Sides forming in next immigration-reform push

he prospect of millions of illegal immigrants earning a path to citizenship is now back on the table in Congress, though the first bill out of the chute has already split some California progressives and has zero support from Republicans.
Bay Area immigrant families and their allies rallied Friday at a San Francisco high school to promote legalization and other measures that would overhaul U.S. immigration policy, which has not substantially changed for more than a decade.
They were united in favor of a humanitarian approach to reforming immigration policy, though disagreed on the finer details of a 650-page reform bill introduced last week by 92 liberal Democratic lawmakers, including four from the Bay Area.
At its crux, the bill introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., would allow people living in the U.S. without legal documents to pay a $500 fee and show they made contributions to the U.S. through work, school, volunteering or military service. After six years on a conditional visa, those who qualify can get a green card visa and eventually obtain citizenship.
The bill is designed in part to put pressure on President Barack Obama, who has pledged to take on immigration reform next year and has advocated an overhaul that would include a path to citizenship. Opponents have characterized the bill as permissive and doomed to fail.

Read the full story on Contra Costa Times

Immigration overhaul would allow legalization of undocumented immigrants

A large group of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to stay in the country legally if they pay a fine, learn English and meet other requirements.
Republicans questioned the timing of adding millions of legal workers to the nation’s workforce – especially when there’s record unemployment.

“With over 15 million Americans unemployed and seven million illegals employed, amnesty legislation is an affront to American citizens and legal residents,” said Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea.

The legislation would legalize undocumented immigrants by requiring them to register with the federal government, pay a $500 fine, learn English, pass background checks and meet other requirements. They then are eligible for a six-year visa and then a green card visa.

Source: Whittier Daily News

Living the Dream [source:Teen Ink]

While the majority of students are worrying about getting into their dream schools and being able to afford them, others worry about a bigger issue. Students brought to this country illegally, who must leave a blank space on applications that ask for their Social Security number, know they will not be accepted regardless of their outstanding grades and extracurricular involvement. However, there may be some hope in the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act).

Of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States (70 percent from Mexico), 2.7 million are children. These young people benefit from the U.S. school system, but only up through high school. Their education often stops there due to a 1996 federal law that prohibits states from offering in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants unless the state also offers in-state tuition rates to all U.S. citizens.

The DREAM Act is a massive amnesty program for the millions of illegal immigrants (age 12 to 35) who entered the United States before they are 16. Those who apply for this amnesty can receive conditional, temporary resident status, which can be converted, once earned, to a nonconditional green card visa (permanent U.S. residency) after six years. These immigrants can then use their newly acquired status to seek green cards for their parents. In this way, it can also provide amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens who brought their children to the United States.

“I don’t necessarily live in fear of being deported,” says Juan, a high school junior who was born in Mexico. “For the most part, I live a normal life. Except, now everyone is getting their driver’s license, and I can’t.”

Juan came to the U.S. with his mother and older brother in 2000 when he was eight. He is just one of millions of students in the nation hoping for the DREAM Act to be passed. While he does not claim to have experienced any overt prejudice in high school, Juan still faces racial stereotypes.

“It bothers me when people joke around and ask me for my green card,” Juan explains. “I laugh, but deep down I know they are offending me for something I have no control over. I was born in Mexico, but my life is here.”

His older brother, who graduated a few years ago, now attends a community college and plans to transfer to a university. Juan hopes to take a similar path. “I have no doubt that I can go to college,” Juan says. “I know it’s going to be hard, but as long as I stay in this country, I have a chance.”

The DREAM Act was reintroduced in both chambers of Congress last March by Senators Dick Durbin and Richard Lugar.

“I can only hope that the DREAM Act will pass,” Juan says. “All I want is a good life and a promising future, just like everyone else.”

[source: Teen Ink]

For American dream, immigrants cope with green card visa, red tape.

José Diaz and his wife Yudys came to America at different times in their lives. But both found the immigration process to be taxing and expensive.
On October 14, 1968, three-year old José Diaz along with his parents, brother and sister left the Dominican Republic to immigrate to the United States.
Diaz’s grandparents came to the United States in the early 1920s. Once they settled in New York, they built a supermarket business and now the rest of their family was joining them in their venture. “I remember being in the airport and I had a little suit on with ‘high water’ pants. I was growing out of them. That was the best we had. I grew up in a family of farmers, so we were all poor over there,” Diaz recalled.
As Diaz grew older, and even until this day, people would often confuse his ethnicity.
“A lot of people confuse me for being Mexican, Egyptian, or even Iraqi because of my facial features and because I dress differently. Some Americans like to pick on me by imitating my accent and the way I talk. I know I have a heavy accent.”
Diaz admits that while instances of stereotyping and racial profiling have been few for him, he knows that it happens to a lot of other Hispanic people—something that his wife, Yudys, knows all too well.
“Some people, are rude and act like they’re high class and I’m not. My accent is terrible and when I talk, a person will go, ‘Say again! Say again!’ and throw their hands up. I don’t worry, because I say, ‘I came here, I speak Spanish very well and I speak English, so I know both languages. To know both languages is really good these days,” said Yudys.
Yudys, came to America from Cuba in 2005 to be with José. The two first “met” through pictures.
As Diaz worked as an interpreter for Yudys’ step-grandmother, he saw a 5×7 photo of Yudys. “She was lovely in those pictures. We ended up talking over the phone and I spent one dollar and 63 cents per minute to talk to her. So, it got expensive. I had to sell my car just to pay the phone bill,” Diaz shared.
They sent each other pictures and letters to keep in touch. But soon, Diaz traveled to meet her in Cuba. To get to the island, Diaz traveled to his native Dominican Republic as it was illegal for an American to travel straight into Cuba and vice versa. One week later, he asked her to marry him. But the immigration process is an expensive one—something that most Americans fail to realize according to Diaz.
“I had to send her more than one thousand dollars for some paperwork. There’s all that red tape through this government and her government. She had to do an interview at the Swiss Embassy as the Swiss there work as a mediator between America and Cuba for the interviews. They asked a lot of questions to see if our relationship was real,” said Diaz.
Diaz had to also file for a K-1 Fiancée Visa. To get the visa, an American citizen must prove that they have the intention of getting married and petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Once the petition is approved, the American citizen and the immigrant have to marry within in 90 days.
The more than 145 pictures that Diaz sent to her came in handy as they served as evidence of their relationship. “I had so many pictures. They looked and said, ‘Congratulations.’ But some people have to go to the Embassy two or three times to get approved,” Yudys explained.
Then it was on to the next phase. After the interview was completed, Yudys had to have a physical in Cuba, which cost more than four hundred dollars (U.S.) “The government over there is really abusive and we went through a lot just to have a stamp to say that everything’s okay and for them to say, ‘You’re fine and healthy.’ But when you come down here to America, you have to go through all of that again through their government just to make sure that paperwork from another country is not a lie,” Diaz shared.
José and Yudys are now married living legally in North Carolina with one son and another baby on the way. José is employed as a maintenance worker and Yudys works as a seamstress.But with the government getting tougher on illegal immigration, Diaz wants people to remember that all immigrants aren’t illegal. He said, “We came here legally. Everyone is not illegal and every Hispanic is not Mexican. People need to be more educated about other cultures. “Some people will think someone is Mexican when he’s actually Pakistani or they will think someone is Mexican when he’s actually Spanish. People need to overcome stereotypes by not doing or saying what they see on T.V. or saying what peer pressures tell them to. People just need to talk and educate themselves.”

[source: Carolina Peace Maker]