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Although the future of undocumented immigrants is at stake in the United States, their voices are not the most heard in Congress , where lobbying groups seem to give in easily in immigration reform negotiations .
“ Undocumented immigrants negotiate public policies at a great disadvantage in Washington “, indicates journalist Pablo Manríquez, from Latino Rebels , who makes an exhaustive report on how the negotiations behind the scenes reveal that the priority among legislators is not necessarily immigrants.
Adds that no undocumented person can be part of the Congress team or visit the White House.
“There is no newsroom for the undocumented in Washington, which further limits the access that who have millions of immigrants to the internal functioning of the legislative process ”, he highlights.
The report indicates that members of nine organizers who work with undocumented immigrant issues were consulted, but did not give their names for fear of retaliation.
“I see a lot of people who are US citizens promoting parole,” lamented an undocumented organizer in California. “And I keep asking the question: Who was in the room that approved this? Was this being decided on us without us? We do not ask for ‘parole ‘ “.
Refers to the plan that would give a pardon to deportation or ‘parole’ to undocumented persons, as well as Authorization of Employment, permission to travel abroad and obtain a REAL ID, but without the possibility of obtaining a ‘green card’.
Some pointed out inconsistencies in the responses from their leaders about the negotiations, including confusion that the White House does not mention any specific immigration protections, but the House wanted to push through the Registry Act, which it rolled back.
On November 3, the House Rules Committee published an updated text of the bill that will be approved under the Reconciliation Process , where the “Registry” was no longer included, which is a path to citizenship, which was replaced by forgiveness to deportation or ‘parole’.
The report also indicates that a member of the Hispanic Caucus of the House revealed that members of the We Are Home coalition, which integrates 22 organizations, would have blocked access to other groups that work directly with undocumented immigrants to join the negotiations.