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GUTIERREZ
BILL PROPOSES IMMIGRATION AMNESTY
CHICAGO
TRIBUNE
By Mike Dorning
Washington Bureau
February 6, 2001
WASHINGTON
-- Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said he plans to introduce legislation
Wednesday calling for a broad immigration amnesty, allowing virtually all
illegal immigrants now in the country to apply for permanent residency within 5
years.
The
proposal marks an ambitious goal for immigration advocates. And it comes as
President Bush's planned visit to Mexico later this month focuses attention on
issues of immigration that long have been at the core of U.S. relations with
Mexico.
The
Chicago congressman would immediately allow permanent legal residency to any
immigrant who has been in the country since Feb. 6, 1996. Also, anyone who
arrived in the U.S. by Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001, would be allowed to apply for
legal residency after 5 years had passed. People who arrive after Tuesday would
not be eligible for any amnesty provision in the bill.
Advocates
on both sides of the immigration debate have waged a struggle over amnesty
provisions that has intensified over the past several years. But Gutiérrez's
legislation would go well beyond what supporters of immigrants previously have
proposed.
The
Clinton administration, in alliance with immigration advocates, pressed last
year for an amnesty covering illegal immigrants who had been in the country
since 1986. Although Clinton threatened a veto of the budget unless the amnesty
was included, Congress refused and eventually the White House relented.
The
Clinton administration's proposal would have covered an estimated 375,000
illegal immigrants, according to the National Immigration Forum, an immigration
advocacy group. The Gutiérrez legislation would cover more than 5 million, the
advocacy group projected.
Gutiérrez
said he hoped to spur a debate over the status of illegal immigrants.
"People in this country know they are benefiting from the work of
undocumented workers. Why not grant them the dignity and the justice that comes
with legal permanent residency?" he said.
U.S.
immigration law traditionally grants permanent legal residency to aliens who
have lived continuously in the country for a lengthy period. Since 1986,
immigrants
have been eligible for legal status as long as they have lived in the country
since Jan. 1, 1972. |
