State of Immigration Reform: Will Be or Not Will Be?
Author: Immigration Attorney Alena Shautsova
It is probably fair to say that majority of immigrants have lost hope that Immigration reform will happen any time soon. What seemed to be so possible in summer 2013, became a mere reminiscence in 2014.
The Congress, however, is trying to revive the Immigration reform idea, and this past week released new principals or guidelines of what they state an Immigration reform should be. See here
First of all, the House stated that it would not entertain one large Immigration reform bill, but would consider separate pieces of legislature; it would not conference with Senate over the Bill that was signed in summer; and would hold the executive branch accountable for the implementation of any immigration laws. It also one more time repeated that our borders have to be secure.
Then, the standards again repeated the idea of E-verify, need for work immigration reformation, and, help to students who receive US education. Finally, the standards focused on acknowledgement of the need of integrating undocumented population into the society and economy. The disappointing part of the released document is that the GOP did not provide or discussed any specific proposals, and for now, we all left with a crystal ball to guess what it is that they are really thinking …
As such, the released standards do not really change the state of the Immigration reform: they look more like a distractions from the real issue: Will Be or Not Will Be?...