Новый закон?

[OlgaS1000]

Что слышно про новый закон? Тут писали про слушания 2-го марта. С тех пор тишина...

[seaman]

Что слышно про новый закон? Тут писали про слушания 2-го марта. С тех пор тишина...

Senate Panel Nears Immigration Accord

By Michael Doyle, McCLATCHY NEWS SERVICEOakland Tribune03/18/2006 08:02 AM
WASHINGTON -- Senators cleared a path to immigration reform Thursday, reaching key compromises on two of the most troublesome issues.

A revised guest-worker plan would bring in up to 400,000 foreign workers annually. Separately, the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants now in this country could secure legal status after paying a fine and meeting other requirements.

But in order to soothe over conservative objections, the illegal immigrants could not obtain permanent legal residency until the current waiting list is whittled down.

"If someone is in line (for permanent legal status), people who are here illegally should not move ahead of them," said Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "But I'm willing to work out a way to put them in line, at the end of the line."

Taken together, the guest worker and illegal immigrant compromises represent the most significant progress since the Judiciary Committee began revising its 305-page immigration bill several weeks ago. It sets the stage for the committee to finish its work March 27, in time for full Senate debate following a weeklong recess.

"It appears to me that they've broken the logjam, because they had been dancing around those two thorny issues," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Tamar Jacoby of the conservative Manhattan Institute, another close observer of the immigration debate, agreed that "this is huge, because it's a deal on the two, big outstanding difficult issues."

The compromises also could pre-empt Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a 2008 presidential contender who had been threatening to introduce his own border security bill before March 27. On Thursday afternoon, Frist's office issued a statement announcing his plans to introduce his own bill. Eight minutes later, Frist's office issued a release rescinding the first statement and asking reporters to "please disregard" it.

"It's a political deadline," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said of Frist's efforts to pressure the committee. "There are a lot of discussions going on now; there is a lot under consideration."

The deals are not final and were not even voted on Thursday. Instead, lawmakers articulated their compromises and agreed to work out the final details next week. In a similar vein, Feinstein revealed she was working with Republicans on a revised agricultural guest-worker plan.

"We are hopeful, in light of recent developments, because senators are talking seriously," said Marc Grossman, Sacramento- based spokesman for the United Farm Workers.

Modeled on a popular bill dubbed "AgJobs" by Central Valley supporters, the revised agricultural guest-worker proposal will arise as an amendment when the full Senate takes up the immigration bill. The latest details remain under wraps. In general, though, the package will allow several hundred thousand illegal immigrant farm- workers to secure legal U.S. status and potentially, over the long run, U.S. citizenship.

"It has been worked on both by the workers and by the business community," Feinstein said.

The broader guest-worker plan would cover workers outside of farming. Foreigners could obtain a two-year work visa. In theory, they would then return home. But if they had a steady job or were deemed essential they could claim a total of six additional years in the United States, during which time they could apply for a green card granting permanent legal U.S. residency.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a conservative, is negotiating the guest-worker deal with liberal Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Under the plan, existing illegal immigrants, including the 2.4 million estimated to live in California, could obtain six-year visas after undergoing background checks and meeting other criteria. They would have to pay back taxes, learn English and pay a total of $2,000; in time, they could then apply for a green card. They would stand behind the 3 million immigrants already awaiting their green cards in their home countries, although critics say that still rewards immigrants who violated U.S. borders.

"You're giving them a huge advantage over someone who has been patiently waiting in line in Mexico," said Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl.Copyright ©2006 Oakland Tribune. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by FluentMedia LLC, a YellowBrix Company

[seaman]

Senate Pursuing an Immigration Solution

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy Hearst NewspapersDeseret News (Salt Lake City03/19/2006 10:34 AM
WASHINGTON -- Congressional efforts to revamp the nation's immigration laws are hung up on what Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- Mass., calls "the real enchilada" -- what to do with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already living inside U.S. borders.

Despite weeks of intense work on an immigration overhaul, leading senators are no closer to figuring out the solution. And lawmakers in the House largely have avoided the issue altogether by passing a get-tough bill that focuses on securing the nation's borders.

"This is a really tough political issue," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. "It's also one of those issues that (provokes) such a visceral reaction" in people.

The debate is polarizing, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

On one side are lawmakers "who want everyone to be citizens tomorrow," Graham said. "And there are people who want to put the 12 million . . . on a bus" and ship them back to their home countries.

"Neither one is going to happen," Graham added. "There is nothing a U.S. senator can do to please everyone on this issue."

