DREAMers Immigration Reform 2013 News: Three Reasons Why House Republicans Should Pass Immigration Bill
Despite the long, winding road to immigration reform, there are still plenty of "Dreamers" out there. Named after the ultimately failed DREAM Act that would have given citizenship to many of the young undocumented immigrants brought to America as children, these Dreamers are determined to see this fight all the way through. The question is, will House Republicans get in their way?
President Obama has already put a system in place for helping these Dreamers safely enter the workforce, with almost a half a million young people (applicants must be under the age of 31) already having qualified for work papers. This pilot system has worked in no small part because of the actions taken by these Dreamers.
"They are really helpful at making the immigration cause more palatable, and the more acceptable it is to general Americans, the more likely that Congress would be to eventually vote," said Gary Segura, co-founder of the polling firm Latino Decisions.
As the face of America has grown to be increasingly diverse, so too has public sentiment shifted toward making it easier for undocumented immigrants to safely reside here. Still, it has been a daily struggle for many undocumented people staying in the United States, as they constantly look over their shoulder in fear of being deported.
"It is this constant fear of knowing that there is no guarantee that we can remain together," says Neidi Dominguez, 25, who was once an undocumented immigrant herself. She still worries about the prospect of what will happen to her family should they be deported.
For at least the younger generation of undocumented immigrants, however, that fear may soon be a thing of the past. The Dreamers have been very vocal for their cause, and are now ramping up efforts to gain public support for a bill that is now working its way through Congress, lobbying from coast to coast.
The immigration reform bill would allow for a permanent path to citizenship that would grant amnesty to applicants during their application period. The bill calls for a selection process that could take upwards of a decade for each applicant to complete, but they would be free to work and live in the United States while they did so.
The immigration bill has already made it through the Senate after being pushed through via a bipartisan effort that included the likes of John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Though enough Republicans were on board to get the bill to the House, there is still plenty of discontent within the GOP over such immigration reform.
"Some have noted [Judiciary Committee chair Robert] Goodlatte's willingness to entertain a path to citizenship (without any special pathway), while others believe Goodlatte is more likely to end up sticking a knife in comprehensive reform's back while talking a nice game about doing something for the DREAMers even as he winks at the right," writes Greg Sargent for the Washington Post.
In his article, Sargent indicated his belief that Goodlatte and many of his fellow Republicans may not intend to do anything more than lip service to the cause of immigration reform. While that certainly could be true, is it in the GOP's best interest to do so?
Smart money would answer in the negative. From a public relations standpoint alone, it would be brutal on the GOP if House Republicans struck down the immigration bill shepherded through the Senate by the Gang of Eight. The GOP already has a bit of a reputation of being quarrelsome and hard to work with, and by dismissing a bipartisan bill that passed in the Senate 68-32, they could very well be digging their own grave in future elections.
Not to mention, the reform bill could offer the type of widespread economic gains that are the cornerstone of solid Republican policy-making. The American Action Network circulated a report Tuesday that indicated roughly 14,000 jobs could be created per Congressional district as a result of the bill. American Action Network based their findings on data provided by the Congressional Budget Office, which claimed that the bill would reduce the deficit by $685 billion over 20 years.
Perhaps most importantly, adoption of the bill would set a precedent that the government will not meddle in the day-to-day affairs of individuals. By allowing a path to citizenship for those who desire to work, Congress will be affirming their belief in a truly free market. Simply put, more transparent borders translate into a smaller, less restrictive, and liberty-minded government.
In the end, adoption of the immigration bill would seem to make sense ideologically for moderate Republicans. If a Republican-led House does eventually pass the measure, voters might finally see them as regular people, rather than as the extreme and detached pundits they are currently characterized as. In order to have that happen, however, many of those Republicans must first see undocumented immigrants as regular people as well.
"It's easy for the public to treat undocumented aliens as if somehow they are wildly different from other Americans," Segura said, "and these young people just want to get a driver's license and go to college."