A few weeks ago, I began a series of articles on the current debate in Washington concerning immigration reform.  I first outlined Senate Resolution 646, which lays out the position of a majority of the members of the General Assembly when it comes to U.S. immigration.  In part two, I highlighted the main points of a letter sent to Georgia’s congressional delegation, which offers a detailed plan for immigration reform.  In this week’s column, I’d like to take a look at the background of the current immigration reform proposal (S 1639), and discuss some of the issues that surround this reform package.  The bill was first introduced as S 1348, and it has since returned for debate as S 1639.

S 1639 – Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007

On May 17, several U.S. senators and White House negotiators announced their agreement on a “compromise” immigration bill.  Under the proposal:

• All illegal immigrants who claim to have been in the U.S. since January 1, 2007, would have up to two years to appear at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office, drop off a completed application for a “Z” visa, pay a $1,000 fine (plus $500 for each spouse, child and parent living here illegally with them) and submit their fingerprints.  USCIS would attempt to check their fingerprints against one or more criminal databases and, as long as fewer than three misdemeanors and no felonies showed up within 24 hours, USCIS would be required to grant them “probationary” amnesty in the form of a work permit and legal permission to remain in the U.S.
• The proposal also includes both the DREAM Act amnesty for illegal immigrants who graduate from U.S. high schools, and the AgJOBS amnesty for 1.5 million illegal agricultural workers.
• The employers of these newly amnestied individuals also would receive amnesty under the proposal.  They would not be subject to fines or prosecution either for hiring illegal immigrants, or for any tax fraud committed as a result.

The issuance of the Z visas, along with a new category of “Y” temporary foreign workers visas, would be put on hold until the Secretary of Homeland Security could certify to the President that a series of “triggers” had been met.  These triggers include:

• Customs and Border Protection must have hired (not trained or deployed) a total of 18,000 Border Patrol agents.
• The Department of Homeland Security must have installed 370 miles of border fence (about half the total miles of fencing required by the law passed in 2006), along with some vehicle barriers and radar and camera towers, and deployed at least four unmanned aerial vehicles.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must have 27,500 detention beds (the number it has now) and DHS must continue to detain illegals apprehended along the southern border.
• DHS must have the tools to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining jobs, including the establishment of identification standards (presumably like those required by existing laws, including the REAL ID Act) and an electronic work eligibility verification system (like the Basic Pilot).
• USCIS must be “processing and adjudicating in a timely manner” Z visa applications (since these are not supposed to be issued until the triggers are met, apparently, USCIS would be deciding them and saving them for later issuance).

These triggers do not require DHS to have operational control of the border; they do not require DHS to comply with the law and build the all of the fence; they do not require DHS to implement the exit system that would allow us to know if “guest workers” actually leave, though it has been law since 1996; they do not require work site enforcement; and they do not require DHS to increase its apprehension rate or its alien absconder removal rate.  Also, the proposal does little to keep illegal immigrants with connections to terrorist activities from also receiving amnesty.

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Along with a majority of Georgia citizens, I feel the current effort to push S 1639 through Congress will have the same ramifications for our country as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.  That law criminalized the act of knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal aliens, under the theory that low prospects for employment would reduce illegal immigration.  These sanctions applied to employers with more than three employees that did not make a sufficient effort to determine the legal status of the worker.  The 1986 law established a one-year amnesty program for illegal immigrants who had already worked and lived in the U.S. since January 1982.  Those eligible could apply for regularization of status and eventually full citizenship.  Similar to S 1639, the 1986 law also mandated the intensification of Border Patrol activities, and attempted to scrutinize employers who used illegal labor.  Over 2.7 million illegal immigrants and others not qualifying for visas were given amnesty under the 1986 law.  We now know that the 1986 measure was a failure in that, for each illegal immigrant granted amnesty under the plan, approximately four new ones have since replaced them.  In 1986, 2.7 million illegal immigrants were legalized, and the estimate of illegal immigrants living and working in the U.S. today is approaching 20 million.

Alternative Solutions

There are some solutions out there that haven’t gotten much media attention.  One idea being mentioned is the use of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) to guard our borders.  The CAP was created on December 1, 1941, and is credited with sinking at least two German U-boats during WW II.  Recently, the CAP has been used increasingly for Homeland Security and courier service missions, and it would be logical for them to again monitor and protect the borders of our country.  Another possibility would be to include funding within S 1639 to finish construction of the border fence and add border patrol agents.  Of course, the most obvious alternative to pardoning nearly 20 million people is to put forth more effort and resources into enforcing what is already on the books as current federal law.

The key to any plan for immigration reform is to first secure our borders and enforce the current law.  Then, a system can be put in place for illegal immigrants to register, return home and potentially take part in a temporary work permit situation.  In the meantime, I hope that any new federal immigration and border security plan will be comprehensive and meaningful.  I encourage you to contact our U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson in their offices to urge them to vote “no” on S 1639 if and when the bill comes up for a vote in the Senate.  Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ office can be reached at (202) 224-3521, while Sen. Johnny Isakson’s office can be reached at (202) 224-3643.

Please feel free to contact Sen. Chip Pearson at his office in Atlanta at 404.656.9221 or by email at chip@team51.org.