President Backs Immigration Overhaul Outline

A comprehensive immigration reform bill is finally gaining momentum in the Senate, just as Hispanic community groups are planning to march on Washington to protest what they see as foot dragging by the Obama administration.

Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) met behind closed doors with the president Tuesday afternoon to brief him on the bi-partisan bill they're working on. Thursday, the two veteran senators published an op-ed in the Washington Post outlining the four pillars of their proposed legislation: Biometric social security cards, increased border control, temporary worker program and a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants.

“The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation. We urge the public and our colleagues to join our bipartisan efforts in enacting these reforms,” the Senators said in a Washington Post editorial posted online Thursday.

President Obama said he agreed with the basic tenants of their proposal and asked for legislation to be introduced for debate. The senators have yet to officially submit their proposal in bill format, but are reported to have set Memorial Day as a deadline.

“My administration will be consulting further with the Senators on the details of their proposal, but a critical next step will be to translate their framework into a legislative proposal, and for Congress to act at the earliest possible opportunity,” Obama said in a statement.

Hispanic community groups were guardedly optimistic of the plan, but said they would continue to apply pressure to the president and Congress until a bill is passed. About 100,000 protesters are expected to converge on the capitol Sunday to provide even more traction for comprehensive reform.

“People are angry across the country,” Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a Seattle-based immigrant advocacy group, said at a news conference Thursday. “They are tired of being disappointed; tired of being made promises to. We cannot stand and look aside as we continue to deal with a broken immigration system.”

With a vote on health care reform looming, immigration advocates said any immigration bill would have to compete for legislators' attention with other big-ticket items, such as financial regulatory reform and a climate change bill. The president has vowed to push on all three fronts, but Washington insiders see a difficult path for immigration reform with only month’s left until the mid-term elections this fall.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has already introduced financial reform legislation and Sen. John Kerry is expected to do the same with climate change. Immigration, on the other hand, is potentially more of a hot topic item in a year when many democrats will be looking to hold on to their seats.

“In June, I met with members of both parties, and assigned Secretary Napolitano to work with them and key constituencies around the country to craft a comprehensive approach that will finally fix our broken immigration system. I am pleased to see that Senators Schumer and Graham have produced a promising, bipartisan framework, which can and should be the basis for moving forward.  It thoughtfully addresses the need to shore up our borders, and demands accountability from both workers who are here illegally and employers who game the system,” Obama said.

Comprehensive immigration reform is needed. It will add a cumulative $1.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. Increased tax revenues from comprehensive immigration reform would generate an additional $4.5 billion to $5.4 billion over three years.

“President Obama and U.S. Senators Schumer and Graham should be commended for their continuing efforts in trying to move the comprehensive immigration reform debate forward,” said Nelson A. Castillo, a California immigration attorney. “Senators Schumer and Graham’s framework for comprehensive immigration reform is a positive step in a political process that will eventually lead to the introduction of legislation in the U.S. Senate. However, comprehensive immigration reform legislation is unlikely to be introduced or debated in the U.S. Senate in 2010 as Congress currently lacks the political will to deal with this very important issue. 

“A number of other matters including health care reform and improving the U.S. economy are likely to take precedence over comprehensive immigration reform.  Also, a polarized Congress and the upcoming congressional elections are likely to diminish the chances of Congress fixing our broken immigration system in the immediate future.”

Other parts of the Schumer-Graham outline include:

• Giving legal permanent residence to people who graduate with doctoral or master's degrees from U.S. universities.

• Adopting zero tolerance for illegal immigrants who commit crimes and expanding enforcement of immigration laws.

• Creating a flexible legal immigration system that brings in more low-skilled workers when jobs are available and fewer in a recession.

• Requiring all U.S. workers - citizens and legal immigrants - to get fraud-proof Social Security cards with a biometric identifier.