The heated debate over reshaping the nation’s immigration system took center stage in Atlanta, Washington and other parts of the country on Wednesday, when thousands of people rallied, marched and called on Congress to take action.
In downtown Atlanta and on Capitol Hill, scores of civil and immigrant rights groups demonstrated in support of a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in the country illegally. In all, such events were planned in 18 states.
Critics of that idea disclosed this week that they are leading a massive email and direct-mail campaign aimed at persuading Congress to bolster border security and oppose “amnesty.” They are also planning an invitation-only fundraiser in Buckhead for next month as well as a “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” event featuring radio talk show hosts broadcasting live from Washington.
These various groups are staking out positions on the thorny issues as a bipartisan group of U.S. senators is preparing to introduce comprehensive immigration legislation, perhaps as soon as this week. Another bipartisan group is crafting legislation in the House. Congressional Republicans have been recalibrating their positions on immigration since President Barack Obama won re-election last year with about 70 percent of the Hispanic vote.
Bills from both chambers are expected to make it possible for immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain citizenship after paying back taxes and fines and learning English. The legislation is also expected to allow U.S. employers to hire more temporary foreign workers.
The Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights coordinated Wednesday’s rally in downtown Atlanta, and more than 40 other civil and immigrant rights groups were expected to attend. Beating drums and chanting slogans in Spanish, the demonstrators called for a moratorium on deportations and the end of the federal 287(g) and Secure Communities immigration enforcement programs. The 287(g) program deputizes local officials to help enforce federal immigration laws. And Secure Communities is a federal fingerprint-sharing program that operates in local jails across the country. The Obama administration set a record for deportations in the fiscal year that ended in September, expelling 409,849 people.
Demonstrators also called on Gov. Nathan Deal to veto Senate Bill 160, legislation approved last month by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. That bill seeks to block immigrants who are illegally in the country from obtaining state driver’s licenses and other public benefits. Deal has spoken in support of that legislation, but a spokesman for the governor declined to comment Wednesday on whether he would sign it into law.
The Georgia Capitol Police estimated about 1,500 people had gathered for the Atlanta event just before 11 a.m.
Natalie Phan of Douglasville was among those who marched through downtown. She wants Congress to tackle the massive backlogs in the legal immigration system. The native of Vietnam said it took her 10 years to legally immigrate to the U.S. and join her father, who came here in 1990 as a refugee.
“We need to shorten the time it takes for people to be reunited with their families,” said Phan, now a U.S. citizen.
Rigoberto Rivera also joined the rally, wearing a white T-shirt that declared “Undocumented. Unafraid. Unapologetic.” The Roswell High School graduate said he was illegally brought into the United States from Mexico when he was 10. Rivera, a restaurant dishwasher, is now applying for a two-year reprieve from deportation. Like many fellow activists, he is skeptical about congressional proposals to tie border security to legalization for immigrants living illegally in the United States.
“It is more secure than ever,” he said of the border. “There are [fewer] crossings.”
Meanwhile, Americans for Immigration Control — which is aimed at stopping illegal immigration — is planning a May 2 fundraiser in Buckhead to fight “mass amnesty.” The Federation for American Immigration Reform — a Washington-based group that supports tougher immigration enforcement — has announced it is organizing a “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” event for April 17 and 18. The event, according to FAIR, will involve 50 radio talk show hosts from around the country broadcasting live from Washington to inform the public about the legislation.
“The American people are about to find out that there is nothing in this legislation for them except worthless promises of enhanced enforcement in the future, more taxpayer cost and more competition for scarce jobs,” FAIR President Dan Stein said in a prepared statement.
Further, people have sent more than 2 million faxes to congressmen, urging them not to grant work permits to immigrants living illegally in the U.S., said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which supports lower immigration levels. Beck said he is concerned the congressional legislation will drive down U.S. wages here and displace American workers.
“There is so much in here that is just devastating to workers that I don’t think it could be salvaged,” Beck said Wednesday as he observed thousands of people demonstrating on Capitol Hill in favor of an immigration overhaul. “Right now we are doing everything we can to kill it.”
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