SENATE TO RESUME DEBATE ON COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

SENATE TO RESUME DEBATE ON COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM NALEO URGES CALLS TO U.S. SENATORS (THROUGH TOLL-FREE NUMBER) AND U.S. REPRESENTATIVES TO SUPPORT FAIR AND EFFECTIVE POLICIES
For Immediate Release	Contact: William Ramos (202) 546-2536
June 5, 2007
BACKGROUND: The United States Senate is resuming debate this week on S. 1348, a bipartisan immigration reform bill that represents a negotiated compromise between the White House and U.S. Senate members last month. While the NALEO Educational Fund does not support many of the fundamental elements of the compromise, we are urging the Senate through deliberation and negotiations to make major improvements to this bill. For a copy of the NALEO Educational Fund’s initial statement and analysis of our concerns about the compromise, click here. The course of the Senate debate on S. 1348 will also lay the foundation for the consideration of comprehensive immigration reform legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have introduced the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy (STRIVE) Act of 2007 in the House. The STRIVE Act does not contain many of the flawed provisions of the Senate bill, but it is unclear whether the STRIVE Act or legislation that more closely follows the Senate approach will serve as the starting point for the House debate. For a copy of the NALEO Educational Fund’s initial statement on the STRIVE Act, click here. ACTION NEEDED U.S. SENATE: As the Senate continues debate on the final bill, nearly 100 amendments have been filed but not yet voted on. Some of these amendments would improve the bill dramatically and others would make the bill even more flawed. Thus, it is important that Senators hear your perspectives about the most important amendments, and about the critical need to continue making positive changes to the bill. The NALEO Educational Fund urges you to participate in a National Call-In Days effort by contacting your U.S. Senators on a toll-free hotline at 1-800-417-7666, and letting them know about the key amendments that you support and oppose. The toll-free hotline number will be available from Monday, June 4th through the end of Senate debate on the bill. Your calls in support and opposition of these amendments are particularly important because proponents of unfair and restrictive immigration legislation are flooding the phone lines of Senate offices in a vocal campaign against comprehensive immigration reform. U.S. HOUSE: In addition, it is important that members of the U.S. House of Representatives hear from you regarding the importance of starting the House deliberations with legislation that incorporates the most important elements of fair and effective comprehensive immigration reform. The NALEO Educational Fund urges you to let your representative know about the need to start the House deliberations with a bill that Includes the following: a path to U.S. citizenship for those immigrants who have played by the rules and are contributing to our society; a system which promotes family reunification and reduces immigration backlogs; and a framework which protects our national security with effective and fair enforcement measures. You can find the name of your U.S. Representative by clicking here. For both your U.S. Senate and House calls we have provided the following talking points: U.S. SENATE Support the following amendments: Menendez-Hagel family backlog reduction amendment (S. 1194): I urge you to vote in favor of the family backlog reduction amendment introduced by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to ensure fairness for U.S. citizens and their families. The current Senate bill addresses the family backlog of people who have applied for legal permanent residency, but only for those who applied before May 1, 2005. The proposed amendment would address this issue for U.S. citizen applicants who filed applications to sponsor certain family members through January 1, 2007, thereby ensuring that an estimated 833,000 additional applicants receive fair treatment with the family reunification process. Without these amendments, these applicants would have their current applications discarded, and would have to start the visa application process from scratch. Clinton-Menendez-Hagel family reunification amendment (S. 1183): I urge you to vote in favor of the amendment introduced by Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), that would remove barriers to reunification for the nuclear families of lawful permanent residents. Hundreds of thousands of lawful permanent residents are currently living in the United States separated from their spouses and children due to visa backlogs and “caps” on the number of visas available to their closest family members. The amendment would reclassify the spouses and minor children of lawful permanent immigrants as "immediate relatives," thereby exempting them from the visa caps, and allowing families to be reunified while they wait for their close relatives to obtain legal permanent residency. Kerry family protection amendment (S. 1178): I urge you to vote in favor of the amendment offered by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), which offers protections for immigrant families and children who are caught in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids. Oppose the following amendments: Inhofe “English as the national language” amendment (S. 1151): I urge you to vote against the amendment introduced by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), which