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Periodically, American presidents have tried to release pressure from these systems by granting amnesty or temporary protection from deportation to large groups of migrants, as Biden recently did for Venezuelans. But these are short-term Band-Aids that do little to affect the ongoing causes of illegal immigration and still leave millions of workers vulnerable to abuse.

Congress, for its part, has proved itself incapable of passing the kind of legislation necessary to recalibrate the economic incentives. Though five major immigration reform bills have been brought to a vote since 2006, none of them made it through both the House and the Senate. To be fair, perhaps no single legislative act or executive order could ever change these dynamics. But some people have suggested targeted measures that could make unauthorized migration less chaotic, less exploitative and less profitable to unscrupulous actors.

The National Association of Immigration Judges has made a strong case for increasing the funding for immigration courts. There are now more than 2.5 million cases pending in these courts, and their average processing time is four years. To handle this backlog, the nation has fewer than 700 immigration-court judges. According to Mimi Tsankov, president of the association, this disparity between manpower and caseload is the primary reason many immigration cases, especially complex asylum cases, take years to resolve. To speed processing times, Tsankov explained, the courts need more judges but also more interpreters, legal assistants and law clerks. Improved efficiency would benefit those who merit asylum. Others say that it would also decrease the incentive to submit frivolous asylum claims in order to reside legally in the United States while waiting for an application to be denied.

Among academics, another idea keeps resurfacing: a deadline for deportations. Most crimes in America have a statute of limitations, Mae Ngai, a professor of history at Columbia University, noted in an opinion column for The Washington Post. The statute of limitations for noncapital terrorism offenses, for example, is eight years. Before the 1924 Immigration Act, Ngai wrote in her book about the history of immigration policy, the statute of limitations for deportations was at most five years. Returning to this general principle, at least for migrants who have no significant criminal record, would allow ICE officers and immigration judges to focus on the recent influx of unauthorized migrants. A deadline could also improve labor conditions for all Americans because, as Ngai wrote, it would go a long way toward stemming the accretion of a caste population that is easily exploitable and lives forever outside the polity.

One of the most curious aspects of American immigration politics is that Congress tends to invest heavily in immigration enforcement but not in the enforcement of labor laws that could dissuade businesses from exploiting unauthorized workers in the first place. Congress more than doubled the annual budgets for ICE and C.B.P. from 2006 to 2021. At the same time, it kept the budgets for the three federal agencies most responsible for preventing workplace abuse OSHA, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board essentially flat. There are now only 750 Department of Labor investigators responsible for the countrys 11 million workplaces. As absurd as it sounds, the enforcement of labor standards is a very controversial thing to do in this country, David Weil, the former administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, told me earlier this year. The laws needed to protect the interests of workers are already on the books, he said; the Department of Labor just needs funding adequate to enforce them.

See more here:
Why Can't We Stop Unauthorized Immigration? Because It Works. - The New York Times

I am an invader.

Actually, the son of invaders. But with presidential hopefuls Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis having taken aim at the 14th Amendments explicit creation of birthright citizenship, its clear that invader by association is enough to lump me in.

Im the U.S.-born son of Mexican immigrants. My parents emigrated separately, met in this country, married and had three sons. They were undocumented until I was in grade school.

The Republicans invasion rhetoric is not new. It was a winner for Trump in 2016.

The opportunists who are stirring up hatred of immigrants recognize the enduring resonance of this alleged infestation as Trump has also called it among GOP primary voters.

Even if President Joe Biden wins reelection, scapegoating immigrants will continue.

Biden bested Trump in 2020 by more than 7 million votes and 306 Electoral College votes to Trumps 232. But many of us still had to reconcile ourselves to the fact that some 74 million Americans!!! voted for a visibly corrupt liar who demonstrated great affinity for racists, white nationalists, nativists and others who later attempted a coup at his urging.

Disheartening doesnt even begin to describe the feeling.

Anti-immigration bias has been with us for a while. Lets see, there was the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798; in the 1850s, the nativist Know-Nothing Party; the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882; the Immigration Act of 1924 with quota preferences for white immigrants; and, in 2015, Trump unleashed a broad vilification of Mexican immigrants. He then won the presidency.

Not all the targets of anti-immigrant bias in our history were Asians or brown people generally. The Irish, Italians, Jews and Eastern Europeans have all been cast as dangerous and unworthy to live among us.

A nation of immigrants? Sure, but our memories are so faulty on this score.

There is still an immigration divide. Republicans focus on the enforcement part of immigration policy the border and deportations and Democrats want comprehensive reform that includes a legal path to residency for those here without documents.

