After both Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed on an immigration bill that will make millions of illegal immigrants legal, there's been a mixed response. Mayor Bloomberg called the guest worker program, which would allow new immigrants to live and work in the U.S. for 2 years, a "feel good kind of law" because "nobody in their right mind is going to leave."
Another part of the Senate proposal is that illegal immigrants already in the country would have to leave the U.S. and go back to their native country and file for paperwork. And for families, that would mean the head of the household would have to leave - which might be difficult for the other members of the family to subsist without that income. Other New Yorkers are worried about what the immigration bill will do to the city's workforce of lower paid employees, like restaurant workers and nannies. Here's a summary of the bill's point from the Daily News:
- Illegal immigrants could obtain "Z visas" that would allow them to stay in the country.
- Heads of households would have to return to their home countries and reapply for proper visas.
- They would have to pay $1,500 fees and $5,000 fines to get on the path to permanent residency.
- Skills, education levels and job experience would weigh more heavily than family ties.
- A temporary worker program would be launched allowing people to enter the country for two years.
- The Border Patrol force would be doubled to 18,000 officers.
- The fence along the Mexican border would be greatly expanded.
Representative Joseph Crowley of Queens told the Daily News, "I do think there's a lot that needs to be tweaked on this to say the least. But it gives us a place to start from." And many lawmakers are trying to convince their parties to pass the bill, even though no one really likes it that much.
Photograph from the May 1 rally by Tien Mao
