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Home > Press Room Archives > 2005 > Press Release
Press Release
LULAC DISAPPOINTED WITH BUSH IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL
LATEST PLAN
OFFERS MORE OF THE SAME
December 2, 2005
Contact: Brenda Alvarez,
(202) 833-6130
Washington, DC – The
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
is deeply concerned over the Bush
administration’s latest proposal on immigration
reform. The national security of the nation
demands comprehensive immigration reform that
fully takes into account both the broken aspect
of the system and the critical needs of those
states that are on the front line of border
security. The Bush proposal is expensive, does
not provide adequate measures of success, and
does nothing to address the complex realities of
immigrants living in the shadows who are
contributing to the economic success of the
nation.
“I am extremely disappointed
with President Bush’s outline on immigration.
Although he mentions the concept of
comprehensive immigration reform, his proposal
narrowly focuses on enforcement efforts with
little discussion of how the nation’s broken
immigration system can be fixed for the
long-term,” said Hector Flores, LULAC National
President. “Although four years have passed
since September 11 and billions of dollars spent
on homeland security, it is still unclear what
the president’s plan is on better measuring
progress on immigration reform.”
For the past several years,
LULAC has heard the same immigration jargon from
the Bush administration and has seen little
action on creating a comprehensive immigration
reform plan that includes earned legalization
for the millions of immigrants already living in
this country.
With little information on the
outline itself, the president’s statements
continue to heavily center on security with no
real plan of action on immigration reform.
Securing the border, preventing illegal
crossings and strengthening enforcement of
immigration law is not the cure-all solution to
such a complex system and does little to address
the needs of this country.
It is unrealistic to outline
an immigration plan that focuses on illegal
entry to the United States and a mass exodus
through deportation of people who are rooted in
this country and economically contributing to a
greater society. This plan also indicates more
spending on homeland security rather than fixing
the immigration challenges.
As the oldest and largest
Hispanic civil rights organization in the
country, LULAC has monitored numerous
immigration proposals. Out of all the
overarching bills in the Senate, the
Kennedy-McCain immigration reform plan comes
closest to the need of pragmatically addressing
immigration. This plan provides a more
realistic approach to national security; it
addresses the need for equitable reform with
regards to the undocumented already in this
country; it protects workers and pay-rates,
while reuniting families and restoring healthy
migration patterns, and ensuring a timely,
transparent and secure process for future
flows.
The
president’s plan fails to mention any
constructive approaches to immigration and it
lacks the vision required to stabilize the
challenges of immigration. Furthermore, the
president’s plan carries the serious risk of
skyrocketing costs for a plan revolving only
around law enforcement. The costs of patrolling
and enforcing federal immigration law has
increased more than five times since 1992
growing from $300 per border arrest to $1,700 in
2002. Assuming that 20 percent of immigrants
were to leave voluntarily, it would cost around
$41 billion per year to deport the rest – that
is more than the entire budget for the
Department of Homeland Security.
The president’s action on
Securing America through Immigration Reform does
not promote or recognize the vital role
immigrants play in strengthening American
democracy. Instead, it creates a barrier for
today’s immigrants to successfully assimilate to
American culture and marginalizes them to the
outskirts of society – going against America’s
obligation of giving people a chance to realize
the American dream.
The League of the United Latin American Citizen
(www.lulac.org)
advances the economic conditions, educational
attainment, political influence, health and
civil rights of Hispanic Americans through
community-based programs operating at more than
700 LULAC councils nationwide.
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