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Asian Pacific American Workers Disappointed with President Bush's Immigration Plans January 8, 2004 (Washington, D.C.) - 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." Under the proposed changes, all undocumented workers now in the United States, who can obtain proof from an employer that they are working - or for those still in their home countries, a job offer - would get an initial three-year work permit that would be renewable for an unspecified period. Blue said the President's plan "promotes servitude and does nothing to protect worker rights. These workers will be at the mercy of unscrupulous employers". Gloria T. Caoile, Executive Director of APALA said, "We need to reform the immigration system to allow those who work hard and pay taxes to adjust their status, while at the same time making more room for families seeking to rejoin relatives who are here. The Bush plan ignores the millions of families who have filed applications to rejoin relatives and have been waiting as much as ten to fifteen years to come to this country. Caoile said, "Immigrants come to the United States believing this is still the land of opportunity. The proposed temporary worker program significantly alters that view. We are basically saying opportunities will be limited, and if you are part of the poor, tired, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, you can come here but you will remain poor because we will not grant you a clear path to citizenship. That is such a contradiction on how this country has prospered from the labors of immigrants." Contact: Gloria T. Caoile (202)
974-8051 |
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