Democratic and Republican senators reached a compromise on immigration Friday, but the result was a bill that satisfies no one.
The current bill offers legal status to 12 million immigrants already living in the United States – which some critics consider "amnesty." Illegal workers already in the United States could achieve legal status, receiving a temporary Z visa, but to become U.S. citizens, they would have to pay steep fines, periodically return to their home countries, wait at least eight years – and pay their own health insurance.
United States’ immigration policy has historically been oriented to uniting families, but this legislation provides limited means to petition for relatives.
Instead, workers would be given points for their skills, education and English language proficiency. In other words, the United States wants people to do the work Americans don’t want to, who won’t bring their families or their problems.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the law would guarantee a permanent underclass – here to work low-wage, low-skilled jobs.
The mandatory fine of $5,000 is 14 times the usual weekly earnings of a typical worker, according to the New York Times. "The fines are similar to what we pay polleros," said one immigrant worker interviewed by the Times about the fees charged by border smugglers. So, the U.S. government is extracting fees, similar to "coyotes," smugglers who bring undocumented immigrants into the United States for profit – sometimes abandoning them in the desert.
Oh! And the bill allows for a 300-plus mile fence.
The Senate debate will undoubtedly continue for the next two weeks.
You can e-mail your senators via the ACORN Take Action page to fix the bad immigration bill.