Senate Immigration Bill Fails Workers, Families

Calling it "far from the kind of comprehensive immigration reform that would improve the situation of either U.S.-born or foreign-born workers or their families," the AFL-CIO has announced strong opposition to the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S.1348), with President John Sweeney citing "our deepening concern that senators will not be allowed to address its many shortcomings if and when the Senate resumes consideration of the bill." The AFL-CIO's position is that comprehensive immigration reform should provide an opportunity for the current undocumented population to earn a path towards legal status, and it should uphold long-standing U.S. policy favoring the reunification of families. "In addition," said Sweeney in a June 18 letter to Senators, "it should limit the size and scope of guest worker programs so that the presence of hundreds of thousands of temporary workers in permanent jobs does not drive down wages, benefits, and health and safety protections." "Unfortunately," Sweeney added, "S.1348 fails each of these tests," calling "riddled with provisions that attack family immigration by eliminating whole categories of family preferences," as well as expanding exploitive guest worker programs and creating "almost insurmountable obstacles for the millions of undocumented immigrants it aims to bring out of the shadows." June immigration rights rally, photo by Andy Richards