As a wave of asylum seekers strains social services in New York and Chicago, Biden has directed federal money to build more of Trumps border wall, succumbing to the political heat. We need Democrats and Republicans alike to work toward a real solution comprehensive immigration reform that acknowledges the hard-working undocumented immigrants who are essential to the U.S. economy and deals with the root causes that drive people to flee murderous repression and economic hardship in their countries of origins.

Instead, here we are again with presidential aspirants using immigrants as a punching bag.

The lack of self interest in our immigration policies simply stumps me.

Consider: There is underway a ballooning of the retiree population with fewer working-age adults left to, well, work and pay into Social Security.

Immigrants can fill this gap to the benefit of all.

But gaining legal entry under current policy is so arduous to the point of impossibility that many just come and take their chances on deportation. The lure: U.S. employers who are eager to hire them.

Of course, we could be just as hard on immigrant-hiring employers as we are on the immigrants they hire. Instead, we reserve our animus for undocumented immigrants.

These employers know what too many others dont immigrants have higher work participation rates than do the native born (and lower crime rates, too).

We could, out of simple self-interest, enact comprehensive immigration reform. But this is not likely to happen soon because of our never-ending culture war.

Ominously, immigrant-bashing has expanded to include a call for the end of birthright citizenship.

The libertarian CATO Institute notes a key benefit of birthright citizenship. It speeds up the assimilation of immigrants. I would add, we get Americans who are perhaps more grateful to be Americans than Americans born of American citizens.

Hence, me. A college educated, mucho taxpaying, birthright citizen, who is also a U.S. Navy veteran and has been working past age 70.

Invaders?

The title Americans suits us birthright citizens just fine.

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Confessions of a birthright citizen - Wisconsin Examiner

Schumer and Jeffries decision to backchannel with the White House for expanded work authorization and more federal emergency funds speaks to the politically volatile nature of the problem. The Senate majority leader and his House minority counterpart want to avoid inflaming a debate that Republicans are using to push moderates into their column on the 2024 ballot.

Their quiet cajoling contrasts with how Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, fellow Democrats, have used their bully pulpits to demand help from Washington. The response also raises concerns among Democrats in suburban swing districts to feel theyve been left alone to assume political risks in a state thats key to retaking the House.

Getting federal assistance would be a lot easier if the two most powerful Democrats in Congress were out front fighting for their home state, said a Democratic adviser familiar with the dynamics. The adviser was granted anonymity to reveal the internal party discussions.

A few weeks after Schumer was visiting the fair in Syracuse, Jeffries was missing from a congressional delegation tour of a migrant center in Manhattan.

His congressional colleagues defended his absence.

Oh, he is a part of this! Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman insisted at the September event. He was with me in Washington, when we met with [Homeland Security] Secretary Mayorkas and Mayor Adams to push the administration for more resources. So the leader is an essential part of this.

Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries are battling Republicans in Washington and trying to address a surge in migrants in New York. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

Recent polls are an indication of why events like the Manhattan tour werent on Jeffries schedule. A Siena College Research Institute survey found more New Yorkers view migrants as a burden than a benefit.

Republicans are well aware of those voter sentiments. The migrant crisis will be a top line of attack for them heading into next years elections. Theyre eager to link Jeffries to the problem as hes leading efforts to help Democrats win back House seats.

Hakeem Jeffries and extreme House Democrats caused New Yorks migrant crisis, National Republican Campaign Committee spokesperson Savannah Viar charged in a statement. His refusal to offer any actual solutions, other than hiding behind his lackeys screeching inaudibly at press conferences, is why theyre destined for doom on the ballot.

Schumer and Jeffries have had success by quietly brokering meetings and lobbying those close to the president, according to five people familiar with the efforts. And it comes as they are dealing with threats of a government shutdown and House GOP leadership turmoil.

In mid-September, Biden expanded temporary protected status, or TPS, for Venezuelans. The designation made nearly 10,000 migrants in New York City eligible to apply for work permits.

Schumer called the TPS change welcome news in Senate floor remarks after the announcement.

I wrote to Secretaries Blinken and Mayorkas in July that country conditions in Venezuela clearly met the criteria for TPS, so this is a good step forward, he said.

In addition, the senior senator had multiple conversations with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients on TPS, noting that Venezuelan nationals make up the bulk of the new arrivals to the city, according to one of the people familiar with the talks.

