People Power And The United States Senate How This Week"s Demonstrations in Los Angeles and Across the Country Affected Policy on Guest Worker Statutes, Family Re-Unification and Adjustment of Status for Undocumented Immigrants
Sometimes real social commentary begins with our youngest members of the community. The public outcry began in Los Angeles areas schools with thousands of students leaving school in an organized walkout on Friday, March 23, 2006. This was a precursor to Saturday’s massive 500,000 person march in downtown Los Angeles, surrounding City Hall and stretching as far as the USCIS building on 300 North Los Angeles Street. These marchers had the conviction of concern for family members friends or relatives with immigration needs and the moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church for whom Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has been an outspoken critic of proposed immigration legislation.
The list of cities affected by work stoppages, walkouts and demonstrations include Reno, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, Atlanta, Georgia and others.
The flash point for these demonstrations was not the positive suggestions of President George Bush for guest worker legislation, but the effort to label immigration violations as criminal offenses, and setting significant penalties for providing aid or employment to undocumented aliens. At the demonstrations Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke out on behalf of immigrants and their contributions to our economy and nation as a whole.
The result? A United States Senate Subcommittee has passed and will submit to congress a version of the McCain/Kennedy Secure America Act which promises border controls as well as a 6 year plan to legalize undocumented aliens present in the United States, and allocate additional 400,000 visas to reduce the significant backlogs in countries such as the Philippines for Family re-unification purposes. Think about it, almost one additional visa for every person that appeared in downtown Los Angeles this Saturday.
The Affect of People Power? The massive public demonstrations on behalf of fair immigration reform brought important Republican Senators to the table, namely Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike DeWine of Ohio. National leadership for both parties saw this nationwide outpouring of support on this emotional topic as an election year issue that could decide the fate of tight races, but more importantly as happened in California after the drive to enact Proposition 187 could decide the long term prospects of political parties as well.
Please keep in mind your calls to your Congressman and Senator, your voice at political rallies, your opinion in polls and most importantly your vote does matter and will make a critical difference in how the United States treats its immigrants. The submission of the McCain Kennedy bill is the first step in bringing reforms; make sure you and everyone you know can throw their support behind it.
I will continue do my part by providing feedback, suggestions and advice to Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, as well as our district Congressmen Adam Schiff and Howard Berman.
Robert J. DuPont is the founding attorney for The Law Offices of Robert J. DuPont. Mr. DuPont graduated from Yale University and USC Law School. He is admitted to the California Supreme Court, Federal District Courts in the Central and Northern Districts of California, as well as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. DuPont has been a speaker at ILW, a leading immigration law publisher. He was the founder of the Immigration Law Committee with the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Mr. DuPont has risen to prominence with over a decade’s practice in the field of immigration law. He has brought cases to their successful conclusion before the EOIR, BIA, AAO, Federal District Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
A similar version of this article may have been published in the Asian Journal.