President Bush's solution is creation of a new visa that illegal immigrants and foreigners could use to temporarily work in jobs that U.S. employers have trouble filling with Americans.

But Bush did not say how wide open the guestworker program should be for undocumented workers already living in the United States -- and what hurdles they first would have to clear to participate.

Bush encouraged lawmakers to fight it out on Capitol Hill, but the struggle shows no signs of ending soon. Senators are still unable to agree on the parameters for Bush's broad initiative. With the Senate set to begin debating immigration legislation March 28, prospects for a comprehensive solution have dimmed.

Even those lawmakers that agree they want to create some kind of guestworker program cannot come together on the details. One of the biggest sticking points is whether to require illegal immigrants to return to their home countries before they can apply for the new work visa.

Kennedy and other liberal immigration advocates say that approach will turn off illegal immigrants. Instead of encouraging "them to come out of the shadows," Kennedy said, requiring illegal immigrants to return to their home countries will drive them further underground.

The other big question is how easy to make it for illegal immigrants to become citizens after working under the temporary visa.

At least seven different options are floating around Capitol Hill -- ranging from a liberal plan advanced by Kennedy and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to a more restrictive conservative proposal offered by Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona.

The Kennedy-McCain measure would allow illegal immigrants to work for six years in the United States if they clear background checks, pay back taxes and pay fines of at least $1,000. After six years, they could apply for green cards, but they would not be eligible for citizenship until the government first clears a backlog of roughly 3 million pending green card applications.

The bill by Cornyn and Kyl would require illegal immigrants to leave the United States sometime within the next five years and then apply for guestworker visas that would allow them to work in the United States for up to two years. After that, they would have to return home for a year before applying to participate up to two more times, for a total of six years. The Cornyn-Kyl proposal would not create a new path to citizenship.

A measure by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, offers a compromise by creating a new "gold card" for illegal immigrants that would allow them to stay and work inside the United States for two years. The "gold card" could be indefinitely renewed. Under the Specter plan, there would be no new path for illegal immigrants to become citizens.

Cornyn complained that the American people have lost their faith in government to stem the tide of illegal immigration. And, he insisted, it is crucial the United States not do anything that could be perceived as amnesty, or rewarding lawbreakers. To Cornyn, that includes allowing illegal immigrants to get work visas without first leaving the United States and giving them a new path to citizenship.

"What frustrates people so much is that while we are a nation of immigrants, we appear to tolerate such lawlessness within our borders on this issue," Cornyn said.

But supporters of the Kennedy-McCain approach, including some conservatives such as Brownback and Graham, insist it is not amnesty because of the many hurdles illegal immigrants must clear before getting legal work visas and applying for citizenship. To get green cards, the illegal immigrants would have to work for six years, learn English, pay fines and clear a background check.

"That probably excludes half my family," Graham quipped, adding that "it's not getting out of jail free. The 11 or 12 million people are not given amnesty."

For lawmakers, the issue is politically treacherous -- and it touches every state, not just those on the nation's border with Mexico.

Brownback said the issue comes up again and again when he visits constituents in Kansas. "You can't get further from the border than in my state, and this is the number one or number two issue I hear about," he said.

For Brownback -- a conservative Republican in a red state -- the issue is a tough one politically. Brownback says he has taken heat for adopting a more moderate stance and backing the McCain-Kennedy bill.

When constituents tell Brownback that approach would reward law- breakers, the Kansan said his response is that the nation has to be practical and acknowledge "the reality of the situation.

"We know they're here" and are not leaving, Brownback said. "We have a system that has gotten so broken that more people enter and stay illegally (than come through legal means). This is not a situation that can continue."

That is one point on which most every lawmaker seems to agree.

"The longer we delay a total solution . . . the problem gets bigger and bigger and bigger and more difficult to solve," Kyl said. "Therefore, not doing anything is not an option."Copyright ©2006 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). All Rights Reserved. Distributed by FluentMedia LLC, a YellowBrix Company

[Bumazhka]

What a bunch of wimps!How about trying to enforce the law for a change?

[Chukcha]

Умные газеты пишут, что все эти дебаты продлятся не один год. А закон будет провален, если его не разделят на части, чтобы голосовать по каждой отдельно. Особенно по guest-worker программе.

