vi·sa /ˈvizə/ noun, 1. an endorsement made by an authorized representative of one country permitting the passport holder entry into or transit through the country making the endorsement. vi·sion /ˈvɪʒən/ –noun 1. the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be."
Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category
I read the summary, and the comments posted on the Economist responding to The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. By Joel Kotkin. Penguin. I have not read the book, but from the description, it sounds as though Kotkin believes that the US is poised to “bounce back” from the current economic downturn because it has maintained its position as the most attractive destination for immigrants. Kotkin’s idea that immigrants are good for the economy is not a new one; Other advocacy organizations such as the American Immigration Council also rely on the economic benefits of immigration. However, it sounds as though Kotkin’s theory also rests on the assumption that the US is currently, and will remain, the preeminent destination for immigrants seeking their new home. Given the complexity, cost, and frustrations my clients experience during every stage of their immigration process, I’m afraid that Kotkin’s confidence in the US’s ability to attract new immigrants may be incorrect. I’m interested in reading the book to find out whether he addresses the likelihood and consequences of not remaining competitive/attractive to immigrants seeking out the best places to relocate.
*special thanks to my friend Adam for bringing this review to my attention!!
Tags: Advocacy
Raids don't fix anything.
Last night marked President Obama’s first Presidential Address which echoed his (inspiring) campaign promises of change, a brighter future, accountablilty and responsibility, and the capacity for every ordinary person to become extraordinary through actions and choice.
Ironically, the first worksite raid under the Obama administration also took place last night which painted an entirely different picture reminding me of the enormity of the challenge to reform immigration. In Bellingham, Washington, 126 workers including US Citizens were questioned and temporarily detained, while 28 primarily Mexican workers were chained and transported to a detention facility (three were released for humanitarian reasons) marking another enforecement-only action by ICE as the solution to unauthorized employment.
These enforcement only measures reflect a continuation of the same policies carried out under the Bush administration, and undermine Obama’s campaign promise as well as his demands for change presented during his presidential address. Addressing the issue of unauthorized workers through raids does not resolve the root of the issue. Immigration reform is ripe for review, and the enforcement-only solution is not an acceptable answer.
Tags: ICE Raids, worksite enforcement
Calling your Senator can make a difference for H-1B workers and the economy
From AILA Advocacy Alerts (February 4, 2009):
The large Economic Stimulus Bill being debated in the Senate is now being threatened by 3 bad immigration amendments that will hurt immigrant workers and the economy. Immediate action must be taken against these amendments. Call your Senators NOW and tell them to oppose Senator Sanders’s H-1B amendment to bar banks from hiring H-1B workers and Senator Sessions’ 2 amendments that would require all businesses benefiting from the stimulus to use E-Verify. Call Your Senators NOW!
Your Senior US Senator: 202-224-3121 ; Your Junior US Senator: 202-224-3121
Tell your Senators to: Please OPPOSE the following amendments that will slow down the economy:
· Senator Sanders’ H-1b amendment, number 306, would prevent U.S. employers who are using TARP funds from accessing highly skilled, professional foreign talent that would allow them to stay competitive in the global marketplace. U.S. businesses who are trying desperately to recover financially MUST have access to specialty skills inside our country so that they can keep their businesses in the U.S. Otherwise, the entire nation’s economic recovery will be severely hobbled.
· Senator Sessions filed two amendments numbers 165 and 239 that require all businesses and other public or private “entities” that contract to receive money from the stimulus package to use the flawed federal Basic Pilot/E-Verify program. Making the E-Verify program mandatory will delay use of stimulus funds, hurt millions of workers and hamstring businesses who are not prepared to implement this new program, especially during this economic crisis.
These amendments will send the wrong signal to new voters that the Congress prefers to play politics by enacting symbolic and ineffective measures rather than serious and effective economic stimulus measures.
Received today in an email from my father after I asked both my parents to contact their Reps re: the E-Verify/Stimulus Package Issue:
“I called Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Chairman David Obey and one congress person… HTH L, D ( ps so did mommy )
Ask your loved ones to make a couple phone calls! (I’m not sure what HTH means…L,D = Love, Daddy)
Tags: Advocacy
Stop complaining and take action! Now is the time to let Congress know how you feel! Let your Representative know that incuding E-Verify in the stimulus package is counterproductive to strengthening our economy, and should not be included in the stimulus package. Advocacy is fun and empowering so make your phone calls today!
E-Verify should not be part of the stimulus package!
To: Interested Immigration Advocates
From: National Immigration Forum
ACTION ALERT: CALLS NEEDED TODAY
Stimulus Money with E-Verify Strings Attached Will Hurt, Not Help American Workers and Businesses.
Late last week, the House Appropriations Committee voted to include two provision related to E-Verify (the electronic worker verification system) in the economic recovery bill (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). One of the amendments, proposed by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) and approved by Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI), would make enrollment in E-Verify a condition for receiving funds provided by the recovery package.