attempts to establish English as the “national language” of the United States. This amendment is an overbroad and unnecessary proposal that could restrict the ability of the federal government to communicate effectively with U.S. citizens, newcomers, and visitors. In the process, the Inhofe Amendment severely jeopardizes the health and safety of all Americans and impairs national security. McConnell voter identification (ID) amendment (S. 1170): I urge you to vote against the amendment introduced by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), that would require voters to obtain and show a government-issued photo ID before exercising their constitutional right to vote. Photo ID requirements are one of the most serious threats in decades to our efforts to ensure the right of every eligible American to vote. They encourage racial and ethnic discrimination at polling places, prevent eligible voters from participating in our democracy, and do nothing to combat genuine instances of voter fraud. DeMint health care coverage requirement amendment (S. 1197): I urge you to vote against the amendment introduced by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), which requires as a condition of eligibility for “Z”–visa status, that immigrants secure and maintain health care coverage through high deductible health plans. The “Z”-visa is the probationary non-immigrant visa that legalization applicants generally have to obtain as the first step towards pursuing legal permanent residency. Due to the high cost of purchasing and maintaining health coverage, especially for people who have to purchase coverage individually, this requirement creates a potentially insurmountable barrier to newcomers who will seek legalization. Ensign tax penalty amendment (S. 1248): I urge you to vote against the amendment introduced by Senator John Ensign (R-NV) to the immigration bill that would deny all tax credits to legalizing workers who are paying their back taxes. This amendment would unfairly force legalizing workers to pay much higher taxes than other Americans. For some, the tax bills would be so high that they could not pay them and therefore could not obtain legal status. Sessions Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) amendment (S. 1234): I urge you to vote against the amendment introduced by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) which would deny legalizing immigrants the EITC after they achieve legal status, forcing them to pay much higher tax rates than other Americans until they have adjusted to legal permanent resident status (which could take many years). Sessions Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) amendment (S. 1235): I urge you to vote against the amendment introduced by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) which would impose a five-year bar on the EITC eligibility for virtually all legal immigrants. This would have a harmful effect not only on those who are achieving legal status under the bill, but also on current legal permanent residents and victims of human trafficking and domestic violence who have already been admitted legally to the U.S. U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES I urge you to pass real comprehensive immigration reform that provides legal permanent residents with a path to U.S. citizenship through an "earned" legalization program that has fair and reasonable requirements. Family reunification is a fundamental cornerstone of our nation's legal immigration system. By reuniting families, the U.S. immigration system reinforces our nation's best family values, while simultaneously serving the country's social and economic well being. Do not support proposals that would create obstacles for future legal immigrants who want to bring their immediate family members to the United States. Any temporary worker program must provide workers with full labor and civil rights protections, and the opportunity to pursue legal permanent residency in the United States. Our immigration system is broken, and if we do not enact fair and comprehensive immigration legislation in this Congressional session, it is unlikely that immigration reform will be addressed until several years from now. RESOURCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION The NALEO Educational Fund has adopted principles on comprehensive immigration reform [click here] that provide a road map to the work that needs to be done on this important national issue, including the need for a path to U.S. citizenship for those immigrants who have played by the rules and are contributing to our society. Our principles also envision a system which promotes family reunification and reduces immigration backlogs; provides a meaningful opportunity for immigrant students to pursue a college education; protects our national security with effective and fair enforcement measures; and promotes the civic integration of newcomers. We urge members of both chambers of Congress to work toward those principles for true comprehensive immigration reform. We hope this information is useful to you, your staff and your constituents. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact William A. Ramos at the NALEO Educational Fund’s Washington D.C. Office at (202) 546-2536 or e-mail at wramos@naleo.org.

About NALEO Educational Fund:

The NALEO Educational Fund is the leading non-profit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service. NALEO is a national non-partisan organization whose constituency includes the more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials nationwide.