March 27, 2006

Immigration Legislation Update for March 27, 2006

Immigration Reform is the top focus on Capitol Hill as the Senate Judiciary Committee reconvenes this Monday morning at 10:00 to continue its mark up of Chairman Arlen Specter's legislation. Over the weekend, despite efforts to iron out ongoing issues in disagreement, Committee staff negotiations broke down late Sunday afternoon. A bipartisan compromise failed to materialize as some proponents tried to keep both Cornyn and Kyl's legislation alive. Despite the breakdown, Chairman Specter has determined that a bill will move on out of Committee today. Speaking on a Sunday talk show, Chairman Specter assured the public that he is not proposing amnesty but outlined a series of steps immigrants would undergo to be placed on the citizenship track, including imposing fines and thorough background checks.

It has also been reported, that during Lobby Day, calls to Hill Staffers in support of restrictive laws ran at least 50 restrictionist calls for every pro-immigrant/comprehensive reform call made. It is essential that the Judiciary Committee members be contacted in favor of positive reform.

In a separate but effective show of solidarity among immigrants in cities across the nation, it is estimated that 1 million protestors came out in support of immigrant rights and comprehensive immigration reform this weekend. A rally of religious leaders in Washington, D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts is slated today in support of the immigrants' plight from a humanitarian standpoint.

Greenberg Traurig will continue to bring you the latest updates this week on this ground-breaking immigration reform legislation.