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Principles for Comprehensive Immigration
Reform
Printable Version
July 9, 2003
Fix our immigration
laws now
-
America is a
nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. Current
policies fail on both counts. It is time to reform our laws so that
these traditions are strengthened.
-
The status quo
is broken. Current immigration policies leave millions
of workers in the shadows, vulnerable to abuse because they lack legal
documentation, and unable to fully participate in a country they have
helped to build. The mismatch between outdated policies and the
economic realities of our country has led to a ballooning unauthorized
immigrant population and thousands of deaths at the border.
-
We need a new
approach to managing migration. We can regulate immigration
properly if we legalize hardworking, taxpaying immigrants, welcome
workers and families in the future within limits, set those limits so
that they are realistic and enforceable. We need a “smart border”
strategy that screens and inspects people and cargo to keep out security
threat, while admitting immigrants and goods that strengthen our
nation. Such a strategy will make immigration safe, orderly, and legal
instead of deadly, chaotic, and operating outside the bounds of the
law.
The solution: a
comprehensive approach that makes immigration sense for America and its
newcomers
-
Work permits and
a path to citizenship for those here and contributing.
As part of a comprehensive reform, we should recognize and reward the
hard work of immigrants living in the United States who are kept in
legal limbo by restrictive immigration policies. Legalization of the
current undocumented population would benefit both hardworking
immigrants and their families and established workers and
employers, by providing immigrant workers with the same labor
protections as their native-born co-workers and stabilizing our labor
force.
-
Expanded family
and worker visas. Immigration reform will not be successful
until we harmonize public policy with the factors that drive migration:
family unity and economic opportunity. A comprehensive reform will
create legal channels wide enough so that family members and workers opt
for a legal alternative to entering the United States. We need to
restructure our family preference system so that newcomers aren’t forced
to choose between long separations from their American families or
seeking entry without authorization. With respect to worker visas, we
need a “break-the-mold” program that provides legal visas, family unity,
full labor rights, labor mobility, and a path to permanent residence and
citizenship over time.
-
Smart
enforcement. To better enforce immigration laws, we have
to make them enforceable. By legalizing those here and legalizing much
of the future flow, we will go a long way to restoring the rule of law.
However, open borders is neither practical nor desirable. To augment
wider legal channels, effective enforcement requires a smart borders
regime that screens those who enter efficiently, cracks down on human
traffickers, polices the border with professionalism and accountability,
imposes penalties in a targeted fashion on unscrupulous employers who
exploit workers and undermine law-abiding competitors. It’s the federal
government’s responsibility to carry out enforcement and to that end we
need to build a fully funded and well- resourced federal immigration
infrastructure capable of carrying out the related duties of
facilitating admissions and regulating the process in an even-handed and
effective manner.
-
Integrate
immigrants fully into American society. Immigrants are more
than workers. They are neighbors, fellow members of our society, and an
essential part of America’s future. Working with immigrant and ethnic
communities, our country needs better strategies and policies to
encourage immigrants to learn English, become citizens, participate in
the civic life of communities as well as have equitable access to
essential services.
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