Schumer also helped set up the meeting that he, Jeffries, Adams and other New York representatives held in late July in Washington with Mayorkas, according to two people familiar with the planning.

Jeffries played a key role as well, with the closed-door gathering taking place in his Capitol Hill office.

Schumers representatives highlighted that achievement.

The record is very clear that Senator Schumer has been working at the highest levels, delivering funds for New York, securing the significant Biden administration decision on TPS for Venezuelans and fighting for more, his spokesperson Angelo Roefaro said in a statement.

And do not forget, it was Senator Schumer who already passed bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate with wide bipartisan support, only to see it die in a GOP House, Roefaro added of the effort 10 years ago.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, while at odds at times over the response to the migrant crisis, have both pressed Washington to do more to help the state with the influx of more than 100,000 migrants over the past year. | Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

A spokesperson for Jeffries said the congressmembers remarks which put a kitchen table spin on work authorization speak for themselves.

Whats most important is that we successfully implement the opportunity for individuals to temporarily work while their asylum applications are being processed, because that will benefit the American taxpayer, Jeffries told Capitol Hill reporters after the TPS announcement.

Still, some allies of the mayor are angry that Schumer and Jeffries havent been more forceful with the Biden administration.

Obviously, its politically thorny, but youd hope theyd step up some more. Theyve been totally absent, said a Democratic city official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

The only thing were getting is the lions share of asylum-seekers; were not getting the lions share of funding, the official added, calling the $140 million in federal funding allocated for New Yorks support of migrants pennies in a crisis Adams has estimated will cost $12 billion.

Hochul and Adams have publicly commended Schumer and Jeffries, despite some behind-the-scenes frustrations with their approach.

Adams technique ripping the White House and the leader of his party for destroying the city by not providing enough migrant aid has hurt his relationship with Washington leaders.

The mayor, who once called himself the Biden of Brooklyn, now has a deeply broken relationship with the president.

But Biden has also done more in recent days as Adams traveled to Latin and South America to press his case for fewer migrants and more federal help. On Thursday, the Biden administration announced the United States will again start deporting migrants to Venezuela and will resume construction in Texas of the Trump administrations proposed border wall.

And the fact that the Schumer and Jeffries have been spared Adams wrath is proof that they are indeed advocating for the city if only through back doors and with the gridlock in Washington over funding.

Theyre 100 percent supporting the city, Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York business group, said in an interview. But they are not in a position to deliver the kind of funding that the situation requires because theres not a budget provision to cover billions of dollars for a humanitarian crisis as opposed to a natural disaster.

While Republican City Council Member Joe Borelli slammed Schumer for not bringing a House bill on border security to the Senate floor, he acknowledged the political realities the leader faces on funding.

He has no leverage on appropriations because he doesnt have the votes in the Senate, Borelli added.

Link:
Schumer, Jeffries are laying low on the migrant crisis. Here's why. - POLITICO

Few things are certain in life, but one thing I do know for sure: Oscar is going to show up for his check-in at U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement every six months, regardless of the personal peril to which he is exposing himself. I know, because I go with him to offer whatever support I can to this hardworking father of two proud American citizens, his beautiful daughters.

Oscar faithfully shows up for his immigration check-ins for the same reason he goes to church and has paid his taxes in the U.S. for more than 20 years it is what he is supposed to do. Oscar came to the U.S. as a teenager and has been doing what he is supposed to do ever since. He is an example every American would do well to follow, except for one detail: Oscar is living in the U.S. without permanent legal status.

With 1 in 5 Chicagoans being of Mexican ancestry, this situation may be more common than you think. People like Oscar and his family are your friends and neighbors. They go to the same schools and churches you go to. They are the backbone of our economy and the very fabric of our community. How long must they wait to be treated fairly?

I am far beyond the point of frustration when it comes to the decadeslong inaction surrounding this issue. There is a solution that could be implemented today, and the good news is that momentum is building to help the Oscars of our nation.

With a stroke of the pen, President Joe Biden could change the lives of millions.

Biden could provide Oscar and other long-term immigrants who are in the U.S. without authorization with the dignity of a work permit through the existing federal parole program as he has done for nearly 1 million new migrants. The already legal and existing parole programs give limited lawful presence and work permits to immigrants already in the U.S.

[Susan Gzesh: Asylum-seekers should be allowed to work in Chicago]

Weekdays

Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team.

The temporary protected status just granted to Venezuelans and the parole and legal status granted to now more than 1 million Venezuelans, Cubans, Afghans and Ukrainians are important and timely, but they do nothing to help the long-term immigrant contributors, including Mexican immigrants and their U.S. citizen families.

