and
all Americans", said Luisa Blue, President of the Asian Pacific
American Labor Alliance, a national Coalition of Asian American
and Pacific Islander union members and their supporters. "The
President's proposal will give undocumented workers - who are
doing some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in America
- some temporary relief in their legal status, but it will not
provide them with an opportunity to truly earn citizenship and
help them realize their dreams." ...more
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