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The hopes of undocumented Brazilians in the United States got a boost when last May 25, 2006, the U.S. Senate approved by a vote of 62 to 36 S. 2611 (the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006). What follows now at the U.S. Congress is a clash of two rival ideologies for what Immigration Law reform should be about because unlike the House of Representatives measure H.R. 4437, S. 2611 is not law-enforcement oriented. S. 2611 is a bipartisan Immigration Law proposal.
Ironically, the ensuing debate about the future of Immigration Law reform in the United States will take place while the vast majority of Brazilians root for a sixth World Cup championship this Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. S. 2611 provides: 1) a path for Lawful Permanent Residence for the 12 million undocumented immigrants who have resided over five years in the United States of which Brazilians are estimated to be around 150,000, 2) a new temporary non-immigrant visa for people all over the world which will not exceed 200,000 visas per year, 3) the addition of more immigrant visas in the family- and employment-based categories which have significantly benefited Brazilians, 4) important changes for processing visas for agricultural workers in the United States for which Brazilians have hardly benefited in the past at all given the large pool of undocumented Mexican workers, 5) reform of the immigrant programs for professionals with higher degrees, and 6) the granting of Lawful Permanent Resident status for U.S. High School graduates who go on to pursue college degrees for which some undocumented Brazilians are expected to benefit. Since the mid-1980s, no other major significant Immigration Law reform had been seriously considered in the United States. Thus, S. 2611 is a historic event as it comes in the midst of a rancorous debate over Immigration Law reform in the United States. Current polls in the United States support the aims of S. 2611, which is portrayed by pro-immigrant groups as an earned path to legalization. The debate in the U.S. English-language media has succeeded in mischaracterizing S. 2611 as an amnesty that leads to citizenship. Such mischaracterization has succeeded because Immigration Law is one of the most complex legal areas of law and anybody has a claim to providing a quick fix. From the chants of deport them all of the Minutemen to the proposal for open borders by some of the leaders of the Great American Boycott of 2006 last May 1st. U.S. English-speaking talk-radio shows strive for higher ratings when selectively dealing with Immigration Law by keeping the debate at a visceral level of opinion devoid of facts and legal analysis in a country in which "American Idol" attracts more viewers than a speech by President George W. Bush in support of reforming Immigration Law in the U.S. A sober legal analysis of S. 2611 shows that it is a long and winding row to obtaining Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status. It takes five years of LPR status in the United States before a person can make the personal choice of becoming a U.S. citizen. Nothing in U.S. Immigration Law requires anybody to become a U.S. citizen. U.S. citizenship is a choice. To contend that S. 2611 is a sure path to citizenship is a clever way by Republican politicians of raising the specter of hordes of mostly Spanish-speaking persons striving to become U.S. citizens in order to take the jobs that so-called Americans do not want. Fear fuels the Immigration Law debate in the United States these days. A review of the U.S. media shows that the view of the current Brazilian president is irrelevant and it is hardly considered. The approval of S. 2611 presents Lula with another unique opportunity to speak on behalf of immigrants in the United States. The rattling of the U.S. government cage carried on weekly by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in denouncing the maladies of the U.S. system in effectively addressing the problem of immigration makes greater headlines in the U.S. press than what Lula has to say about it. We are poised in the United States this Summer of 2006 for a period that lays the seeds of racial discord or for a period that brings out the best in American politics - that compromise is the breakfast of political champions. S. 2611 would benefit most Brazilians in the United States. Don't count on the Brazilian government coming out in public to support such measure even if S. 2611 would have a more lasting effect upon Brazil than if the Brazilian team were to win a sixth World Cup in Germany. Edgardo Quintanilla, Esq., is an attorney member of the State Bar of California. He can be reached at eqlaw@pacbell.net.
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And there is not a word about another new invasion even far bigger than the actual one of illegal foreigners who will do everything to enter the USA, should S.2611 be accepted !!!
In only a five years time or so, a minimum of another 12 millions of new illegal immigrants will
create the same problem as today !
What will America then do ?