The Immigration Issue

Senate Majority leader, Bill Frist said that he would like to see the Senate vote on the controversial immigration bill later this week; the Senate has already agreed to halt debates on the bill.Frist has been pushing for a quick vote of the bill since March. The bill, seeking passage from the Senate, is the focus of several rallies and student protests in major cities throughout the U.S. It includes provisions that will make it illegal to live in the U.S. undocumented; children born in the U.S. to illegal citizens will not be recognized as citizens. Additionally, people who feed and house illegal citizens are subject to a felony conviction.Immigrants who can prove employment in the U.S. will be granted temporary visas, which will allow them to work in the country for six years before returning to their home country to apply for another visa. Conservatives are concerned the bill will grant amnesty to those who currently live in the U.S. illegally. Many, including representatives from California, have suggested tighter border security.Originally, the law did not include the provision on temporary work visas. However, the Senate made changes to the bill, which originated in the House of Representatives. “In general, the bill under consideration in the Senate is designed to strengthen enforcement of U.S. borders, regulate the flow into the country of so-called guest workers and determine the legal future of the illegal population scattered across all 50 states,” said a recent Washington Post article.Protests in the name of the proposed bill have been ongoing. Last week, Hispanic immigrant, and the children of immigrants began staging school walkouts and protests at Capitol buildings across the nation. “I don’t think it is a good idea at all. Without my parents doing the jobs that others don’t, a lot of things get done and they can support my family,” said Esmeralda Guiterrez, a high school student in Dallas, Texas whose parents are from Mexico."It makes sense to have a rational plan that says, you can come and work on a temporary basis if an employer can’t find an American to do the job," President Bush said in his program proposal that would allow immigrant workers to live in the U.S. on temporary worker visas.Immigration is a fiery subject with the American public. Taxpayers must pay for undocumented citizens who do not pay taxes, yet use American resources. “Polls indicate that around 60 percent of Americans oppose guest-worker programs that would offer illegal immigrants an avenue to lawful work status, and three-quarters of the Americans believe the government is doing too little to secure the nation’s borders,” said a recent Washington Post article.