March 22, 2007

Salem, OR – Today, CAUSA, Oregon’s statewide immigrant rights coalition, welcomed the introduction of a Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill in Congress.  Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced bipartisan comprehensive legislation on Thursday , March 22nd.

“We should never forget, the immigration reform debate is about real people,” said Aeryca Steinbauer, Coordinator of CAUSA.  “Undocumented immigrants live in our communities, have loving families, work hard, pay taxes, and believe deeply in the American Dream.  They bus tables, clean buildings, cook food, care for children, tend gardens, tend to the elderly, construct houses, clean hotel rooms, and pick crops.  This debate is also about who we are as a nation, and how we value family unity, community, and human rights. The time is now to get it done.”

Though CAUSA will be studying the details of this specific legislation, we are optimistic that the Gutierrez-Flake bill, known as the STRIVE Act (Security Through Regularized Immigration and Vibrant Economy) will align with several of our principles we believe are needed to fix our broken immigration system.  These principles include restoring the rule of law, providing a path to earned citizenship, protecting immigrant and American workers alike, reuniting families, respecting due process, and helping newcomers become new Americans while helping the communities in which they settle. 

However, this bill does include a provision that would require immigrants to return to their home countries before re-entering to apply for permanent legal residency, which would likely bring hardship to many immigrant families and could potentially strand heads of households in distant countries. 

“The introduction of the STRIVE Act moves us in the direction of our goal: to get our Federal government to act decisively to get comprehensive immigration reform done this year, to get it done right, and to make it work on the ground once it is implemented,” said Steinbauer.  “We will be studying the details of the proposal in the coming days because the details matter.  We want comprehensive immigration reform this year, but not just any bill that calls itself comprehensive will do.  It must be workable if it is to be the solution we as a nation need and want.”

Virtually every public opinion poll shows that Americans are impatient for Federal action to solve the immigration problem once and for all. A recent Gallup/USA Today poll released just last week shows that when confronted with a series of policy choices, 59% of all Americans prefer a comprehensive solution with an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

 For summaries of the STRIVE Act, please visit www.immigrationforum.org.