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June/July 2009 >> Article
9
Legislative Update
The Obama Administration has been postponing a White House summit on
immigration reform, which was originally scheduled for June 8, 2009,
then cancelled again. The event is currently scheduled for June 25,
2009 and lawmakers from both parties will attend the meeting. Held
as a closed-door session, the summit is intended to identify areas
of agreement and efforts needed to achieve broader consensus. At the
same time, Congress continues to hold hearings aimed at examining
immigration issues. Viewed together, these activities suggest that
immigration has moved higher on the legislative and policy agenda.
However, prospects for passage of a comprehensive reform bill remain
uncertain. Immigration currently stands behind healthcare and with
cap-and-trade as something the Democrats want to accomplish. The
center of the debate will be the unions and the coalitions who will
argue over temporary worker programs being controlled by
“commissions,” an amnesty, and a future flow of guest workers. It is
critical that while the mistakes of 1986 not be repeated, a solution
be found for the 12-18 million unauthorized residents in the United
States. |
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