Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By
Francisco J. González
05/26/2010
TALKING POINTS
The recommend reforms will accomplish the following: end illegal immigration
permanently; secure the border, reunite families and allow for open, lawful and
productive immigration into the US
Increase accountability for employers that recruit and employ unauthorized workers
Secure the border by freeing the Border Patrol and other State and Federal law
enforcement agencies from the time consuming tasks intercepting immigrants to arresting
drugs and weapons smugglers
Permanent deployment of regular Army & Marine Corps units to assist in securing the
US-Mexico border.
End undocumented immigration by eliminating the incentives employers may have for
hiring cheaper labor, while at the same time allowing for the influx of temporary workers
to meet short-term labor needs of US businesses.
Recognition that the current immigration system penalizes families by requiring long
waits between the approval of an application to the issuance of a visa. Reform must
include the elimination of a backlog of those family members allowed under current law
to rejoin the US or Lawful Permanent Resident relative (parents, children spouse and
siblings).
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1- Secure the border and long-term future immigration system
A- border security:
• increase use of electronic devices (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles-drones, sensors,
etc.) to monitor border.
• permanent deployment of regular Army & Marine Corp units to the US-Mexico
border. Cost of these will be on the federal government and not on the states,
which would be the case if National Guard troops were used. Also, soldiers and
marines could use this as training for similar border protection missions in Iraq
and Afghanistan (similar terrain, etc.)
• “Whistleblower” visa: based on the “U” visa currently available for victims of
crimes. Undocumented immigrants that report to law enforcement a business that
is later found guilty of employment of undocumented workers, can receive a visa
valid for up to 10 years
• Temporary Visa for the labor exchange: based on the new category of visa, the “Y
visa”, proposed under McCain-Kennedy. The actual number of visas available
every year would depend on the recommendations of the Commission above-
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mentioned, but it would be no less than 400,000 temporary guest workers. The
visa will allow the worker to remain in the country for two years, after which they
would have to return home. They could bring their dependents (spouse &
children) but these dependents would NOT count towards the 400,000-visa cap.
2- Fixing the short-term inequalities and problems of the current failed system
3- Stop-gap measures to be considered at the state and local level while pursuing 1
& 2 above
• Minnesota (or Mid-West) guest worker program: just 2 years ago, Arizona was in
the forefront of innovative immigration reform by seeking permission from
Congress to implement a guest worker program to bring temporary workers to
Arizona. Colorado also considered a similar provision. The economy is starting to
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recover, and soon there will be labor shortages. See link below for information on
the AZ and CO proposed guest worker programs
http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2008/03/arizona_considers_guest_worker_1.html
- The program is really a benefit for USC/LPR who simply wants to be close to
their relatives. This proposal affirms the value placed by the state on families,
marriage and children being raised in two- parent households.
• Minnesota US Citizen Protection Act: law that prohibits State and local law
enforcement officials from requesting proof of citizenship or immigration status
(different from proof of IDENTITY) from US citizens. This law can be presented
as protecting the privacy of US citizens and against the introduction of a national
ID card.
However, this law is intended as a “pre-emtive strike” against the Arizona law,
which allows police officers to demand proof of immigration status from people
reasonably suspected of being “illegal aliens.” The law I propose is the “flip side”
of this: a police officer should use “reason” and be prohibited from asking US
citizens for proof of immigration status.
The idea is that police officers would be reluctant to ask ANYONE about their
immigration status for fear of asking the “wrong” person (a US citizen) and thus
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violating the law. Supporters of the AZ law insist that police officers would be
able to “tell” who is an undocumented alien: my proposal put their belief to
the test by including legal consequences for harassing a US citizen.
For more information about this initiative or to comment on the immigration draft
outline, please contact:
Richard Aguilar at
richardaguilar@qwestoffice.net
or
Francisco J. González at
donbenito2009@yahoo.com
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Immigration_Reform_Act_of_2007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986
Bill HCM 2012 urging the Congress of the United States to enact federal legislation
authorizing the state of Arizona to implement the Arizona temporary worker program.
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/48leg/2r/bills/hcm2012p.htm