A pocos días para la toma de mando del segundo periodo de gobierno del presidente Barack Obama, el senador demócrata Patrick Leahy, presidente del Comité Judicial anunció que en febrero empezarán una serie de audiencias públicas para luego dar paso a la preparación de un proyecto de ley para la reforma migratoria.
(Additional information in English at the end of this article)
Durante su presentación ante un grupo de estudiantes de la facultad de derecho de la Universidad Georgetown, el senador demócrata señaló, que luego de escuchar recomendaciones y analizar todos los puntos sobre cómo funciona el sistema migratorio en EE.UU., el comité se dedicaría durante la primavera a desarrollar una propuesta concreta.
“Debemos encontrar una manera pese a las discrepancias intrapartidistas para aprobar una reforma significativa, que debe incluir una vía a la naturalización” para los 11 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados que residen en Estados Unidos, remarcó.
La reforma del sistema migratorio es uno de los temas que el presidente Obma prometió que abordaría de inmediato luego de juramentar para un segundo periodo, por lo que la comunidad inmigrante y política espera con gran expectativa la propuesta de la Casa Blanca.
Por su parte el senador republicano Marco Rubio presentó una propuesta para modernizar el sistema y otrorgar la residencia permanente a los indocumentados, la cual no contempla una amnistía.
Mientras, Lamar Smith, uno de los representantes republicanos más activos en el tema migratorio, advirtió esta semana que será difícil para el Congreso aprobar una reforma migratoria con “amnistía masiva” que conceda a los 11 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados una vía para la naturalización.
Tampoco está claro por el momento, si los republicanos que dominan la Cámara de Representantes apoyarán una reforma que incluya un camino para la ciudadanía.
Los dos órganos legislativos tendrían que conjugar lo que eventualmente aprueben, para convertirla en ley. Voa
BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT ON IMMIGRATION
By David Nakamura and Felicia Sonmez,
Washington Post (January 16, 2013)
The Obama administration suggested Tuesday that there are signs that bipartisan
cooperation might be possible on immigration reform, in light of some new ideas
being championed by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.).
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that Rubio’s proposals to offer more
visas to highly skilled tech workers and potentially provide legal status and citizenship
to many of the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants “bode well for a productive
bipartisan debate.”
“We hope that it signals a change in the Republican approach to this issue,” Carney
said during his daily briefing, “because if we are going to get this done, it’s
going to take more than just a handful of Republicans working across the aisle.”
President Obama has promised a vigorous push for comprehensive immigration reform
– including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants – early in his second term.
Rubio, a tea party favorite and potential 2016 White House contender, laid out his
newest ideas in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week. He insisted
on tight border security and emphasized that foreigners who arrive legally must
be treated fairly. But he split from conservatives who do not favor offering any
legal status or citizenship to undocumented workers because, they say, it would
reward people who break the law.
Despite Carney’s modestly upbeat assessment, Obama and Rubio remain unlikely allies
who have yet to have a discussion on immigration.
“There’s not much expectation that the White House will partner with Republicans
on this,” said Rubio’s spokesman, Alex Conant. “They haven’t partnered with Republicans
on anything. We’ve been working with our Senate colleagues on this.”
The ill will between Obama and Rubio dates to last summer, in the middle of the
presidential campaign, when Rubio appeared to be moving toward unveiling a scaled-back
version of the DREAM Act. Instead, the White House preempted the freshman senator
by announcing in June that Obama would take executive action to halt the deportations
of some young undocumented immigrants.
One week later, in a speech to national Hispanic leaders in Orlando, Rubio accused
Obama of playing politics on the issue.
“I don’t care who gets the credit,” he said at the time. “I don’t. But it exposes
the fact that this issue is all about politics for some people.”
On Tuesday, Carney said the White House is “encouraged” that Rubio’s thinking now
“so closely reflects the president’s blueprint for reform.”
But Conant countered that Obama has not laid out his own proposals for a comprehensive
bill.
Immigration reform advocates said the interplay amounted to early posturing for
the debate ahead, with each side trying to figure out how far the other is willing
to go.
Rubio is seen by many as a rising star in the GOP ranks whose personal story and
influence among Latinos could help broaden the party’s appeal among minorities
at a time when that population is growing quickly.
Hispanic voters largely supported Obama and other Democrats at the polls last year,
and Republicans are eager to win back some of their losses. Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.),
who was the GOP’s vice presidential candidate, has voiced early support for Rubio’s
immigration ideas.
“We’re seeing a sort of tango with Rubio and Obama beginning on immigration reform,
and they are each not sure yet who is leading and who is following,” said Angela
Kelley, an analyst at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank.
“I suspect until they figure that out, there will be some stepping on toes.”
For the moment, the gun-control debate has overshadowed the battle over immigration
reform, and some advocates have said they fear that the administration could be
delayed or sidetracked by that and by negotiations with Congress over the federal
debt ceiling.
But Carney said Tuesday that the administration expects the immigration debate to
begin in earnest soon after Obama is inaugurated Monday.