‘No to legal status for 11 million illegal immigrants’

By Alex P. Vidal

 

“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.”—Barack Obama

 

NOT all Filipinos in America are enthusiastic and supportive of U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s plan to grant legal status to an estimated 11 million undocumented aliens or illegal immigrants, including some Pinoy TNTs (“Tago Nag Tago”) now living in the United States.

“Bad timing yan. Marami ang walang trabaho ngayon sa Amerika dahil sa pandemic. Paano naman ang mga citizens na walang trabaho kung idadagdag pa ang mga illegal immigrants sa labor market? (It’s bad timing. Many American citizens nowadays are unemployed because of pandemic. What will happen to these unemployed citizens if the illegal immigrants will be added in the labor market?),” protested Eduardo, 63, former branch manager of a remittance company in Malolos, Bulacan, who lives in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City.

“Pasikat lang yan si (President Joseph) Biden. Hindi siya susuportahan ng mga Republicans sa isyu na yan. Dapat e propose nia yan sa huling taon ng term nia. Hindi naman ito urgent eh. (President Biden only wanted to look good, but the Republicans will not support him on this issue. He should have proposed this in the last year of his term since this isn’t an urgent matter),” quipped Ruben, 70, a retired commercial inter-state truck driver, who lives in the same New York City neighborhood.

 

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“Napaka unfair naman yan sa mga may papel na at matagal na nagbabayad ng tax dito. Bigla na lang magka papel sila eh karamihan sa kanila mga lasinggero naman at tamad mag trabaho. Dumaan muna sila sa proseso. Huwag yung short cut lang. (It is so unfair for those who are legal residents who have been paying taxes. Many of these illegal immigrants are drunkard and lazy. They should go through the process first and not to short cut their way here),” bewailed Arnulfo, 62, an independent contractor from Corona, Queens.

“Hindi naman maipasa kaagad yan. Dadaan pa yan sa congreso at doon palang marami ang kokontra diyan. Majority nga ang mga Democrats sa congreso pero hindi naman sila lahat papayag diyan. Sa social security lang at health services magka problema na. (The bill will not be passed immediately as many lawmakers will oppose it. Although the Democrats control the congress, not all of them will favor it as it will cause problems to the social security and health services),” enthused Albert, 49, a hospital worker who acquired his citizenship in 2016.

Democrats control the House of Representatives, but by a narrower margin than in the previous Congress.

The challenges in the divided Senate are already on display as Democrats and Republicans negotiate the terms of their power-sharing agreement.

These reactions from pessimistic and downbeat Filipino-Americans in our community here came a day after President Biden made the opening salvo in his first day in office on January 20: an immigration bill he said he would introduce in Congress that would open a path to citizenship for roughly 11 million people living in the country illegally.

 

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The Biden administration described its package as “a common-sense approach to modernizing and restoring humanity to the immigration system after four years of President Trump’s systematic crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration.”

The U.S. Citizenship Act, which Mr. Biden sent to Capitol Hill on Inauguration Day, offers an eight-year road map to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants in the United States without legal status.

If approved, it would prioritize three categories of people to immediately receive green cards: farm workers, those with temporary protected status and beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as “Dreamers,” who were brought to the U.S. as children.

To qualify, immigrants must have entered the U.S. no later than January 1, with some exceptions.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, reportedly sought assurances that the Senate will retain the filibuster.

Another Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas tweeted earlier before Biden was sworn in that the new president was “wasting no time trying to enact his radical immigration agenda.”

Cotton called the bill “total amnesty” with “no regard for the health or security of Americans, and zero enforcement.”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who was involved in bipartisan immigration reform talks in 2013 before ultimately abandoning the effort, called Mr. Biden’s bill a “non-starter” in a statement this week.

Republican Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he had “reached out to half a dozen Republicans on immigration and they’ve been open to the conversation.”

Democrats could have more success with narrower immigration measures tied to must-pass spending bills or pandemic relief packages than trying to attract Republican support for a broad bill, said Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigrant America’s Voice.

 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)