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China News Digest - US Regional Services (Bo Xiong) --------------- Date: Tue, 8 Aug 95 18:01:54 CDT From: my@math.luc.edu (Miao Ye) Message-Id: <9508082301.AA07625@math.luc.edu> Status: RO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Committee * on * Immigration <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< News Release #9505 (supplement) Sunday, August 6, 1995 ============================================================================== +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Committee on Immigration is a coalition of Chinese Students, Scholars & Professionals who work against the anti-immigration legislation HR1915 For more info or want to contribute please send to hr1915@math.luc.edu +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= ============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Push the right button.............................................83 2. From National Immigration Forum...................................58 3. About Senator Dole's Welfare Reform Bill (S259)...................60 4. Sample Letter against Bill S-269................................. 66 ============================================================================== 1. Push the right button, a brief on the past and future.............83 By Luo Ning The National Immigration Forum (NIF) has issued a summary on what happened during the House Immigration Subcommittee (attached at the end of this note). There are a lot of technical details, but the most important progress is that the Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Hyde has agreed to delay the JC mark-up until after the recess, which wins us a precious month to mobilize the support. The key forces in winning this tactic victory are, as mentioned in the NIF report, the local constituents in Illinois where Rep. Hyde come from and the Catholics which is a base of Hyde. It is important to rally more support from Catholic coalition since they are powerful and they support the immigration. It is always imperative for lobbying to know what are the right buttons to push. Amid the current hype of anti-immigration sentiments, a careless move may well backfire. One example is how to rebut the AEA testimony. We cannot simply say that there are 100,000 Chinese students and scholars to be excluded by HR1915, because that is exactly what it intends to do. We must clearly understand where we, Chinese students and professionals, stands in this campaign. Everyone of us have a lot to lose if the bill like HR1915 or S269 becomes law. If you are expecting to become a permanent resident (PR), then the waiting period will be greatly extended; if you have already been a PR, your own benefits will be significantly reduced, even after you become a citizen in the near future, and it will be much more difficult or impossible to bring your family members or relatives to come to the States. Even if you plan to return to China after completing your study, the general attitude toward foreigners, especially the Asians since we are easily recognizable, will be much more hostile if the anti-immigration tide is not turned back. Therefore, the most urgent task for those of us who are already in the campaign is to get the word out to EVERY MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY, let all know that EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE HURT BADLY. Based on my local experience, the majority CSP has not been aware about what is going on in Congress which will change their life and perspective of "American Dream" forever, and an even larger majority simply doesn't know about the past history of the US immigration policy which had excluded and discriminated against Asian immigrants systematically for the most part of last 100 years. Little can be achieved if we only rely on the current group of activists. Only when the whole community is mobilized, could our force be felt. And to achieve that, we have a lot of self-education to do! What to do for those mobilized members of our community? We must know clearly how to use our resources efficiently and exert our force effectively. Right now, only a very small percentage of the CSP community are American citizens and can vote. But in this hot election season, EVERY VOTE COUNTS. So make sure that all those who can vote register. For the majority of CSP, whether PR or not, the most effective action in the month of August, before the Congress reopens after the Labor Day weekend, is to REACH OUT to you local Chinese community, Asian Pacific American community, immigrant community and American friends and colleagues at large. Don't just talk to those who you consider as potential allies, but also talk to those who support the restrictionist measures on immigration, try to communicate with them, understand their feeling and their thoughts, and see whether your could develop a dialogue with them which will enhance the mutual understanding. Test whether you could make Americans aware the negative effects of the anti-immigration legislations, which not only hurt the immigrants directly, but also undermine the founding principle of this nation. And please exchange your experience with others on the net! AWARENESS: Community-wide general awareness of the crisis. UNDERSTANDING: Understanding of the complex issue of immigration, the history of immigration policy and the impact on people's life in this country, and the forces support and oppose the anti-immigration moves. These are the urgent tasks we need to accomplish so as to lay a solid foundation for our next-stage campaign. Get ready for media (do we know what we are going to talk about?) Get ready for the August Advocacy Blits (see the following NIF message). Build up momentum for the National Lobby Day in early September. ======================================================================== 2. From National Immigration Forum...................................58 SMITH BILL MARK-UP COMPLETED AFTER SEVERAL LATE NIGHT SESSIONS After many late-night meetings over a week's time, the House Immigration Subcommittee completed mark-up of Chairman Smith's "Immigration in the National Interest Act" (H.R. 1915) on Thursday July 20. Two of the most disturbing amendments that were adopted are: Hospital reporting requirement to receive reimbursement for the costs of providing emergency medical services to the undocumented. This amendment was offered by Rep. Gallegly (R-CA), and unanimously passed the Committee. To receive reimbursement, hospitals would be required to verify the immigration status of all persons receiving emergency medical services with the INS. This amendment comes directly from the recommendations of the House Task Force on Illegal Immigration which Rep. Gallegly chairs. Severe Restrictions on Asylum Seekers. Rep. McCollum (R-FL) dusted off an old proposal from a few years ago that would require asylum applicants to meet a higher standard in order to be granted asylum, establish short time limits for applying for asylum, limit applicants' ability to receive work authorization, and eliminate any review of an asylum officer's decision by an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals. The amendment passed with only Rep. Berman (D- CA) and Rep. Becerra (D-CA) voting against it. In addition, Rep. McCollum discussed an amendment that he may offer at the full Judiciary mark-up that would have a tamper-proof social security card with