Gang of eight - PowerPoint Presentation Example

Gang of Eight Slide The gang of eight, which includes the two leaders each, of the two parties from both the Senate and House of Representatives,and the chairs and ranking minority members of both the Senate Committee and House Committee for intelligence, announced the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, on 16th April 2013. The proposed bill is part of the planned immigration reforms. Much debate has been going on about the issue for a long time and very soon after the last immigration reforms of 1986, it was noted that further reforms are necessary.

This bill is the first major step towards implementation of the much needed reforms. Approximately 11 million people are living in the United States undocumented; illegally. Latinos constitute a major proportion of this figure of 11 million but there are other ethnicities and nationalities present as well. This bill specifically addresses the people who arrived in the United States before 31st December 2011 and remain undocumented. This bill is an 844 page document and addresses some major key issues and introduces some new terminologies and concepts.

The first and most important of which is the creation of a new status for the illegal immigrants who seek to attain citizenship or residence in the United States. This new status will be called ‘Registered Provisional Immigrant’ status. Slide 2: To attain this new status of Registered Provisional Immigrant’, the immigrants would need to apply for it and demonstrate that they meet the required criteria and the prerequisites. The major prerequisites include payment of a fine which relates to their illegal stay in the country and is compulsory; moreover, there are application fees which need to be paid in order to start the process.

The individuals need to pay any taxes they have accrued to the IRS over the period of their stay in the United States but have not yet paid because of their illegal status. A background check will be conducted to determine whether or not the applicant poses any risks to the Country if residence is provided. The applicants’ criminal record will also be looked into and the provision of the new status will be denied to those who don’t fulfill it. Other than these requirements, the applicants would also need to learn the use of the English language; which is growing as a necessity to find work in the United States.

The Government does not want these illegal immigrants attaining the new status to become burdens on the country and therefore, finding work is important for these people. Slide 3: The immigrants which are then granted this new status would thus be allowed to find employment and jobs and it will all be legal instead of what some of them were previously doing; illegal employment. The bill also proposes that the people under this status would be allowed to travel abroad when they want. The Registered Provisional Immigrant status would be valid initially for just 6 years; however, it can be extended for a further period of 4 years.

After the completion of the total period of 10 years, they would be allowed to apply for residence or a Green Card. After another three years, the individuals can then apply for permanent citizenship of United States. Slide 4: The bill states that before the new status starts being given out to the applicants, a further few requirements must first be fulfilled. Significant budget will need to be allocated to fulfill these requirements and this includes a 4.5 billion US dollars project which would aim to improve the border security especially on the Mexico-United States border.

A double-layered fence is proposed; along with additional personnel who work in Customs and are stationed on the Border. They’re called ‘U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents’ or CBP. The increase in personnel, the bill says, is necessary in order to better enforce the requirements of the new bill, one of which includes stopping 90 percent of illegal immigrations which take place on the Mexico-United States border. The bill states that better exit systems must be implemented across the country, on all ports of arrival and departure; land, air or sea.

Furthermore, a more efficient employment verification system needs to be implemented to make sure that immigrants are no longer easily able to work illegally and are thus more inclined towards attaining the new RPI status. The bill also introduces a new Merit based visa. This will be awarded based on various things, some of which include the applicant’s academic achievements, their achievements in their employment or any other significant services to the humanity or the society in general. Slide 5: The bill has various pros and cons in the eyes of the media and the public.

Up to 70% of the general public is said to be in favor of passing of the bill. The pros of the bill include that fact that this is a major step towards the right direction in reducing the backlog for immigration for families and will go a long way in re-uniting various members of families. There are people living in the United States who have not had a chance to meet their own parents for decades and this new bill seeks to address that issue, among many others. It provides a good opportunity for people staying illegally to attain legal citizenship.

Moreover, the illegal immigrants who are working illegally also have very poor to no rights when it comes to their work or employment and are often used like animals. This bill would provide them with a legal status and with that status, the legal, human and civil rights which would then improve their quality of life. The bill proposes a new temporary worker program which goes a long way in addressing the current needs of the labor market. Some of the critics argue that the cons include a long wait for full citizenship; which is about 13 years under the new proposed bill.

Additionally, the bill requires the applicants to pay various fees; such as a penalty or a fine, all the taxes owed, and a further fee for the process, and it might all be a bit too much for most of the immigrants who are in fact financially not very well off and barely able to provide for themselves. Additionally, but not lastly, the bill requires a very heavy investment of more than 4 billion US dollars on the new reforms especially those relating to border security and this is a big amount.

Since 1986, when the previous reforms were implemented, there has been nearly 200 billion US dollar expenditure towards tackling the issue of illegal immigrants and this would just add to that figure.