This is a dangerous and risky attempt to expand the E-Verify program in a way that would essentially make its use mandatory for the majority of 7.4 million employers in our country. The E-Verify program has severe and well-documented failings which include:
- Unacceptably high error rates that misidentify U.S. Citizen and lawful immigrant workers
- An inability to monitor and prevent unscrupulous employers from misusing the syste
- Exacerbating, in many cases, unlawful employment practices against all workers
If Congress wants to solve the economic crisis and put Americans back to work, it should focus on economic stimulus measures. Immigration enforcement should be the subject of a comprehensive package of immigration reforms. Congressional leadership should not allow Representatives with a narrow focus on punishing immigrants to use the urgently-needed economic stimulus to advance their agenda.
The Obama Administration has recently suspended for review a rule that would require all federal contractors to enroll in E-Verify. Congress should not work at cross purposes with the Administration on this issue. The New American and Latino voters who turned out in record numbers in the last election helped change the balance in Congress. Their vote should be respected, and Congress should deal with immigration as a problem that needs to be solved comprehensively, not made worse by endless new enforcement measures.
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU TODAY:
- CALL Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-0100
- CALL Chairman David Obey at 202-225-3365
- CALL Democratic and Republican Members of the Appropriations Committee who live in your state (see below)
TELL CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP TODAY:
- You oppose weighing down the stimulus package with E-Verify requirements and want them stripped.
- Including E-Verify in the stimulus package imposes new and costly requirements on businesses, farms, state and local governments, schools, hospitals and non-profit organizations which counteracts the purpose and effect of the stimulus.
- Delaying the receipt of stimulus funds by effectively forcing employers to use E-verify harms all American workers, businesses and the economy.
- Caving in to a minority, interested only in using immigration as a political wedge issue, is not the type of leadership Americans—particularly New Americans and Latinos—voted for in the last election.
DEMOCRAT MEMBERS OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
John P. Murtha (D-PA) Phone: 202-225-2065 Fax: 202-225-5709
http://www.immigrationforum.org
April 2006 - Undocumented workers and supporters protest a bill which would criminalize undocumented workers
USCIS announced today in a press release on the headlines of the USCIS.gov website that “The Bratton Corp., a construction products supplier from Kansas City, Mo., employing about 200 people in Kansas City and Pasadena, Calif., is the 100,000th employer to participate in E-Verify.”
Congrats Bratton! It’s interesting to see the marketing tools that the government is employing to hype up E-Verify. Although I write about and research the shortcomings and dangers of an electronic verification system which could negatively affect human resources departments and employees on a grand scale, I do think that the program has its virtues. If employers have a reliable, quick, and easy way to verify the identity and authorization of their employees, and are held accountable for staffing unauthorized workers, they are more likely to comply. That said, I am frusterated that DHS has invested so much in designing this well-structured verification program without devising an equally well-structured program to address the heart of the problem: creating pathways for the 12 million shadow immmigrants to integrate legally into our workforce.
Even if every employer in the US is enrolled in E-Verify, there will always be an underground workforce of unauthorized workers unless Congress addresses them directly.
Tags: E-Verify
Bloomberg raises important election issues
In Bloomberg’s Advice to the Next President published by Newsweek, he tackles some of the issues I wish the candidates would have addressed throughout their campaign. On immigration, Bloomberg warns:
1. the most brilliant minds are being shut out of America because of our stringent immigration laws
2. outsourcing and xenophobia have caused fewer jobs for americans and less tax revenues
3. Immigration reform is crucial to our sick economy! Bloomberg proposes a bi-lateral plan: tighten border security, create a worker ID card to allow employers to verify work authorization and ID’s for job applicants, and provide a legal pathway to citizenship.
Easier said than done Mr. Bloomberg! He does, however, identify one root of the immigration virus, and its vaccine: immunity to Congresspeople from threats to re-election despite supporting sound immigration solutions.
Bloomberg writes, “You will never convince the demagogues, but most members of Congress will be willing to support this kind of common-sense approach if they believe it will not threaten their re-election campaigns. Tell them—including members of the opposite party—that they will have your support in their re-election campaigns. That simple act may do more to shake up the Washington establishment than anything that has occurred there in decades.”
Immigrant’s List, an organization founded by a group of prominent immigration attorneys to pursue that goal, raises funds to support candidates, regardless of party affiliation, enforcing the point that candidates don’t have to sacrifice economic and political support by casting their votes to resolve the immigration crisis. While advocacy may pull at the heartstrings, money talks.
