May 20, 2005
By Jan Nunley

Comprehensive immigration reform may come soon despite enactment of the REAL ID Act, according to Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).

According to the Congressional Research Service, the controversial H.R. 418, signed into law May 11, will:

• modify eligibility criteria for asylum and withholding of removal;

• limit judicial review of certain immigration decisions;

• provide additional waiver authority over laws that might impede construction of barriers and roads along the U.S.-Mexican border near San Diego;

• expand the scope of terror-related activity making an alien inadmissible and deportable, as well as ineligible for certain forms of relief from removal; and

• require states to meet minimum security standards for their drivers' licenses and personal identification cards to be accepted for federal purposes.

Its passage was "a blow to advocates for immigrant rights," said Parkins, but new immigration reform legislation, introduced on May 12 in both houses of Congress by Senators McCain and Kennedy and Representatives Flake and Gutierrez, may offer hope for immigrants. The proposed bill has bipartisan support and builds on President Bush's announcement last year of the need for a guest workers' program.

As introduced, the bill would permit guest workers to come to the U.S. legally if they were responding to a known offer of employment. Permanent residency and citizenship would be available to workers after six years of employment. 400,000 additional visas would be provided to accommodate new workers entering the U.S. Immediate family members could join workers coming to the U.S., since the bill would exempt immediate relatives from the current annual ceiling of 480,000 family-sponsored immigrant visas – a situation which has created interminable delays for family members seeking to reunite with U.S.-based relatives.

Parkins applauded the attention that the sponsors of the bill have given to the problem of separated families. "As a matter of principle, any reform in our immigration system has to face the pain for families being separated for long periods. What is offered is a change in current practice which would substantially increase prospects of families being together," he said. Parkins noted that "another provision of the bill deserving praise is the prospect of guest workers becoming permanent residents with citizenship being a goal for many. Fairness requires that those who give of their labor and make an economic contribution to our country be given a chance to be legal members of our communities. The record shows that immigrants make good citizens. Both workers and host communities could well be beneficiaries of this new possibility."

The proposed bill confronts the issue of undocumented workers residing in this country by providing these workers access to legalization. Those seeking to become legal workers in the U.S. can do so by paying $2000 as a so-called penalty for having resided in the U.S. without documentation. Proponents of immigration reform added this measure to address the problem of helping undocumented workers in the U.S. while at the same time imposing a barrier for their incorporation into a reformed system.

Advocates of the bill claim that because the current deficit in the labor force in certain sectors can be filled with legal workers, employers will presumably have less incentive to hire the undocumented. Moreover, employer penalties will be more stringent under the new law; and security will be enhanced since it is presumed that changes in the system will create greater transparency about who is in the country. "This could be a win-win situation for all of us," said Parkins.

"The President must lend strong support to the bill in order that its bipartisan support in Congress can translate to victory," Parkins added. "There are already adversaries sounding alarm bells about how more migrant workers will harm our economic and social systems, so Congressional endorsement of this bill must be buttressed by the support of informed and persistent constituents. Advocacy from the faith community, employers, unions, and human rights groups will be needed to advance immigration reform, but we have a chance."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy for communication for the Episcopal Church.