[Ned]

Свежая статья "Голоса Америки":

Американские законодатели обсуждают проблему нелегальной иммиграции

Майкл Боумэн
22.03.2006

В последние несколько месяцев на рассмотрение Конгресса США был внесен ряд законопроектов, касающихся реформ иммиграционной политики и прекращения нелегальной иммиграции. Большинство авторов законопроектов считают необходимым укрепить охрану американской границы с Мексикой протяженностью 3 тысячи километров. Однако нет единства мнений о том, что делать с одиннадцатью – двенадцатью миллионами нелегальных иммигрантов, уже находящихся в США.

«Американцы крайне раздражены нелегальной иммиграцией, – говорит конгрессмен-республиканец из штата Колорадо Том Танкредо. – Основное требование Америки таково: остановить нелегальную иммиграцию».

Недавние опросы общественного мнения свидетельствуют о том, что 60% американцев готовы поддержать строительство оградительной стены вдоль всей американской границы с Мексикой, а 49» процентов опрошенных возражают против автоматического предоставления гражданства родившимся в Америке детям нелегальных иммигрантов.

У многих американцев беспокойство вызывает экономическая сторона нелегальной иммиграции. «Эти рабочие-нелегалы крадут наши заработки, – говорит Фил Кент, представитель независимой организации американцев, добивающейся ужесточения контроля над иммиграцией. – Если бы мановением волшебной палочки завтра можно было избавиться от всех нелегальных иммигрантов, то каждого последнего бедного американца выросла бы заработная плата».

Но в этом случае данные опросов дают менее четкие ответы. Так, например, 53% процента респондентов считают, что иммигранты нанимаются на те работы, которые не хотят выполнять коренные американцы.

Президент Буш отдает себе отчет в необходимости пресечь приток нелегальных иммигрантов, одновременно учитывая потребность в рабочей силе. В этой связи он предложил предоставлять уже находящимся в США нелегалам статус «гастарбайтеров», что даст им законную возможность временно оставаться в стране. Однако президент подчеркнул, что это решение никоим образом не является амнистией для нелегально прибывших в страну и не будет считаться первым шагом на пути получения американского гражданства.

Джордж Буш
«Я против амнистии, – заявил президент. – Поощрение правонарушителей лишь подтолкнет других к дальнейшим нарушениям и не сократит поток нелегалов через нашу границу. Временная программа предоставления статуса «гастарбайтеров» сократит этот поток и будет способствовать более эффективному соблюдению законов об иммиграции».

Но конгрессмен Танкредо критически относится к любым программам приглашения «гастарбайтеров»: «Кто же поверит, что человек, приехавший как «гастарбайтер» и проработавший в стране 6 лет, послушно вернется на родину, особенно если ему разрешат привезти с собой в США. Когда человек привозит семью, он не хочет возвращаться домой».

Конгрессмен Танкредо активно поддерживает направленный на борьбу с незаконной иммиграцией законопроект, который был принят в декабре Палатой представителей. Он должен значительно укрепить охрану государственных границ США и заставить работодателей проверять гражданство нанимаемых рабочих. Законопроект также потребует считать федеральным преступлением любую попытку оказания помощи нелегально проживающим в стране иностранцам.

Сами нелегалы, а также сторонники иммиграции и представители различных организаций, предоставляющих социальную защиту, резко возражают против этого законопроекта, называя его деспотическим и несправедливым. «Законопроект несправедлив, и если он станет законом, мы будем его игнорировать, – говорит пастор одной из испаноязычных методистских церквей в районе Вашингтона Дэвид Роха. – Мы будем и далее активно помогать нуждающимся».

В настоящее время законопроекты, одобренные Сенатом США, в целом ближе к позиции президента Буша, касающейся создания программы «гастарбайтеров», нежели законопроекты, одобренные Палатой представителей, в которых делается упор на укрепление государственных границ. Пока неясно, удастся ли согласительному комитету сблизить позиции обеих палат. В любом случае обозреватели считают, что проблема нелегальной иммиграции будет играть важную роль на ноябрьских выборах в Конгресс.

Источник: http://www.voanews.com/russian/2006-03-22-voa5.cfm

[OlgaS1000]

А про легальную иммиграцию они ничего не говорят? Про FAMILY BASED IMMIGRANTS например? И вообще, неужели правда, что это может обсуждаться годами? Вроде выборы скоро.

[Chukcha]

Ну, слышал по ТВ (дикторы аж поперхнулись), один из сенаторов внёс билл, предлагающий давать налоговые льготы тем компаниям, которые нанимают иностранцев.
Он это аргументирует тем, что надо поощрять фирмы, берущие иностранцев на легальной основе, а не нелегалов.

