Elana Levin

McCain comes to NYC to talk immigration reform

Senator John McCain comes to NYC today, joined with an unusual assortment of NY Congress members including Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Rep. Anthony Weiner. The topic is immigration reform- the McCain/Kennedy Bill to be precise, also called The Secure America & Orderly Immigration (god I love the names they come up with).

Because of DMI's recent immigration policy report people have been asking "what's DMI's take on the bill" and what do you know, our report includes an analysis of McCain/Kennedy. The bill includes a guest worker program that's raised concerns, yet it has received a lot of support from progressives and meta-union SEIU.

Jonathan Tasini over at The Working Life reviews the analysis of McCain and Kennedy's legislation used in our paper, applying the two "Middle Class Tests" DMI's report devised as a way to judge immigration legislation. He says the bill is the best thing out there but it still lacks labor protections that are vital to ensure a policy that supports the middle class and aspiring middle class. I'd say the same. As we've said in the blog before, protecting the rights of workers both citizen and undocumented alike is necessary. If there is a whole class of Americans that can be deported for complaining about work safety violations for example, it creates an incentive to only hire people from that underclass so that American citizens are forced to lower their safety and labor standards to compete. It is a lose-lose situation.

We applaud Senators McCain and Kennedy for taking initiative on an issue where there has been a leadership vacuum and doing something thoughtful, not reactionary about the immigration crisis. We like what we see but we need more if we're going to really protect working people. Read DMI's statement on the bill (go to our site and click on the link "for the press") and look for a future update on what happens at McCain's Town Hall meeting.

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Posted at 11:41 AM, Feb 27, 2006 in Immigration
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