Tags: Advocacy, Elections
presented by HIAS Young Leaders NYC Advocacy and Education Committee
Last night I attended (and co-moderated) a HIAS event called ”Welcoming the Stranger,” a multimedia exploration of today’s most pressing immigration issues from an ethical, humanitarian, historical, and theological perspective. Presented by the HIAS Young Leaders Education and Advocacy committee, the program was designed to explain the immigration debate, expose the need for reform to our immigration system, and encourage attendees to continue to spread the word to promote just immigration practices in their communities. More grass roots advocacy by HIAS Young Leaders!!!
I am slightly biased, because I am a HIAS YL volunteer and actually helped review and revise the program in its early stages, but I thought it was really fabulous. We learned about the different periods of immigration, the people most affected by our broken system today, the Jewish biblical injunction to “Welcome the Stranger,” and the strength and power of the vehemently anti-immigrant voice. We also had meaningful discussions on difficult issues such as whether English should be required for Naturalization, and my favorite, whether participants would lie or break the law to enter a country if their future, safety, or family were at risk.
I really hope that this program takes off in other forums, because its a great way to gain a clear understanding of the debated issues, and discover why it is important to pressure Congress for more compassionate immigration policies. The program is designed to target and motivate Jewish audiences to mobilize because the Jewish community has historically struggled with xenophobia and anti-semitism as immigrants to the US, and now is established enough to speak out in defense of today’s struggling immigrant communities.
Two thumbs up for a very cool and informative event!
Tags: E-Verify
Congress passed Supplemental Security Income (SSI) extension which benefits for disabled and elderly refugees. I have no time to write about this but will edit/update later.
Tags: Advocacy, SSI
Become Part of the Solution Through Advocacy
One of the amazing things about the US is that we can actually change the things we don’t like about our country (or at the very least, we can try). Immigration is always a hot topic, not only for prospective immigrants, but also for employers seeking talent from abroad, family members, and of course, immigration professionals.
Here are four simple steps to take to begin to move the wheels of change in our great democratic nation:
1. LEARN/THINK:It’s very easy to find yourself at a party having a heated debate about building a fence, “amnesty,” and the shortage of H-1B visas. However, without the proper knowledge and background, it’s impossible to a) figure out what you really believe is right b) convey your feelings to others and c) take the steps to initiate changes. Start by educating yourself:
Today the House Subcommittee on Immigration will markup H.R.5882, a bill to recapture unused employment-based and family-based green cards lost to bureaucratic delays, and to prevent losses of family- and employment-based immigrant visas in the future. I Googled the bill to learn more. I found a nice site govtrack which listed the background of the bill, as well as the actual text. Thomas is the Library of Congress website which provides information on everything introduced in Congress. After you play around on the website a bit, you will find that it’s an easy way to get a clear picture of legislative history, voting records, etc. Here’s some info on the Development of HR 5882:
- In March 2008, Bill Gates testified before Congress to increase the H-1B cap.
- HR 5630 introduced (proposition increase H-1B cap from 65,000 to 130,000 for FY 2008 by Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)) and HR 5642 introduced on 3/14/08 (proposition to raise H-1B visas from 65,000 to 195,000 by Lamar Smith (R-TX))
- On 04/23/08 Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduces HR 5882 to recapture all the unused visas from 1992 to 2007.
More about the BILL (From THOMAS):
- Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish the fiscal year worldwide level of employment-based immigrants at 140,000 plus: (1) the previous year’s unused visas; and (2) the number of unused visas from FY2002-FY2007.
- Establishes the fiscal year worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants at 480,000 minus the number of certain aliens not subject to direct numerical limitations plus: (1) the previous year’s unused visas; and (2) the number of unused visas from FY2002-FY2007. (States that such annual level shall not be less than 226,000.)
2. ACT
Call your Representative now and express your support for this very important bill! It’s easier than you think. You don’t have to be a skilled orator, a lawyer, or have any prestigious letters after your name. All you have to do is locate your representative, and tell them that you are expressing your support or opposition to a specific bill. The people answering the phones keep a log of the number of constituents who contact the Senator or Representative office, and all of your phone calls (as well as letters and emails) count. Congresspeople are supposed to represent the views of their constituents, and if enough people call about an issue, they do notice.
3. VOTE
When November 4, 2008 rolls around, review the voting record of your Senator/Representative. Be sure to vote for people who VOTE for what you believe in (not only SAY that they support those issues). 35 of the 100 Seats in the Senate will be up for grabs and all 435 seats in the House are up for election.
4. CONTINUE CALLING
Just to reiterate the main point of this (slightly lengthly) lesson on advocacy, be sure to contact your representative (choose Senator or Representative, depending on where the bill is introduced). It will only take you a few minutes to make a phone call. Do it every day. Write to them. Tell your friends and family to do the same. Be persistent, and don’t give up! Interns on the Hill are hired every year to answer your calls, so make them do their job!
Tags: Advocacy, cap, green cards, H-1B visas, Understanding the System
