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07.09

Schumer Speech, White House Meeting Signal Movement on Immigration Reform

By Vin O'Neill

Two significant events in Washington this week signaled a renewed possibility of Congressional action on comprehensive immigration legislation, including high skills admissions reforms, later this year or early in 2010. One was a speech by Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). The other was an invitational meeting hosted by President Obama at the White House.

Schumer Speech - In an important speech at the Migration Policy Institute’s Law and Policy Conference at Georgetown University on 24 June, Senator Charles Schumer, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, called for legislative action and outlined seven key principles that will be included in a major immigration reform bill he is preparing to introduce in the fall. These principles include:

1. A dramatic reduction in illegal immigration

2. Operational control of America’s borders, through significant improvements in infrastructure, technology and personnel, within a year of enactment

3. A biometric employment eligibility verification system to diminish the job magnet that attracts undocumented aliens and to ensure certainty and simplicity for employers

4. Prompt registration and timely movement toward earned citizenship by undocumented immigrants who are present in the United States on the date of enactment

5. Dramatic reductions in illegal immigration, in order to make room for more legal family-sponsored and employment-based admissions

6. A system that encourages the best and brightest from around the world to come to stay and create new technologies, businesses and jobs while discouraging employers from replacing qualified Americans with lower paid foreign workers

7. Better management and control of legal immigration tied to America’s economic needs

Congressional Hearings – As evidence of his determination to move comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, Schumer has already held two hearings and plans on holding two more in July. Hearing #1 (on 30 April) examined whether comprehensive immigration reform could be enacted in 2009. Hearing #2 (on 20 May) addressed border security issues. Hearings #3 and #4 will focus on simple and workable approaches to biometric employment eligibility verification and on how best to restructure employment-based admissions.

White House Meeting – On 25 June, a broad cross section of Democratic and Republican legislators met with President Obama to discuss how best to bring a comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform bill up for consideration in Congress later this year. Among the participants were strong proponents of earned legalization, including Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and key members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as well as leading opponents including Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking members of the Senate and House Judiciary committees. In informal remarks at the end of the meeting, President Obama said that his administration is fully behind a comprehensive effort to fix the nation’s immigration system and that he has tasked Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to begin working through contentious issues with Congressional leaders in the House and the Senate.

The President reported that his Administration is already taking steps to speed up the admissions process and strengthen enforcement of current laws and regulations. The FBI, for example, has reduced the backlog of security checks that delays the processing of immigrant visa and citizenship petitions. DHS and the Department of Labor are cracking down on employers for hiring undocumented workers. And the White House is leveraging new technologies to further reduce administrative delays and increase transparency in visa processing at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

In addition, the President reiterated his belief that the broken immigration system can only be fixed by offering a comprehensive solution that secures our borders, enforces our laws and reaffirms our heritage as a nation of immigrants. He also acknowledged that comprehensive reforms will require heavy lifting and a victory of practicality, common sense and good policy making over short-term politics.

The full text of the Schumer speech and the President’s remarks are available online at:

Schumer Announces Principles for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill
http://schumer.senate.gov/new_website/record.cfm?id=314990

Remarks by the President after meeting with Members of Congress to Discuss Immigration
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-after-meeting-with-members-of-Congress-to-discuss-immigration/

Vin O'Neill is IEEE-USA's senior legislative representative for Career Policy Activities. Comments on this article may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.