Очень интересный билл. Интересно, скоро ли его примут?

[seaman]

Llegal Immigrant Debate Heads to Senate Floor

By Michele R. Marcucci, STAFF WRITEROakland Tribune03/26/2006 08:34 AM
The debate over the fate of an estimated

12 million illegal immigrants -- roughly 2.4 million of whom are believed to live in California -- is headed to the U.S. Senate floor this week.

On one side is a strange assortment of bedfellows -- Democrats and moderate Republicans, businesses and unions, churches and President Bush -- all saying that America needs to find some way to legalize undocumented workers who are already here, while making it tougher for new people to enter America and remain illegally.

On the other side are conservative Republicans -- and the grass- roots immigration-control groups that support them -- who believe America should close its borders to prevent people from coming here illegally and make it tougher for those who are already here to remain, either by jailing them and those who may help them or by making it harder for them to get work and services.

The disparate groups supporting a more comprehensive immigration reform package say theyare acting out of economic need for the work illegal immigrants do and the Social Security money they provide. And besides, they say, just securing the border will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.

"What you have here, with illegal immigration, it's an issue in the economy," said Doris Meissner, senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and a former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "It's an issue where immigration law is out of date, an expression of a different era than the one we're living in."

The federal government has expanded its presence along the border in recent years to little avail, some policy experts said. In fact, increased enforcement may have increased illegal immigration, one said.

The Public Policy Institute of California, a San Francisco-based think tank, found that many illegal migrants who had once crossed the border to work and then went home were now staying because it is harder to get across and because they needed to make more money to pay the smugglers.

But to those who want to close the borders, the issue is simple: People who came here illegally have broken the law and should be punished. They pose an undue burden on schools and other services, they say. And they are taking jobs from Americans and forcing down wages, not filling jobs no one else wants.

"We are being impacted severely," said Al Garza, national executive director of the Minuteman Defense Corps, which has sent civilian patrols to monitor the border. "And illegal is illegal. I don't understand why people don't understand what illegal means."

The House of Representatives passed an enforcement-only bill in December. The bill includes provisions that would make it a criminal -- rather than civil -- offense to enter the United States illegally; authorize local police to enforce immigration laws; restrict court access; expand detention; and extend nearly 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Senate has a range of bills, including a comprehensive package from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz,. and Edward Kennedy,

D-Mass. that would allow illegal immigrant workers to remain with limited-term visas if they pay a fine. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., put forth an enforcement-only bill.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was working on its own comprehensive reform legislation. But where the debate will go, and whether such a package could be reconciled with the House bill, is still up in the air, advocates on both sides of the issue say.

At a news conference last week in Oakland, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he believes "very strongly in bringing the immigration laws up to date" so they account for the necessities of the modern economy.

He commended President Bush for moving the issue to a front burner. "The discussion has to happen now because it's overdue," he said.

He said he believes there needs to be some sort of guest-worker program, although he said he would leave details to the experts.

The governor took some heat last year after voicing support for the Minuteman grassroots border-guard program. Asked whether he supports the program's return, he said the federal government must live up to its border-protection obligations so ordinary citizens need not take matters into their own hands.

Local immigrant advocates, who have staged hunger strikes and marches that will end Monday with an 11 a.m. march to Sen. Dianne Feinstein's San Francisco office, said they hope such a package can pass. They are accusing lawmakers of playing politics with the issue.

"A lot of politicians are talking about this because it's an election year, and they want to be able to go back home and say, 'I was tough on illegal immigration, and I've tightened up our border,' " said Sheila Chung of the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition in Oakland. "But what they're really doing is endangering the environment and local communities."

Chung's group wants legislation that provides a path to legal status for illegal immigrants, helps rebuild families whose lives are tangled up in paperwork backlogs and increase worker protections and civil liberties for illegal immigrants.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that 2.4 million illegal immigrants live in California in a March 2005 report. Local numbers are not available.

Local faith-based social service providers said they're concerned the House bill, which expands the definition of "alien smuggling" in ways they believe could include them and the help they offer. And many local police departments have said in the past they won't enforce immigration laws, because doing so would harm the relationships they have built with their immigrant communities and also costs money they don't have.

The only thing everyone can seem to agree on is that the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed.

"What we have now is the worst of all worlds," Meissner said. "We have the market totally in charge. It's not only a recipe for worker exploitation and depressing the wages of Americans. It's also against all of our notions of the rule of law, and basic democratic principles."

