This week’s immigration blog roundup includes a follow up to the Campaign to Reform Immigration for America summit, news about the H-2A guest worker program, the suspension of the Widow Penalty policy, and more.
What are the next steps after last week’s historical three day summit on immigration reform? At the summit, immigration reform advocates laid out an agenda for the coming months and focused on creating a cohesive message and grassroots strategy for the campaign. Immigration reform groups will continue to place pressure on the Obama administration to help pass legislation this year. Last week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said “comprehensive immigration reform is going to happen this session, but I want it this year, if at all possible.” The White House meeting intended to launch a policy conversation on immigration reform was postponed from June 8th to June 17th due to the President’s travel schedule.
Beginning on June 29th, the Department of Labor will suspend Bush administration regulations to the H-2A guest worker program for nine months. The regulations, which took effect on January 17, were adopted to govern wages and recruitment of immigrant guest workers in agriculture. The decision for suspension comes after organizations representing farmworkers filed a lawsuit arguing that the regulations lowered immigrants’ wages and violated federal laws protecting workers’ rights. Currently, several immigrant and civil rights organizations are pushing Congress to pass the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act (AGJobs) that would strengthen the guestworker program by providing more worker protections to foreign-born and domestic workers.
The Department of Homeland Security is temporarily freezing a policy known as the “widow penalty” of deporting widows and widowers of U.S. citizens. About 200 people were at risk of deportation under the policy that argues if the American spouse dies before a two year mark, the foreign spouse becomes a widow or widower curtailing eligibly for residency. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the agency is freezing any action against such widows and widowers for two years.
In Connecticut, Judge Michael W. Straus of U.S. Immigration Court dismissed a case against four immigrants arrested in a 2007 Fair Haven raid. Straus ruled that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in “egregious violation” of the immigrants’ Fourth Amendment rights when they entered into their homes “without a warrant, without probable cause and without consent,” as required under the amendment. There is no current news on the cases of the other 26 immigrants arrested during the raid., which was one of many by the ICE in June 2007 following New Haven’s approval of a city I.D. plan aimed at helping undocumented workers open bank accounts.
Nuestra Voice blogged about Benita Veliz, an undocumented 23-year-old college graduate, who is one of many thousands of students hoping that Congress will pass the Dream Act. Benita is also facing deportation charges after being pulled over by the police in January. Although Benita had a Mexican Consular ID card, she was taken to jail and her deportation proceedings began. A court hearing on June 10, 2009 granted a three month countenance that will allow her to stay in the country until her next scheduled court appearance. Many have been following Benita’s case via her Twitter feed at Benita in Court.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda’s website.
