Comprehensive immigration reform failed to pass congress in 2006 and
2007, and the prospect of change at the state level is also grim. Last
week an Indiana immigration bill to penalize businesses who knowingly
hire illegal immigrants died after a legislative conference committee
could not agree on a final version that would have yanked the license
of offending employers.
With immigration reform at a veritable
stalemate nationwide, the onus will be upon the next President to
institute real change. Hence, a critical look at where the leading
candidates stand and what they have done on the issue is of paramount
importance.
The primary debate drivers on immigration are:
- How to secure the borders?
- What to do with the illegal aliens already in the country?
- How to improve the bureaucracy and red tape surrounding visa and green card processing?
How to secure the borders?Border
Security is a top priority for
John McCain,
Hillary Clinton and
Barak
Obama; all three voted in favor of the Southwest Border fence, which is
currently under construction. Additionally, they support increasing the
number of border patrol agents and electronic surveillance equipment,
which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is in the process of
implementing.
All three candidates stress the need for
cooperation with our neighbors (Mexico and Canada), but Clinton
emphasizes improving the ways we share intelligence and information
with them whereas McCain and Obama focus on strengthening their
economies to reduce the incentive to come here illegally.
Increased border security is the only area of immigration reform where definitive action is taking place.
What to do with the illegal aliens already in the country?At
present, there are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in our
country. McCain, Clinton, and Obama all recognize that it is not
feasible or practical to deport this entire population and that an
alternative is needed.
All three Presidential candidates
support an earned path to legal citizenship and have either crafted or
supported legislation that would accomplish that. This path would
include paying a fine, learning English, obeying the law and going to
the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
All
three candidates supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of
2007, which would have strengthened enforcement and granted millions of
aspiring Americans a path to U.S. citizenship. The bill failed to
garner to necessary votes to pass the House of Representatives.
All
candidates also co-sponsored the DREAM act, which would have provided
undocumented children the opportunity to pursue higher education or
serve in our military and eventually become legalized citizens. Once
again, the bill failed to garner enough bipartisan support to pass
through Congress.
Clinton and McCain also co-led failed
efforts to pass the Immigrant Children's Health Act - which would have
given States the option to cover legal immigrants under the Medicaid
and the State children's health insurance programs - and championed the
Access to Employment and English Acquisition Act, which would have
expanded English language courses and job skills training for
immigrants.
It is important to note that McCain is at odds
with many other Republicans for supporting a pathway to citizenship
over deportation.
How to improve the bureaucracy and red tape surrounding visa and green card processing?All
three candidates agree that the bureaucracy of immigration is in very
bad shape. Delays in processing applications and a lack of an efficient
tracking system for immigrants comprise the biggest problems. To
combat those problems, the candidates have and will propose the
following:
Barak Obama joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to
introduce the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure that immigration
application fees are both reasonable and fair. He also offered three
amendments to the comprehensive immigration bill. The first amendment
would strengthen the requirement that a job be offered at a prevailing
wage to American workers before it is offered to a guest worker. The
second amendment would make it simple, but mandatory, for employers to
verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the United
States. And the third amendment would authorize $3 million a year for
the FBI to improve the speed and accuracy of the background checks
required for immigrants seeking to become citizens. This bill, introduced in March 2007, has yet to make it to the House floor.
Hillary
Clinton led efforts to expedite citizenship applications and
cosponsored the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act
of 2003, legislation that is essential to establishing an effective,
legal workforce for the agricultural sector in New York State and
throughout the country. The bill did not pass.
John McCain
remains a strong advocate of a guest-worker program, which gives
employers a means of hiring temporary foreign workers quickly and
easily. Like Obama and Clinton, McCain believe changes must occur that
encourage undocumented workers to come out of the shadows and legally
obtain a right to work and live in America.
From a macro
perspective, all three candidates have very similar positions on
immigration. The differences among them are more visible with respect
to their philosophy on the issue. Clinton and Obama feel strongly that
uniting families should be a guiding principle to immigration reform
whereas McCain emphasizes security and economics.
The real
question is: Who has the greatest potential to incite immigration
reform as President? So far, each candidate has had little to no
success in this arena, leaving immigration a political battleground for
them to prove how he or she will create change we can believe in and
actually legislate.