[Ned]

Еще одна статья "Голоса Америки":

Реформа иммиграционной политики США
Дебра Тэйт
28.03.2006

Сенат приступил к прениям по реформе иммиграционной политики Соединенных Штатов. В Республиканской партии по этому вопросу нет единства, и раскол может плохо отразится на ее результатах на ноябрьских выборах в Конгресс.

Сотни демонстрантов собрались накануне на Капитолийском холме, чтобы призвать Сенат не следовать примеру Палаты представителей, которая приняла свою версию реформы закона об иммиграции. По той версии, проживание в США без надлежащих документов квалифицируется как тяжкое преступление. Палата представителей предлагает также возвести барьер на некоторых участках американо-мексиканской границы.

Митинг на Капитолийском холме был лишь одним в ряду подобных акций, которые прошли по всей стране и привлекли сотни тысяч людей.

Похоже, прессинг удался, и Юридический комитет Сената вчера вечером принял версию законопроекта, сильно отличающуюся от версии Палаты представителей. Теперь Сенат в полном составе будет рассматривать документ, и прения обещают быть очень накаленными.

Сенатский вариант законопроекта содержит ряд положений, которые поддерживает президент Буш, как-то, учреждение программы рабочих гостевых виз и возможность незаконным иммигрантам изменить статус и со временем даже обрести американское гражданство. Предлагается выдавать ежегодно порядка четырехсот тысяч виз «гастарбайтарам».

Но, как уже отмечалось, далеко не все республиканцы в восторге от этого предложения.

«Боюсь, мои избиратели, да и не только они, воспримут этот закон как амнистию тем, кто приехал в Соединенные Штаты незаконно», - сказал сенатор от Техаса Джон Корнин.

«Данный законопроект, по-моему, никак нельзя приравнять к амнистии», - полемизирует с Корнином его однопартиец, председатель Юридического комитета Сената Арлен Спектер.

Видный сенатор-демократ Патрик Лейхи успокаивает критиков, которые опасаются, что нелегалы, благодаря амнистии, могут получить гражданство быстрее, чем законные эмигранты: «Они должны будут поначалу заплатить штраф, затем упорно работать и платить налоги, встать в очередь на получение зеленой карты и лишь по прошествии ряда лет подать на гражданство».

Дилемма, стоящая перед республиканцами в преддверии выборов, вполне реальна: апеллировать ли к своему традиционному электорату, который настроен резко против нелегалов, или делать ставку на новых сторонников среди выходцев из латиноамериканских стран.

По мнению председателя Юридического комитета Арлена Спектера, нетрудно догадаться, что когда этот, весьма неоднозначный законопроект будет внесен на рассмотрение пленума Сената, он вызовет яростные споры.

Ряд сенаторов указывают на стратегические аспекты закона об иммиграции, в частности, лидер большинства Билл Фрист, который внес бы собственный законопроект по охране границ, если бы Юридический комитет проявил безынициативность: «Страна, не способная защитить свои границы, теряет власть над своей судьбой и над своими законами. И ситуация, сложившаяся на нашей южной границе, таит в себе угрозы, страшнее которых может быть только терроризм».

В документе Юридического комитета, кстати, предусмотрено увеличение численности личного состава пограничной службы.

Сенатор-демократ Дайан Файнстайн из Калифорнии, штата с развитым агробизнесом, в контексте иммиграционной реформы особо отмечает учреждение программы «гастарбайтеров»: «Мы все тут абсолютно ясно понимаем, что, если есть в Америке отрасль, почти полностью зависимая от иностранных рабочих, так это сельское хозяйство».

Несколько слов об иммиграционной реформе сказал на церемонии получения гражданства тридцатью новыми американцами и президент Буш: «Конгресс должен принять комплексный закон, который защитит границы, улучшит выполнение иммиграционных законов, учредит программу гостевых рабочих виз, словом – укрепит, и нашу безопасность, и нашу экономику. Но принять такой закон будет очень нелегко».

Сенатская версия законопроекта должна быть согласована с версией Палаты представителей, которая, в частности, не предусматривает никакой программы гостевых рабочих виз. Окончательный вариант законопроекта будет представлен на подпись президенту Бушу.

Иммиграционные вопросы будут обсуждаться и на предстоящей встрече руководителей США, Канады и Мексики в мексиканском городе Канкуне.


Источник: http://www.voanews.com/russian/2006-03-28-voa8.cfm