Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Position on the Senate Compromise ("Hagel-Martinez")

May 18, 2006

The following represents the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' position on the Senate immigration compromise (commonly referred to the Hagel-Martinez proposal) scheduled for floor consideration the week of May 15, 2006.  Although we understand that the legislative process requires bipartisan willingness to engage in tough negotiations and to accept compromise, our actions, and the actions of our colleagues, will have a profound impact on our community-- for better or for worse.  As CHC members, we have a role and responsibility to lead on the issue of immigration reform, and to challenge ourselves and our colleagues to craft and support legislation that is in the best interests of our community.

Earned Legalization.  For the CHC, including an earned path to legalization for the many hard working, law-abiding undocumented workers is absolutely essential.  Any program that does not allow the undocumented a road to permanent residence is unacceptable to us.

We applaud the inclusion of earned legalization provisions in the current compromise and strongly support those that address individuals in "Group 1"-- those that have been here five years or longer.

On the other hand, we have serious concerns about the provisions that apply to undocumented individuals in Groups 2 and 3 that, in our assessment, fall far short of what we believe should be in any workable legalization program.  We also feel that dividing up the undocumented community is quite problematic.

"Touch base and return" for Group 2 should be eliminated

In addition, undocumented individuals who were ever ordered removed excluded, deported or opted to depart voluntarily, or failed to comply with other requirements (such as submitting a timely change of address form) should NOT be excluded from earned legalization.

Exclusion of those in Group 3 from a path to permanence.  One and one-half to two million undocumented immigrants are left out of the legalization program because of the presence cut-off date of January 7, 2004.  This is unacceptable to the CHC.   If these immigrants, who fill current jobs, are not provided some form of earned path to a green card, they could likely recede further into the shadows.

Immigrants in Group 3, at minimum, should be allowed to enroll into the proposal's temporary worker program.  In addition, immigration violations related to undocumented status should be waived, as they are for those in Groups 1 and 2, so they are able to participate in the program.  Second, they should be allowed to participate in the program without regard to the numerical limits, in other words, outside the yearly cap of 325,000 temporary workers in the program.  These workers fill existing jobs and should not be treated as if filling future jobs that will be created by the economy.  The cut off date to meet the program's presence requirement should also be set no earlier than the date of introduction of the bill.

New document fraud provisions also will disqualify many of the current undocumented.  New document fraud provisions will inadvertently disqualify current undocumented workers from participating in any legalization program.  While new penalties in the compromise for document fraud will not be applied retroactively, undocumented workers who continue to use fake documents between the date of enactment and submission of their application for legalization could be deemed “inadmissible" and, therefore, forever ineligible for legalization.  This provision could potentially disqualify millions of the current undocumented.  These new fraud provisions should not apply to those who are eligible for the legalization programs.

Provisions to address family unity must include appropriate waivers of past immigration violations.  We ask that you protect the waivers in the current compromise to the 3- and 10-year bars.  Without these waivers, families would be unable to take advantage of the family unity provisions in the bill.

Of particular concern to us is that false claims to citizenship are not waived for those who would petition for legal status through a family member.  Since the enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), immigrants making a false claim to U.S. citizenship for ANY purpose are inadmissible.  False claims can happen in the context of applying for a U.S. passport, registering to vote, to obtain welfare benefits, to apply for a job or entering the United States at a port of entry with false documents.

False claims are waived for those in Groups 1 and 2.  However, many undocumented individuals with strong ties to the United States who meet the presence requirements, but will not meet the work requirements, have close family ties to legal residents and U.S. citizens and deserve the same legalization relief as other undocumented individuals.  For example, an undocumented woman who is married to a U.S. citizen and stays at home full-time caring for their U.S. citizen children would not qualify for legalization because she does not fulfill the work requirements of the program.  If she also has a charge of a claim to false citizenship on her record, as many undocumented individuals do, she would not be able to have her husband petition for her because she faces a lifetime bar with no waiver for the charge of the false claim to citizenship.

Provisions related to the state and local enforcement of federal immigration law.  The CHC has long had a position against state and local police enforcing federal, civil immigration law.   Local law enforcement should not be burdened, financially or otherwise, with a responsibility that belongs to the federal government.  To task local police with such enforcement responsibilities would likely result in racial profiling of members of our community, interfere with community policing efforts, and threaten public safety.

Likewise, we strongly object to the provisions in the current compromise that would require the DHS Secretary to enter the data of millions of immigrants who have civil immigration violations into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).  This would overload an otherwise functioning database meant to track violent individuals and other criminals with the names of individuals with civil violations in immigration.

Due process rights seriously undermined for immigrants.  Significant changes are required to ensure the due process rights of immigrants.  The Senate compromise increases the number of offenses that would be classified as an "aggravated felony," the penalty of which would be far more severe than the violation.  The consequences of an aggravated felony conviction include mandatory detention and deportation with a lifetime bar to re-entry.

Some immigrants with orders of deportation would also face indefinite detention if their countries of origin do not take them back.  An individual could theoretically face life in prison for nonviolent immigration infractions.

Finally, judicial review of immigration determinations by the Department of Homeland Security would be severely limited, eliminating the checks and balances in the judicial system for overreaching decisions or to protect those from legal errors or abuses made on the part of agents of the Executive branch.

The CHC calls on the Senate to uphold the due process rights of immigrants and the undocumented and remove these poison pills from the compromise proposal. proposal.

Congressman Luis Gutierrez, U.S. House of Representatives  2367 Rayburn Building Washington, DC 20515  (202) 225-8203 (202) 225-7810 Fax 3455 W. North Avenue Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 384-1655 (773) 384-1685 Fax 1310 W. 18th Street Chicago, IL 60608 (312) 666-3882 (312) 666-3894 Fax

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