The good news is that bipartisan momentum is building. Given congressional gridlock and raging inflation, business leaders and employers; faith, labor and advocacy organizations, including immigration groups; Democratic and Republican governors; U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip, and U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and Rep. Jess Chuy Garca, along with nearly the entire Illinois delegation; House Minority Whip Veronica Escobar of Texas and other members of Congress; and state attorneys general are supporting work permits for long-term immigrant contributors. That is so people like Oscar can work and grow the economy, reduce inflation and keep families together.

As a proud daughter of a Mexican American union member, I know how important it is to give people the long, overdue opportunity to come out of the shadows and legally work and thrive. Work permits protect immigrants from exploitation and abuse and facilitate participation in a union. Furthermore, work permits enable our economy to tap into this huge pool of talented, skilled and underemployed workers to help get our economy back on track and reduce the inflation hurting us all.

As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce noted in a September report, If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 3.5 million open jobs. This proposal would fill critical labor needs and reduce costs for Americans. More than 70% of Americans agree that it is fair for the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, farm workers, mixed status families and long-term contributors to be granted a work permit. In fact, immigrants in Illinois paid an estimated $945.5 million in federal taxes and $708.9 million in state and local taxes a year.

I implore Biden to provide work permits for Oscar and the 11 million immigrants in the U.S. without authorization. Until Congress gets serious about passing immigration reform that fixes the broken system, Biden can take existing administrative action to grant work permits for long-term immigrants, for the good of our communities, for the good of Chicago and for the good of the United States of America.

Anna Valencia is the city clerk of Chicago.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

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Op-ed: Biden should give immigrants the dignity of a work permit - Chicago Tribune

Haitian immigrant Patrick Joseph said life was hard in Springfield as he waited for more than a year to get the work permit he needed to make money to support himself and his wife, son and daughter in Haiti.

He lost his cruise ship job during the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021 flew to the U.S. on a tourist visa that did not include work privileges. Joseph said his family members in Haiti would cry if they had seen how he had to live after arriving in Springfield in August 2021, forced to rely on the generosity of friends for food and to pay rent for him to sleep on an inflatable bed.

When I first came I was in a three bedroom house, said Joseph, 48, who arrived in Springfield in August 2021, We had more than 20 people living in that house. (The landlords) just rent the bed in the bedroom. A room can sleep like 10 people. And sometimes the house has only one bathroom.

Joseph said his struggles were no comparison to the life people in Haiti face every day where gang violence, kidnappings, murders, deep poverty and political chaos are the norm. Hes found Springfield to be a warm and welcoming place, despite recent protests against Haitian immigrants by people at Springfield City Hall in the wake of a fatal school bus accident involving a Haitian immigrant driver on Aug. 22.

Im coming here to work. I dont care if people like me or not. Im doing my job to take care of my family, said Joseph, who now has a work permit, a manufacturing job, government approval to live in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status and is a volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul assisting fellow migrants.

Joseph has an asylum claim pending and he is part of the growing population of Haitian immigrants in Springfield who, like immigrants across the nation, face a severely backlogged immigration system that is complicated and the subject of heated political rhetoric.

Congress is gridlocked on reforming the system, providing funding to expedite immigration cases and approving measures to try to stem the tide of new migrants crossing the southern U.S. border.

This newspaper interviewed 18 local immigration experts, social service providers, city and county officials, federal government officials and immigrants about the countrys immigration system, what they believe needs to change and the impact of the enormous growth of the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield.

I have respect for this community that wants to make Springfield their home, said Chris Cook, assistant health commissioner for the Clark County Combined Health District and co-chair of the Haitian Coalition of community partner agencies. And I look forward to the benefits they can provide us with a very culturally diverse community.

Haitians eligible for Temporary Protected Status

Immigrants here and across the U.S. face long waits for consideration of their applications for work permits and immigration designations such as asylum or Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

TPS is an immigration designation available to Haitians and foreign nationals from 15 other countries that allows them to live and work in the U.S. for up to 18 months, subject to extension or redesignation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

There were 610,630 foreign nationals with approved TPS status in the U.S., including 6,005 in Ohio as of March 31, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data compiled by the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

Congress created TPS in 1990, giving the executive branch authority to designate countries undergoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevented nationals from returning. It can only be offered to people already in the U.S. who dont have criminal records.

There is no pathway to citizenship with TPS and immigrants can be deported once the period of time covered by the authorization ends.

