Washington, D.C. –
Responding to the Bush administration’s recent immigration proposal,
HIAS – the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society – expressed disappointment that
the administration has backed away from its 2006 plan and instead has
offered a proposal that undermines the possibility of workable, fair
and humane immigration reform. 

“While we are encouraged by President Bush’s continued interest in
getting a bill done this year, as evidenced by his speech earlier this
week in Yuma, Ariz., the White House proposal is not consistent with
principles the president has urged in the past,” says Gideon Aronoff,
president and CEO of HIAS.  “The proposal reduces or eliminates entire
visa categories for close family members, favors wealthy and
well-educated immigrants, includes unrealistic enforcement triggers,
and imposes excessive fees and fines that make it virtually impossible
for undocumented immigrants to participate in an earned legalization
program.”

HIAS calls on Congress and the administration to set politics aside
and come up with a workable, sensible, and humane immigration reform
plan that lives up to America’s tradition as a welcoming nation, says
Aronoff.  

“The White House proposal is a step in the wrong direction, not just for immigrants, but for America,” he says.  “Representatives Flake and Gutierrez took a real step toward achieving sensible reform by introducing the STRIVE Act.”

The STRIVE Act of 2007, a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Il.), combines
the promise of legal status for people who have a record of
contributing to the nation’s economy and communities, smarter and more
strategic federal immigration law enforcement, and a visa system that
employers can use to hire new workers with labor rights while at the
same time protecting the rights of native-born workers. “What
doesn’t make sense is why the White House followed on its heels with a
proposal that would separate families and essentially codify a
second-class society of workers in the U.S.,” says Aronoff.

The White House proposal, which was circulated only a week after
introduction of the House bill, which is considered more reasonable by
advocates, “lacks a real path to citizenship that will bring people out
of the shadows and enable workers that our economy desperately needs to
come to this country in the future, includes overly harsh measures
meant to punish immigrants, and drastically scales back our family
immigration system by eliminating entire family visa categories,” says
Lisa Shuger, director of HIAS’ Washington office. “The American public
has demanded real solutions, but based on this proposal, it appears the
Administration is more concerned with politics than sound policy.”

“Of course we are pleased that the White House is engaged in the
immigration reform debate, but we also remind the administration that,
in doing so, they must not compromise our values and the importance of
family,” says Aronoff. “The Jewish community knows all too well the
consequences of a restrictive family immigration system.”  The recently
discovered correspondence from Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, which
portrays his desperate, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to flee
Nazi-occupied Holland and join family in the United States, depicts
just one of the thousands of  Jewish families who were unable to escape
Nazi persecution and reunite with family in America due to restrictive
immigration policies.   

Adds Shuger, “In many respects, today’s newcomers, whether economic
migrants, refugees, or individuals seeking to be reunited with their
families, face many of the same challenges that our parents,
grandparents and great-grandparents faced years ago. How we choose to
respond to today’s newcomers says a lot about who we are as
individuals, as a community, and as a country.” 

Recently, more than 30 prominent leaders in the American Jewish
community sent a letter to congressional leaders urging passage of fair
and workable immigration reform.  Leaders of HIAS, the American Jewish
Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League, B’nai
B’rith International, Jewish Council for Public Affairs and United
Jewish Communities, among others, spoke out about the need to reform
our immigration system in a way that makes the United States stronger
and safer.  As the letter points out, it is through the teachings of
our religious and ethical traditions and core American values that we
should look for guidance on immigration reform.

HIAS, the American Jewish community’s international migration
agency, will continue to advocate for final passage of a legislative
package that includes an earned path to citizenship for undocumented
immigrants who fulfill reasonable criteria, effective and humane border
enforcement, wider legal channels for immigrants to work in the U.S.
with their rights fully protected, and enhancements to the family-based
immigration system so that families are not unduly separated from their
loved ones.