Politico
By Seung Min Kim
June 17, 2013
The AFL-CIO is blanketing Senate offices with a list of demands for the Gang of Eight immigration bill, detailing what measures it will and will not support as the chamber continues debating the mammoth legislation.
On the approved list for the union: keeping hard-fought labor protections for immigrant workers and making sure the pathway to citizenship is still attainable.
And what they’ll fight: enacting additional barriers for undocumented immigrants to become legalized, denying immigrants federal benefits, and tampering with a new guest-worker program it negotiated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In a four-page letter sent to senators Monday evening, the AFL-CIO also said they would fight to reinstate the original agreement on H-1B workers — a deal that was changed during the committee markup to placate Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and the high-tech community, much to the dismay of unions.
“This is the preeminent civil rights issue of our time and the AFL-CIO will continue to dedicate the full resources of our Federation to ensure that we achieve this vital goal,” union president Richard Trumka wrote in the letter, provided to POLITICO.
“At the same time, the AFL-CIO is committed to ensuring that changes to our legal immigration system adequately protect the rights of all workers in our society – both workers who are already in the United States as well as workers who come to our country through employment-based visa programs,” he added.
Buy-in from major labor unions such as the AFL-CIO is one of the key factors that has, so far, make this year’s attempt at immigration reform different than the failed effort six years ago.
The agreement between the Chamber of Commerce and the unions was considered one of the most difficult compromises to strike during the Gang of Eight’s months-long negotiations. But with the new guest-worker program – which has stayed largely intact so far – the two powerful Washington constituencies have been on board with the immigration reform efforts on Capitol Hill.
The AFL-CIO also said in its letter that it will oppose a package of four amendments from Hatch that deal with back taxes and federal benefits. The Gang of Eight needs to keep Hatch on board by accepting his changes, but Democrats and other immigration advocates worry that his proposals are overly restrictive.
“America’s public policies must promote shared prosperity, not create pathways to poverty,” Trumka wrote.
The union vowed to fight proposals that would implement a “hard trigger” that would meddle with the legalization process, such as an amendment from Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) that would require a border fence to be in place before immigrants can become legalized and eventually obtain green cards. That proposal is among a group of four amendments that are scheduled to get a vote in the Senate on Tuesday afternoon.
The AFL-CIO also opposes an amendment from Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who wants tougher requirements for DREAM Act-eligible immigrants on their pathway to citizenship. The West Virginian is a potential “no” vote for Democrats on the underlying bill, and Manchin sided with nearly all Republicans last week on a strict border security requirement that was killed by the Senate.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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