'Dead end' permit for aliens

2004-01-09 11:17

New York - Immigration advocates praised President George W Bush for taking up reform two years after it was sidelined by the September 11 terror attacks, but blasted his plan on Thursday as falling far short of what undocumented workers truly want - a permanent home in the United States.

"This is really a dead-end programme," said Margie McHugh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. McHugh called the proposal "significantly less than what was on the table before September 11."

The temporary worker programme Bush proposed on Wednesday would offer undocumented workers who can show they have a job or - or a job offer - a three-year work permit that would be renewable for an unspecified period.

But once the permit runs out, workers would be required to return to their home countries. Advocates said registering for temporary permits would simply help the government track down and deport illegal immigrants if they try to stay permanently.

Leticia, a 33-year-old undocumented union organiser from Mexico who did not want her last name used, said the proposal gives illegal immigrants false hope.

"First you're using us and then you're saying 'go away, leave,"' she said through a translator.

Vicente, a construction worker from Ecuador, said his illegal status has kept him from receiving medical care or going home for his father's funeral for fear he would be deported.

"The immigrants who are here working hard are not terrorists," he said through a translator. "We want Congress to bring permanent residency to all workers. It is not a gift; we have worked very hard for this."

Bush's proposal to require "willing workers" to be sponsored by a specific employer would give those employers the power to exploit immigrants or send them home, advocates said.

"You tell me, will these 'willing workers' have the right to speak up or organise on the job when they need to be sponsored by willing employers? I doubt it," said May Chen, international vice president of Unite!, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.

Still, many praised Bush for bringing immigration reform to the fore after more than two years of virtual silence following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Bush said during his presidential campaign that he supported a temporary guest worker programme, and later discussed "regularisation" of undocumented Mexicans without committing to a stance on giving permanent residence to people living and working in the country illegally.

Guillermo Chacon, spokesperson for the Salvadoran American National Network, said the proposal was "basically an electoral strategy for Mr Bush to get votes."

But advocates said they thought it was significant that Bush addressed the issue at all.

"The good news is that the Republicans and the Democrats are in an all-out brawl for immigrant votes," said John Bingham, director of capital projects and law for the Catholic Charities of Rockville Centre.

McHugh said Bush's proposal would be the beginning of a long fight for advocates of reform.

"Now is the time for immigrant voters to say to the president, 'Now that you're finally paying attention, this is not the right programme,"' she said.

- AP