Summary |
In 1986, the US Congress passed, and President Regan signed into law, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). This landmark legislation allowed any illegal immigrant who was living in the US prior to 1982 to be eligible to apply for legal permanent residency. It also established a track for these individual to eventually apply for US citizenship. At the time of passage, the IRCA impacted approximately three million undocumented workers. Today, there are approximately eight to ten million undocumented workers in the US. On January 7, 2004, President Bush announced a major immigration reform effort that would allow undocumented works currently in the US to apply for temporary work visas. A summary of President Bush's plan is below. Proposal President Bush's proposal establishes a renewable three-year temporary work permit. After the work permit expires, the visa holder is allowed to apply for a one-time three renewal or return to their country of origin. During the two three-year visa periods, workers are eligible to apply to existing permanent resident categories. The three-year work permit, however, does not establish a new amnesty program nor does it allow create a new category to apply for citizenship. Additionally, President Bush's proposal calls for a "reasonable increase in the annual limit of legal immigrants." However, the plan does not provide specific information on the size of these increases. Legislative Action The President's plan will be drafted into legislative language and introduced in the House of Representatives and US Senate. The bills are expected to be reviewed by the House of Representative's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims of the Judiciary Committee and the Senate's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship of the Judiciary Committee. Once these bills have been considered by the Subcommittees, they will be debated by the full Committees and then by the House and Senate. Recent press reports state that sources in the Senate do not expect this legislation to be completed this year. Arguments for The President believes that this proposal would be the compassionate way to handle the millions of people who wish only to make an honest living but cannot because of circumstance. His plan will allow illegal immigrants to contribute legally to the American economy, pay taxes, and enroll in social service programs. Additionally, the President believes that this plan will enhance homeland security by strengthening the government's ability to track and manage all those who enter the country. Arguments against Leading advocacy groups such as the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center have criticized the President's proposal. They believe that the President's proposal stops short of amnesty and does not address other, equally pressing immigration issues. For example, critics argue that the President's plan does not make allowances for those workers whose temporary visas expire. While the President says that workers can pursue legal permanent status, critics argue that the system is already strained by the demand placed on oversubscribed resident categories. For example, there is a 3.5 million family backlog for the family immigration category. Additionally, there are approximately eight to ten million undocumented workers and there is an annual allotment of 10,000 unskilled green cards. Without a significant increase in the number of slots available to them at the end of the temporary period, workers will only be able to return to their countries or become illegal workers again. 
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