Amendments Necessary to Fulfill Promise of Comprehensive Immigration Reform

HIAS – the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society – welcomes the announcement
that President Bush and Senate Republicans and Democrats have come
together to deal with the issue of earned legalization for immigrants
working and contributing to our society. While we feel that it is
essential that this debate move forward, HIAS remains extremely
concerned about a number of provisions that undermine family
reunification and fail to create a workable and fair new legal
immigration system.

HIAS, the American Jewish community’s international migration
agency, has long been an active voice in support of efforts to resolve
the complex problems associated with undocumented migration. In June
2003, HIAS passed a resolution calling on the Administration, Congress,
the Jewish community and all Americans concerned about the country’s
future to recommit to the complex process of developing a comprehensive
reform proposal that will make our immigration system both more secure
and humane. In March 2006, we issued a statement insisting that
comprehensive immigration reform include ways to safeguard security,
fulfill labor needs, and remain true to America’s core humanitarian
values.  While the Senate’s compromise package represents a step in the
right direction toward fulfilling many of these objectives, many of its
provisions fall short of our stated goals of comprehensive reform.

HIAS is extremely concerned about the provisions that would undercut
family reunification and create a point system that undervalues the
central role that family ties play in our immigration system, as well
as fails to provide a solid path to citizenship for new immigrant
workers, which could lead to the creation of an underclass of exploited
workers without basic rights. Now that both sides have rolled up their
sleeves and come to the table, we must turn our attention to fixing
those provisions that do not pass the test of basic fairness,
workability, due process, and family values.

HIAS believes that we must take advantage of the historic
opportunity that this new legislation provides to fix our broken
immigration system in a way that puts smugglers and document forgers
out of business while creating a legal immigration system that will
serve our country’s security, economic and humanitarian interests. 
While the serious flaws in the Senate deal must be addressed before we
could ultimately accept the plan, HIAS is committed to working with
Congress to ensure that the President signs into law - this year - a
bill that is workable, fair and humane.  We also support the inclusion
of Senator Lieberman’s “Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act,”
which would provide necessary safeguards and protections for asylum
seekers in expedited removal.

The alternative is to accept the status quo and endure continued
migrant deaths in the desert, sporadic raids that separate families and
displace essential workers, exploitation of immigrant workers through
an illegal immigration system, prolonged waits for family reunification
immigrants, inconsistent and haphazard immigration policy and
enforcement at the state and local levels, and a chaotic and wasteful
border and interior enforcement scheme that places the United States’
security in jeopardy.  This alternative is unacceptable.