TPS was first approved for Haitians in 2010 after a major earthquake devastated the country and has been redesignated or extended several times. Former President Donald Trump attempted to end it for Haiti but legal challenges stopped that. After President Joe Biden took office in 2021 his administration extended and redesignated TPS for Haiti, which allowed additional Haitians already in the country to become eligible.

Currently 80% of TPS applications are processed within 18 months, according to the USCIS website. Once approved for TPS immigrants can immediately apply for a work permit, but they face processing delays.

Many of the Haitian immigrants in Springfield qualify for TPS status and often theyve applied for asylum as well, said Kathleen Kersh, senior attorney at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, who has been assisting Haitians in Springfield.

Almost every Haitian person Ive met in Springfield either came to the US with a visa or presented themselves at a port of entry at the U.S./Mexico border to lawfully ask for asylum, Kersh said. Allowing people to stay in the United States while their asylum claims are adjudicated is not only lawful, its required by our legal system.

The Haitians were drawn to Springfield by its reputation as a place with lots of jobs, a low cost of living, supportive services and the presence of other Haitians, according to those interviewed. The Haitian community grew over the last five or six years to an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people.

They want the American Dream. Their version of the American Dream might be at a lower level than what some of us have now. But still, to get an apartment of your own that is warm, has lights, has water, nobody is going to coming kicking through the door after you, said Virginia K. Martycz, director of Clark County Job and Family Services.

Its not so much to ask for.

Immigration is controversial

The quest for a new life in a new place is older than America itself. And todays immigrants are not the first to face opposition from some of the countrys private citizens and politicians.

In Springfield the death of 11-year-old Northwestern student Aiden Clark in the bus accident raised concerns about Haitian immigrants driving without licenses. But critics also allege that the Haitians are here illegally and complain they are taking American jobs, getting taxpayer funded assistance and draining resources at non-profits. Some called for their removal.

The city formed an Immigration Accountability Response Team to look into concerns and formulate responses.

We want to make sure that we protect our community and that we are serving our community and that we are responding to issues in our community, said City Manager Bryan Heck.

Springfield City Commissioner Krystal Phillips said the rhetoric about Haitians sounds a lot like what people said about Black Americans in earlier decades, and she called for more civility.

You need to change the viewpoint of (they are) invaders and it being a Haitian crisis, illegal aliens, illegals, they, them, those people,' Phillips said.

They look different, they speak a different language. There is always a fear that they will take something from certain American citizens. Or that somehow their footing will be lost, or their jobs will be taken or that their power within this country is going to be somehow removed or somehow theyre going to get less of the pie, less of the American dream, she said.

Legal experts and social services providers who work with the Haitians disputed the notions that most are here illegally, getting public resources theyre not entitled to and edging Americans out of jobs.

The Haitians that Ive met all have permission to be here. The federal government knows they are here, Kersh said.

Immigrants with proper documentation who meet financial thresholds can be eligible for Medicaid, food stamps and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and in certain cases immigrants can get refugee cash assistance, said Martycz.

They are not being given any extra funds, she said. The families just want some support to survive. They want to work and not be involved with the government.

There has been phenomenal growth in the number of Haitians on the countys public assistance rolls, increasing from seven cases in 2018 to about 2,705 cases involving 3,300 individuals in September, Martycz said. But Haitian and other immigrants make up a small percentage of the departments total caseload. For example about 6% of the 49,651 individuals receiving Medicaid in the county are non-citizens.

Haitians represented 15% of total applicants approved for public assistance and 20% of applicants disapproved in August, Martycz said, and 48% of Haitian applicants were not approved for benefits.

Her department and the health district both use language as an identifier, so statistics are kept on clients who speak Haitian Creole, the predominant language of the Haitian immigrants.

The health district served 178 Haitian Creole speakers at its immunization clinics between April-June 2023, or 33% of total clients, and the Women, Infants and Children clinic had 530 Haitians, which is 8.9% of total clients, between July 2022 and July 2023, said Nate Smith, public information officer for the health district.

The nonprofit St. Vincent de Paul of Springfield is playing a key role in assisting Haitian immigrants as well.

What we are doing is, first of all, anybody that walks up to me and is hungry, were feeding them, said Casey Rollins, board president and executive director of the volunteer organization.

Believe it or not the Haitians do not need as much of that as one would think. Theyre not draining the food resources as much as people are saying, said Rollins, noting that her group also provides clothing and computers and assistance in its office for immigrants applying for work permits.

