Immigration ‘reform’ proposal: More repression & red tape

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Millions of undocumented immigrants and their families, friends, and allies waited with bated breath for the unveiling of the new proposal for Comprehensive Immigra­ tion Reform on Tuesday, April 16. Despite high hopes, the new bill includes many dra­ conian provisions, such as more militariza­ tion of the U.S.-Mexico border, new guestworker programs and biometric employ­ ment verification, and a long, arduous, and expensive “pathway to citizenship.”

One of the main sections of the bill in­ cludes a massive increase in the militari­ zation of the U.S.-Mexico border and the criminalization of immigrants. The proposal earmarks $4.5 billion to be spent on the use of new surveillance technologies developed by the Department of Defense, more Border Patrol agents, the use of drones to patrol the border, the installment of new double and triple-layer fences, and the deployment of the National Guard to support all this new infrastructure.

Other provisions include $50 million dol­ lars to allow Operation Streamline in Tuc­ son, Ariz., to process 210 detainees per day for deportation (up from 70 per day), in­ stalling more checkpoints along the border, and granting Homeland Security officials access to all federally protected lands. But the worst part of all this is that militariza­ tion benchmarks and an expanded, manda­ tory E-Verify system must be implemented and met before the government grants legal status to anyone. This basically allows the government to delay the legalization pro­ cess as long as they want.

Increasing the security and violence along the border would not stop immigrants from crossing; as in the past, it would only push people to cross at more dangerous points, leading to more deaths. It is estimated by the Immigration Policy Cen­ ter that the number of migrants’ bodies found along the border have increased from 14 per year in 1995 to over 160 per year in 2005—a direct result of increas­ ing militarization.

Politically, the militarization strategy has a purpose too. It is a trade-off; the government gives the most conservative elements what they want, and they put their stamp of approval on the bill. In this way the government is also able to sway public opinion—they can make it appear that they are “cracking down” on immigration, without actually stopping the flow of un­ documented labor that the economy depends on.

It’s all part of a strategy known as “attrition through enforcement.” The idea is to make life so unbearable for undocumented immigrants and their families that they’re too afraid to take to the streets, to utilize their class power to fight back and demand their rights. This allows ideas like national security, cultural integ­ rity, and criminalization—the backbone of the U.S. im­ migration system—to flourish.

And who profits from all this? Not surprisingly, it’s the big military defense contractors. Even Charles Schumer, one of the main authors of the new reform bill, would get his cut. He has recently been criticized for taking over $100,000 dollars in campaign contri­ butions from GEO and the Corrections Corporation of America—two of the biggest private prison corpora­ tions who make millions of dollars in profits ($296.9 million in combined profits in 2012) from housing im­ migrants awaiting deportation in sub-par detention centers.

Along with all of the border security measures, the new reform bill also makes the E-Verify employment verification system mandatory for all employers with­ in five years. E-Verify is a database that allows employ­ ers to check the immigration status of workers when they apply for a job. Right now, its use is only required for certain companies with government contracts. But the new proposal would make the system nation­ wide and would require all workers, citizens and non-citizens alike, to show biometric ID cards (cards that contain personal identifying information like photos or fingerprints) when applying for a job.

This is just the first step in government systems be­ ing put in place to track all people living within the United States. And because not all undocumented im­ migrants would qualify for the new status and many more would continue to cross into the United States, the expanded E-Verify system would force workers without papers into an even more precarious exis­ tence as they are driven farther underground—work­ ing for unscrupulous employers outside the system who have no problem abusing workers and paying super-low wages. Immigrants trapped in this situation would have almost no recourse when their rights are violated.

So what exactly would immigrants get when they are finally able to adjust their status? Instead of granting the fast, fair, and unconditional legalization that the immigrant community has demanded for so long, the new proposal sets up an arduous and expensive legal­ ization process that will take over 13 years. In order to qualify for the new “Registered Provisional Immi­ grant” status, immigrants would have to prove that they’ve lived in the U.S. continuously since Dec. 31, 2011, and pay a $500 fine, back taxes, and undefined “application fees.” Immigrants who have been convict­ ed of certain crimes or who are deemed a “threat” to national security will be disqualified.

The RPI status would last for six years, after which it could be renewed (along with another $500 fee). Af­ ter living in limbo for 10 years, immigrants with RPI status would be able apply for a green card, but only after paying another $1000 fine, and dem­ onstrating continuous physical presence, work history, and knowledge of civics and English. No one would receive a green card until all the existing backlogs are cleared (some people have been waiting decades for their family reunification visas) and af­ ter that, the process to apply for citizenship would take several more years. The fact that most immigrants would have to hire a law­ yer to help them navigate all the paperwork would jack up the cost several thousands of dollars more, making the entire process a nightmare of paperwork, long lines, and punitive fees.

The new RPI status would essentially be a second-class status, uncertain at best. While immigrants who have it would be protected from deportation and allowed to work and to travel outside the U.S., they would be forced to live for years without the basic rights accorded to U.S. citizens. Immigrants with RPI status would be barred from ac­ cessing any government benefits like food stamps, WIC, or other assistance programs. And although spouses and parents of U.S. citizens, immigrants currently in the depor­ tation process, and some immigrants who have already been deported would be al­ lowed to apply, the bill makes no provision for the partners of LGBTQ people—an in­ justice already being decried by the LGBTQ community.

While undocumented immigrants cur­ rently in the U.S. are navigating the new citizenship process, the government and big business have arranged a process for bring­ ing in new immigrant workers under a sys­ tem of legalized exploitation. Under the new system, certain types of family visas (for example, visas for siblings of U.S. citizens) would be eliminated, along with the Diversity Visa, un­ der which many Africans have immigrated to the U.S.

In their place, the government would implement a new merit-based visa system, in which immigrants would be awarded “points” for their education level, type of employment, and length of time living in the United States. Those with the most points would “win” the visas—guaranteeing that visas would go to im­ migrants with high-level educations and well-paying jobs, while the poorest workers are once again left out in the cold. The government would also increase the number of H-1B visas, which go to highly skilled im­ migrants (such as doctors, scientists, corporate man­ agers, and technology-based workers), to 40% of the total.

At the same time, the bill would create the “W-Visa,” a new type of guest-worker visa for low-skilled immi­ grants who work in industries like meatpacking, tex­ tiles, or construction. A specially appointed committee would determine visa caps through complex economic formulas (guaranteeing, of course, that industries are supplied with the low-wage labor they need to keep prices low and profits high). Workers under the W-Vi­ sa could come to the U.S. for up to three years on work visas tied to a specific employer and a specific job. And although workers would be guaranteed certain rights under the law (for example, the right to change jobs, and protections from employer abuses), it is impor­ tant to remember that those very same rights were guaranteed under the original Bracero Program.

The Bracero program, which imported immigrant workers to supply the agricultural system with low-wage labor in the 1940s, ’50s, and early ’60s, was notorious for terrible working conditions, super-low wages, exploitation, and abuse. And when the work­ ers were no longer needed, the government deported over a million immigrants. The immigration reform proposal also includes the AgJOBS bill, which gives some undocumented agricultural workers a chance at citizenship, while creating two new types of agricul­ tural guest worker visas.

(continued on page 10, in “Labor worldwide must mobilize for the environment”)

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12 SOCIALIST ACTION MAY 2013 Increasing security along the border would push people to cross at more dangerous points, leading to more deaths.