By Lolita Long,
Editor, New York Office
CARIBBEAN IMMIGRATION advocate Irwine Clare has dismissed as a token gesture
a request to Congress by US President George W. Bush for illegal immigrants
to be given more time to legitimise their status.
"This will only reduce the sting, the zeal, and zest in our lobbying efforts
to get fundamental changes in the law," he told The Gleaner. "It will only
extend opportunities for rip-offs, and it will ultimately close the door for
meaningful services," Clare, head of the Caribbean Immigrants Services,
stressed.
Declaring that he "was concerned about what would happen to families"
President Bush on Tuesday called for a temporary extension of Section 245 (i)
of the Legal Immigration and Family Act (LIFE), which ended on April 30. This
would be the second time the Act was extended.
LIFE is an acronym that many advocates declare was too close to reality.
Section 245 (i) of LIFE was passed in 1994, terminated in Congress in 1998
but was subsequently restored.
House and Senate leaders received letters which encouraged them to pass
legislation that would extend the deadline. The time period the President was
asking for was not clear, but two bills, one calling for a six-month period
and another for a year, were still pending in Congress, The Gleaner has
learnt.
The President said that he was "concerned about what would happen to the
families of immigrants" if they left the country and were not able to return.
Under Section 245(i) illegal immigrants who overstayed their time in the
country get a chance to become legal residents and/or citizens if they have
family ties or if they are sponsored by an employer. Without this, they would
have had to return to their country to apply and thus run the risk of being
barred from re-entry for 10 years.
Media reports quoted White House spokesman Ari Fleisher as saying that the
President was concerned about families, who would be "forced to separate from
their loved ones."
Bush`s proposal has been hailed however, by Jamaican-born Assemblyman Nick
Perry, 58th District, as "a great move and humanitarian" approach by the
President. "It is so different from the 1996 anti-immigrant sentiments. Now I
hope the President will show support for a general amnesty," Perry said.
Meanwhile, Immigration and Naturalisation Services (INS) spokesman Mark
Thorn, stressed in an interview with The Gleaner, that it was only "proposed
legislation" and that the INS was Ša government agency and we are here as law
administrators."
Media reports are that there were criticisms of the timing of Bush`s request.
"This was needed months ago to avoid the rush, the confusion among
immigrants," Michael Amezquita, executive director at the Northern Manhattan
Coalition for Immigrants Rights in Washington Heights, was quoted as saying.
