Home of Today's Common Sense

Published Brownsville Herald March 25, 2007
 

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On page A12 of the March 21, Brownsville Herald, a promise of an Immigration fix is reported in an article entitled “Immigration Bill to include path to legalization”. The brief descriptions available in the press and on the internet leave a lot to be desired.
The House version sponsored by Congressmen Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Congressman Jeff Flake (R-Ariz) calls for citizenship for illegal immigrants, create a new worker program, stiffen worker verification procedures and overhaul the visa system to reduce waiting times for legal immigrants. The bill also calls for require some illegal immigrants leave the U.S. and re-enter legally and others to be granted amnesty.
The Senate version being pushed by Senator Mc Cain (R-Ariz) and Senator Kennedy (D-Mass) is very similar.
One of the first things that concern me is that it seems that one of the most knowledgeable Representatives in Congress, Sylvester Reyes (D-Tex), has not been invited to participate in the creation of this crucial legislation, though it has been said that he approves of many of the items.
The other thing is that this legislation seems to add numerous layers of bureaucracy and perhaps hundreds of jobs to clog the system even more and little effort made to rehabilitate an immigration system that can lose records for months and years where in at least one case the lost papers have left a potential new citizen in limbo for months after completing all the requirements for citizenship. There appears to be little or no oversight and no way to seek recourse. More »