Immigration in the US: A Law Favoring the Undocumented or Lobbies?

The U.S. Congress is going on vacation; the new law on immigration, promised during the last electoral campaign, is back in the drawers after it passed in the Senate. However, after a closer look at the bill, that might not be bad news for the 11 million undocumented immigrants who live and work in the U.S.

In fact, these immigrants hope that the change taking place in American public opinion over these last months — now, most are in favor of total amnesty for the undocumented — could persuade Congress to approve a law that would be favorable to them. In part, this change of opinion is because of the different attitude of the Republican Party and media, which have moved closer to supporting the immigration theme following the latest presidential election, which showed that the majority of Latin Americans voted for the Democratic Party, contributing to Mitt Romney’s defeat. A survey conducted in March by the Brookings Institute showed that 63 percent of Americans are actually in favor of “a path to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants. Another survey, conducted in April by CNN, showed that 84 percent of Americans are in favor of the “legalization” of undocumented immigrants.

Empowered by these changes in public opinion, many organizations, groups and trade unions, which have been working and fighting on the front lines for the rights of immigrants and their families for years, are now pushing for a law to be passed that would guarantee the rights and liberties of immigrants. However, they are not the only ones pushing for this law to pass. Albeit in a totally opposite direction, the big lobby of the security industry and its associated companies are also asking for a new law that could reform almost the entire immigration system.

Businessmen, concerned about making their businesses more competitive during the crisis, are looking to reduce “labor costs,” thanks to the massive introduction of programs for “guest workers.” Conversely, the security industry lobby, which has been getting richer and making a lot of money out of the racist and securitarian rhetoric, is looking for an increasingly more decisive role in the management of immigration, offering to build more detention centers, a thicker wall to protect the border between the U.S. and Mexico, as well as introducing new biometric technology, state-of-the-art monitoring tools, etc.

Looking thoroughly at the debate in the Senate and Bill S. 744 (Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act), as it was released, it seems obvious that so far the three groups interested in its approval are winning. The wording of the title tells enough to get the whole picture about the real priorities of the law. According to the evaluations of many organizations on immigrants, only 40 percent of the undocumented people who are currently in the U.S. will be affected by the amnesty, while industry and business lobbies will have obtained everything they had asked for. But there is even more. The Speaker of the House John Boehner has already announced that he intends to break up immigration reform into three legislative acts in the House. In other words, the law about border security will be voted on first, then the one that guarantees flexible and “disposable” workers for companies and finally, the one about the rights and amnesty of undocumented immigrants.

We will need to wait until fall to understand in detail the changes that the House of the Representatives wants to make, but if the law were to stay as it is, the situation for immigrants in the U.S. would be even worse than it is now. However, there would not be too much to wonder at, if we take into account that the two Obama administrations so far hold the record for deportations, thanks to U.S. immigration policies.