Comprehensive Immigration Reform How is the system broken? Who can fix it? What can I do?

Comprehensive Immigration

Reform

• How is the system broken?• Who can fix it?• What can I do?

“The Legal Way”

Employment-Based

Immigration

Family-Based Immigration

Diversity Lottery

Refuge / Asylum

140,000 Permanent Resident Visas Annually

– Primarily for immigrants with “extraordinary ability” and “holding advanced degrees”

– Not an option for the vast majority of immigrants

Employment-Based

Immigration

55,000 refugees annually– For those fleeing persecution for reason of

• Race• Religion• National origin• Political opinion• Membership in a particular social group

– Not for those fleeing• Economic hardship• Environmental or natural disasters

– Determination of refugee / asylee status can be tied to U.S. political interests and foreign policy

Refugees / Asylees

50,000 visas issued annually– Must have high school education or two-

years professional experience to apply– Odds of winning the 2009 lottery were 1

in 182– No Visa Lottery for

• Mexico, the Philippines, India, China, Canada, Haiti, El Salvador, England, South Korea, and Poland, among others

Diversity Lottery

At least 226,000 Permanent Resident Visas annually

– A citizen or LPR can petition for their:• Spouse• Unmarried children• Parents• sibling

– No other family relationships qualify (grandparents, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc.)

Family-Based Immigration

• Forget it if you:– Were here illegally (10 year bar)– Have committed a crime (retroactive)– Have falsely claimed citizenship (even

accidentally)– ever in any way provided “material

support” to a “terrorist organization” (even under duress)

No legal way

Statistics and Graphic from the Pew Hispanic Center, March 2006

Oh, the myths!

• Myth: Immigrants don’t pay taxes.– Immigrants pay $140 billion / year

• Myth: Immigrants come here for welfare.– Undocumented / temporary workers are not

eligible• Myth: Immigrants drain the US economy.

– Net gain for federal economy (some loss for local economies)

• Myth: Immigrants don’t want to learn English.– Within 10 years, 75% are English speakers

• Myth: The war on terrorism can be won through restricting immigration.– Our immigrant-targeted security efforts have

netted no terrorism prosecutions.

Mode of Entry of Undocumented Immigrants

Unlawful Visa-

Overstayers45%

Unlawful Border

Crossers55%

“But Nana came legally…”

1862

Home-stead Act

grants citizens title to

160 acres 1882

Chinese Exclusio

n Act bans

Chinese mig-

ration for ten years

(renewed until

1943). 1875

Convicts, prostitutes, coolies

barred from entry.

1891

Congress bans “all

idiots, insane

persons, paupers… diseased… convicts,

polygamists

1890

Peak (to

date) ratio immi-grants in US: 14.8% (today

it’s 12%)

1790

Naturalization

for “free white

persons” with 2

years residency and loyalty to US Const.

1903

More ex-

clusions:

epilep-tics,

profes-sional beggars, anar-chists

1921

National-origins quota

system, favoring Northern Euro-peans.

1924

Johnson-Reed Act: new quota

system which

preserved US “racial” compositio

n, bans Japanese.

And then…

Drastic changes to asylum law, enforcement

agents’ authority,

definition of crimes and detention

policy, access to public

assistance199619861965

Immigration Act of 1965 ends race-

based quotas,

establishes ceiling, begins

preferences

Immigration Reform &

Control Act: amnesty, employer

punishment, working without papers

becomes a crime.

2002

US Patriot Act allows detain,

prosecute, and remove

aliens suspected of

terrorism; restricts

immigration appeals; expands detention

policy

2005

REAL ID Act

increases restrictions on asylum,

reduces right to

trial, increases enforcement, restricts

state drivers’ licenses.

2006

Secure Fence Act builds 700 miles of fence on Southern border.

2007

McCain – Kennedy bill,

Compre-hensive

Immigration Reform,

fails.

Thinking faithfully about immigration

• Identity of humans• Immigrants in the Bible• Commands in the Bible• Code of hospitality• Law abiding

Image of God

• Gen 1:26-27, “Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”– Worth– Potential to contribute

Biblical migrants

• Abraham• Isaac• Jacob• Joseph• Naomi, Ruth

•Daniel•Ezra•Nehemiah•Esther•Jesus•Early church

God’s law

• Outsiders (alien, orphan, widow) were vulnerable– Food– Fair and timely wage– Fair legal proceedings– Participation in religious practices

• Remember your history• Display the heart of God

Hospitality

• Called to show to strangers (not friends) - Luke 14:12-14

• Called to reflect Christ - “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (Romans 15:7)

• Good Samaritan – it was the “outsider” who was the hero, neighbor. (Luke 10)

Rule of Law

• Romans 13, “…everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities” since “the authorities that exist have been established by God.”

• Acts 5, “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority…’”

Comprehensive Immigration Reform

• Enforcement! (That is humane)• Reform family-based system (waiting times)• A process immigrant workers to earn

citizenship (upon satisfaction of specific criteria)

• Expand ways for workers and families to enter and work in a safe and legal manner (with rights protected)

• Address the root causes of migration (economic disparities)

So what.

• Learn– www.crcjustice.org (issue: immigration)

• Teach– Sunday school curriculum, book studies,

film discussions, etc.

• Speak– Comprehensive Immigration Reform