She said a group of local attorneys trained in immigration law assists with legal advocacy and the state helped fund interpreters for community agencies. Catholic Charities of Southwest Ohio also trained interpreters and is working with victims of hate crimes and others eligible for legal services, said CEO Tony Stieritz.

Those interviewed said the biggest hurdle the Springfield Haitian immigrants face is the long delay in getting work permits, but once they get them they have proven to be both eager to work and a boon to companies in a city with large workforce needs.

And just talking anecdotally to some of the employers in town, when theyve hired people from Haiti, they love it that they show up to work every day, can pass a drug screen and are willing to work overtime and work hard, Cook said.

Immigration laws

The U.S. offers visas for foreign nationals intending to be here temporarily, such as tourist, business or student visas.

To immigrate legally foreign nationals can get employment sponsorship, family sponsorship or use humanitarian pathways such as refugee or asylum status, said Miranda Cady Hallett, associate professor of cultural anthropology and director of Human Rights Studies at the University of Dayton.

There also are humanitarian and family reunification parole programs and U-visas for crime victims, Kersh said.

The law limits the number of visas sponsored by companies or family members so immigrants can face long waits before they can come to the U.S.

Some immigrants can apply to get green cards, which allow them to become permanent residents and eventually become citizens.

Waiting periods for work permits, including a 150-day wait after an asylum claim is filed, as well as numerical limits on employment-based visas are built into immigration law to protect American jobs, said Ericka Curran, an immigration attorney and associate professor of legal professional skills at the University of Dayton School of Law.

They dont want companies to just look for a cheaper foreign worker, Curran said, referring to the employment visas. Companies have to prove they cannot find American workers and then sponsor the workers for that kind of immigration benefit to be approved.

Curran, Kersh and Hallett said immigrants are sometimes exploited by employers.

Over the years Ive done a lot of employment-based human trafficking cases where a company recruited workers and then didnt treat them well, said Curran, referring to legal work she did in Florida. They were essentially slaves when they got here.

Kersh said a number of her immigrant clients who are human trafficking survivors came in on H-2A visas for temporary agricultural workers.

Several of those interviewed called for Congress to reform the immigration system, or at least do something to expedite work permits and resolve the huge backlog in immigration cases.

Major immigration reform laws passed Congress in 1986 and 1990 but the last time comprehensive reform came anywhere near passage in Congress was 2013, when the U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan bill but the Republican-led House of Representatives did not consider it.

Today large numbers of immigrants are coming from Central and South America, including record numbers of Venezuelans fleeing their economically devastated country.

At the southwest border authorities reported 2.2 million encounters from October 2022 through August 2023 with migrants who were apprehended, deemed inadmissible or expelled under the now-defunct Title 42 pandemic health emergency rule, according to an analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection data that does not indicate how many of those were repeat encounters with individuals attempting to cross the border.

Last week the Biden Administration announced it would begin to immediately deport Venezuelans who cross the border illegally. Biden also decided to waive a variety of federal laws, including environmental ones, in order to build a 20-mile section of border wall and roads in south Texas that Congress in 2019 mandated be built by the end of this year. Biden said he does not believe walls work but he couldnt get Congress to reallocate the money, so it has to be spent as Congress mandated, the Associated Press reported.

Both U.S. senators from Ohio say the immigration system needs fixed and have supported bills to address issues at the southwest border.

It is clear that presidents of both parties have failed on the border, said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. We need to get additional personnel and more resources and better technology to the border. I have a bill to do that. And to solve this problem long term, we need to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, blamed Biden, saying his immigration policies are overwhelming communities like Springfield.

This self-imposed disaster is crushing the job prospects of our citizens, making it more difficult for Ohio families to find homes and draining social service programs funded by American taxpayers, Vance said. People who are here illegally should be sent back to their home countries as soon as possible, and individuals here on temporary status should not expect to stay indefinitely.

In Springfield the people who work with Haitian immigrants every day believe the community will work through the immediate challenges caused by the rapid growth in numbers. They said the new immigrants are good for the community and the economy, and they deserve to be treated humanely.

I just think this is a time for us to show compassion, said Martycz. Its a good opportunity for us to show compassion and to help others and treat them way that we would like to be treated.

Haitian immigrants in Springfield face complex immigration system and long delays

Springfields Haitian population evolving from strangers to neighbors

Im really thankful: Immigrants sworn in as U.S. citizens at Constitution Day ceremony

PHOTOS: Immigrants take an oath to become U.S. citizens

Clark County works to provide driving education for local Haitians

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Growing Haitian immigrant community in Springfield faces ... - Dayton Daily News