June 13, 2006
A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert

The Senate immigration bill that was approved May 24 was "a half loaf," according to a United Methodist pastor who has been fighting for a comprehensive immigration plan for 15 years.

The Senate bill gives legalization for about half of the 12 million undocumented workers in the United States, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church, Chicago.

Bill Mefford, executive with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, called the path to citizenship in the Senate bill "an unworkable three-tiered system."

The next step for the comprehensive immigration reform bill will be when representatives of the Senate and House meet and try to compromise on a single bill. Mefford predicted the conference between the House and Senate will happen right after the July 4 break.

Some upcoming events planned to focus on the issue are:

• July 1 – National Citizenship Day, led primarily by the House Democratic Hispanic Caucus and organizing groups throughout the country. The goal is to register people to vote and promote citizenship.

• July 19 – National Immigration Reform Advocacy Day, also led primarily by the House Democratic Hispanic Caucus.

• July 12 – An Interfaith Conference and Lobby Day, which will feature a series of panels on immigration issues.

By the end of June or early July, a campaign by an interfaith group working on immigration will mobilize people to make calls or send e-mail to representatives and senators and urge them to promote comprehensive reform.

"Our fear is that an already weak Senate reform bill will be further weakened to appease those opposed to comprehensive immigration reform in the House," Mefford said.

Blocks to citizenship

The requirements for citizenship for undocumented workers in the country longer than five years mean "they would have had to live an almost perfect life," Coleman said. "There probably isn't one in 50 U.S. citizens that could pass the requirements."

"In this system, immigrants who have been in the U.S. longer than five years can apply for the path to citizenship, those in the U.S. between two and five years must ‘check in' at a port of entry before they can apply for the path to citizenship, and those in the U.S. less than two years must leave the United States," Mefford said. "The administrative workload for this, and the potential for abuse and mistreatment, is enormous. The path to citizenship must be secured for all undocumented immigrants who want to become citizens."

"Sending people back who have lived in the U.S. for less than two years will just create an underground, shadow (existence) because people are not going to leave," Coleman says.

Mefford agreed that stringent provisions would prevent many workers from qualifying.

"One inhibiting factor is the large financial cost, which would be compounded by a tax increase that would solely apply to legalizing immigrants," he said. "Precluded from a path to citizenship are those who have committed minor crimes years ago. Adding to the confusion for immigrants, social service agencies and government workers, the legislation establishes overlapping paths to legalization, each with its own set of requirements."

The Senate version offers waivers that would reunify families, but it doesn't cover families that have bans filed against them, Coleman said. Bans are issued and recorded if undocumented workers have been charged with a false claim to U.S. citizenship or caught trying to cross the border illegally.

"In some cases, somebody may have been deported and charged with a false claim to U.S. citizenship because they used someone else's driver's license to cross the border," Coleman said. "It is very arbitrary whether are not they will be charged."

There is an indefinite detention time for immigrants in this bill, Mefford said. "The bill would give the Department of Homeland Security the power to detain immigrants for years without determining whether they pose a viable threat. This would severely undermine due process, not allowing immigrants the right to have their case heard before a court of law."

Another part of the bill expands the number of felonies classified as aggravated felonies, Mefford said.

"Aggravated felony convictions bring greater penalties, which could include mandatory detention, permanent deportation, and the denial of judicial review," he said.

‘Oaks of righteousness'

Coleman said the "situation in the House is very difficult."

"As long as the Speaker of the House takes the position that he won't put anything on the floor unless he has the support of the majority of the majority, it looks like for now, compromise will be very difficult. We may be looking at going into elections and trying to get a better situation next year with House and Senate."

"The scriptural commands to welcome the stranger and advocate for the most vulnerable in society compel us to continue this work of advocacy," Mefford said. "As we strive to be a people of invitation to the strangers in our land, let us accept their invitation to us to join our brother and sister sojourners in their struggle to come out of the shadows and achieve their rightful recognition as contributable members of society."

The church is a part of this struggle, Coleman said. "We have based our biblical foundation on the passages that say welcome the stranger. This year has deepened our understanding.

"I think the better passages come from Isaiah 61, when he says God has planted people here like ‘oaks of righteousness' that they might bring about some justice in this country."

United Methodist News Service
Kathy L. Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.