WAR-FINANCING BILL'S IMMIGRATION PROVISION STIRS DEBATE.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - An immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. provision attached to the $81.3 billion war-spending bill has generated controversy among advocates for illegal aliens and those who oppose extending them rights. Advocates for barring illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses cheered Thursday what they called a major step in enacting the provision, but immigrants-rights groups and others insist that the measure has a long way to go before it hits President George W. Bush's desk, and vowed to fight it every step of the way. Republican leaders, including Rep. David Dreier David Timothy Dreier (born July 5, 1952), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since January 1981, representing California's 26th congressional district (map). He was first elected to the U.S. House at age 28 in 1980. , R-Glendora, attached the provision - which also makes it easier to deport de·port tr.v. de·port·ed, de·port·ing, de·ports 1. To expel from a country. See Synonyms at banish. 2. To behave or conduct (oneself) in a given manner; comport. asylum-seekers and speeds up completion of the barrier between the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Mexico near San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. - to the spending bill passed by the House on Wednesday. ``I'm confident that we're going to find a way to get this thing enacted,'' said Paul Egan, director of government relations for the Federation for American Immigration Reform The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization in the United States that advocates for reforms of U.S. immigration policies that would result in significant immigration reduction. , which advocates prohibiting states from issuing licenses to illegal aliens. Yet now the bill heads to the Senate, where powerful lawmakers are more sympathetic to guest-worker programs and where the provision blocking states from issuing licenses faces stiff opposition. Rep. Howard Berman Howard Lawrence "Howie" Berman (born April 15 1941) has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1983, representing the 28th District of California (map). , D-Van Nuys, said he is negotiating over whether a separate proposal that would allow undocumented farm workers to obtain temporary legal status if they could prove they worked at least 100 days in agriculture since July 2003, and to apply for a green card after a year of farm work, should be attached to the Senate version. ``I'm so much in the middle of it, and we're not ready to announce anything,'' Berman said. But, he argued, by simply banning licenses and limiting judicial review for asylum-seekers without also making needed changes in the immigration system is unbalanced. The only Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, lawmaker to vote against the Iraq supplemental was Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles. Others, like Berman, blasted the immigration provisions but ultimately signed off on the bill. Advocates of the license ban, sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., maintain that keeping legal identification documents away from those in the U.S. illegally is a border-control measure that will thwart terrorists from entering the country. ``This legislation deals with our national security,'' Dreier said in a statement. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion