Immigration Deal ... How I feel

Major Provisions of the Immigration Deal

Excerpt:

CURRENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

1. They could come forward immediately and receive probationary legal status.
   
2. Bill creates a four-year, renewable "Z" visa for those present within the U.S. unlawfully before Jan. 1, 2007.
   
3. Undocumented immigrants may adjust status to lawful permanent residence once they pay $5,000 in fees and fines and their head of household returns to their home country.
   
4. People under age 30 who were brought to the U.S. as minors could receive their green cards after three years, rather than eight.
   
5. Undocumented farmworkers who can demonstrate they have worked 150 hours or three years in agriculture can apply for green cards.
   
6. No green cards for "Z" visa holders can be processed until "triggers" for border security and workplace enforcement have been met, estimated to take 18 months. Processing of green cards for holders of "Z" visas would begin after clearing an existing backlog, which is expected to take eight years.
   

Comments:

1. I regularly am in contact with Hispanic immigrants. In the last two weeks: my yard was cleaned up by a yard service. Three Hispanic men did the work. Last Monday, we had our car washed at the Mermaid Car wash. Virtually all of the workers there are Hispanic. This week, our roof was replaced. There were 5 or 6 Hispanic workers here on Monday. I tried to have a conversation with several of them (offering one a coke, asking another his name) and none of them spoke English.
   
2. Our economy is highly dependent on immigrant labor: motel housekeepers, fast food workers, lawn workers, roofers, agricultural workers. There are low-paying jobs that would go begging if it were not for Hispanic immigrant labor.
   
3. It would be darn near impossible to round up and deport 12 million illegal aliens!
   
4. There has to be a solution. And it has to be a bipartisan solution. McCain and Kennedy pounded out a compromise that is a working start!
   
5. These issues have to be addressed:
   
   
   
   1. How do we address the problem of 12,000,000 illegal aliens currently in the United States?
      
   2. How do we promote legal immigration to supply needed jobs?
      
   3. How do we protect and police our borders?
      
   
   
6. In my view, the Senate / White House solution is a good one!