New York City - Thursday’s Senate vote on Comprehensive Immigration
Reform has officials at HIAS - the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society -
cautiously optimistic; work, they say, is still needed before the
legislation can fulfill its potential as a true comprehensive fix for
America’s broken immigration system.

“This vote does represent a step forward in reforming our immigration
system in a constructive way,” says Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO
of HIAS. “But it still contains provisions that will exclude many
deserving immigrants from a chance to legalize their status, complicate
the implementation of many of its programs, and harm asylum seekers,
refugees, and other legal immigrants.”

The Senate passed the legislation (S. 2611), which contains a path to
citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants living in the
United States and a temporary guest worker program. The bill diverges
from the enforcement-only approach taken by the House of
Representatives, which passed its own bill earlier this year. HIAS has
led the Jewish community effort over the last couple of years to
promote comprehensive immigration reform that is consistent with Jewish
religious and ethical values of welcoming and protecting the stranger.

“We’re pleased that the Senate has taken a rational and compassionate
approach to fixing our immigration system, including legal avenues for
immigrants to enter and work in the U.S., a way for undocumented people
to come out of the shadows and earn citizenship over time, the reform
of our family-based immigration system, which will reunite families
more quickly, and more robust enforcement measures to hold employers
accountable,” says Aronoff.

But HIAS is concerned that certain provisions of the bill will prolong
the detention of asylum seekers who pose no risk to national security,
and will criminalize asylum seekers who, after using a false passport
to flee their persecutors, enter the U.S. and later decide to apply for
asylum. Moreover, with the Senate having rejected the Coleman-Leahy
Amendment earlier this week, the legislation fails to address the
recent “material support” problem which - over the past year - has
caused thousands of refugees to be excluded from the United States for
reasons which are totally unrelated to security concerns.

On a positive note, Senators Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Brownback (R-Kan.)
were successful in removing a provision that would have allowed an
asylum seeker to be returned to his or her persecutors while an appeal
on her case is pending.

As Aronoff points out, “The Jewish community has made the protection of
refugees and asylum seekers a top priority. We are heartened that some
of the harmful provisions were defeated or ameliorated, but
disappointed that the bill still contains provisions that undermine
America’s longstanding commitment to provide safe haven to those who
flee persecution.”

“As it
stands, the bill needs more work,” says Aronoff. “What we really want
to see happen is that - when the House and Senate negotiate the final
format of this bill - they work together to ensure the protection of
asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations and make the
legalization and guest worker programs as simple and fair to implement
as possible.”