a photograph, hologram, and biometric identifier issued to all Americans eligible to work as a way of supposedly controlling illegal immigration. FULL JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION POSTPONED UNTIL EARLY SEPTEMBER Many thanks for the hard work of Forum members and friends in D.C. and across the country for pushing for a postponement of the Judiciary Committee mark-up. Special thank,, to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Protection (formerly the Chicago coalition) and Catholic Charities of San Diego for their letters to Rep. Hyde, the Judiciary Committee chair. The full Committee will likely, take the bill up in September, though a date is not yet certain. The upcoming Congressional recess gives us time to do strong advocacy at the local level with congressional offices, reach out to the media to explain our concerns with the legislation, and build momentum for an early September national lobby day. In the coming days the Forum will be faxing an advocacy strategy plan setting forth details of suggestions for an August Advocacy Blitz, followed by a mailing with materials for use in your efforts. ========================================================================== 3. About Senator Dole's Welfare Reform Bill (S259)..............60 Senator Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-KS) plans to introduce an new welfare reform bill on the Senator floor on Friday. The immigrant provisions of the new bill are similar, in most respects, to the Senator version of H.R. 4 passed by the Finance Committee in the end of May, except that they apply to more programs. Like the Finance Committee bill, the Dole substitute is, in many respects, more punitive than the House-passed bill. The Dole substitute would bar legal immigrants who have not yet become citizens from receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), with fewer exceptions than the House-passed bill. In addition, the Dole substitute would effectively disqualify many immigants, including some who have already become U.S. citizens, from nearly all needs-based federal programs. This would be the first time in our history that benefits would be denied to U.S. citizens solely because they came here as immigarnts. Bar on Legel Immigrant Access to SSI The Dole substitute would bar legal immigrants who are not citizens from receiving SSI. The only immigrants who are not citizens who would remain eligible under the Senator bill would be: . Asylees, refugees and immigrants granted withholding of deploration with their first five years in the US. . Lawfully present veterans, their spouses and unmarried children. . Those who have worked enough quarters to be "fully insured" for social security benefits. Ineligibility of Immigrants, Including U.S. Citizens, Because of Deeming The Dole substitute would deny assistance to many legal immigrants, including some who have become citizens, by its "sponsor-to-immigrant deeming" provisions. Under deeming, immigrants lose benefits unless they have no sponsor, or unless their sponsor has died or has virtually no income or resourses. In the Senator bill, deeming would apply to nearly all needs-based federal programs. Passage of the Senator version of H.R.4 would denigrate the meaning of citizenship, dividing Americans for the first time, based on where we were born. It would destroy the hopes of legal immigrants and new citizens seeking to contribute to the American dream by blocking them from access to job-training, Pell grants and student loans. Immigrants pay taxes: The Cato Institute and the Urban Institute agree that immigrants are net contributors to the tax base. They pay far more each year in taxes than they receive back in benefits and services. But these taxes mostly go to the federal government, and are not proportionately returned to the communities where immigrants live. The Doel bill greatly exacerbates this problem by withdrawing tens of billions of dollars from communities where immigrants live for use in tax cuts or deficit reduction. (prepared by National Immigration Law Center) Posted by Hu Sen, August 6, 1995 =========================================================================== 4. Sample Letter against Bill S-269.............................. 66 The Honorable Senator [Address] Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Senator [name] I urge you to vote against the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Bill and any similar bills in the Senator which purport to solve this country's economic or budget problems by blaming immigrant Americans. These proposals include enforceable affidavits of support and "deeming" requirements which render immigrants ineligible for virtually all federal benefits and services such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent children (AFDC), Medicaid, and higher education loans and grant programs. Affidavits of support would be enforceable for 40 quarters (10 years) of work regardless of citizenship. In order to count towards one of the quarters worked, the immigrant must: (1) earn enough to qualify for Social Security; (2) not have received any needs-based assistance; and (3) have income tax liability for the tax years that include the quarters. To determine eligibility for these programs, "deeming" would combine the income and resources are actually available to the immigrant apllying for the program. As a result of "deeming", recent immigrants with sponsors would become ineligible for benefits since their combined incomes and resources exceed the low income guidelines of these programs. Various proposals have also inceased this "deeming" period from its current 3-5 years to 10 years or the life of the immigrant regardless of whether they become citizens. This radical proposal would create second class citizens who are immigrants and deny them full rights to services and benefits just because they are naturalized citizens and not native born citizens. These restrictions to eligibility apply to all federal funds taht will be allocated to the states and eventually flow rto churches, nonprofit groups and community-based organizations. All these organizations will only be aloowed to serve those immigrants eligible for direct services. These additional hurdles to determine eligibility increase administrative costs that will discourage some organizations from providing immigrants with needed services, and in some instances, turning them away because they do not "look American." Immigrants are making tremendous contributions to the economy, atrs, sciences and technology by revutalizing depressed areas and starting businesses that provide thousands of jobs for all Americans. According to an Urban Institue study, immigrants pay $25 billion more in taxes than they receive in services each year. We urge you to vote against any provisions which scapegoat immigrant Americans while ignoring the nations's real challenges. Instead of scapegoating immigrants and dividing our nation along ethnic lines, Congress must focus on the issue of poverty, unemployment and inadquate health care that challenge this country. Stand up for America -- A Nation of Immigrants! Sincerely, Signature (Prepared by Asia American Legal Defense And Education Fund) Posted by Hu Sen, August 6, 1995 =============================================================================== Editor of this issue: Hu Mao ================================================================================