A Promising but Imperfect Remedy: The Establishment of the RPI Visa Under S Zixuan Xiao

Transcription

1 A Promising but Imperfect Remedy: The Establishment of the RPI Visa Under S. 744 Zixuan Xiao Illegal immigration to the United States has increased significantly within the last two decades. Over eleven million undocumented immigrants live in the United States. 1 Since early 2013, the American public has seen immigration as one of the top political issues the country faces. 2 As a response, on June 27, 2013, the United States Senate approved S. 744, known as the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 in a historic 68 to 32 vote. 3 Although the House of Representatives did not vote for this bill, it was viewed as an extremely important step in immigration reform because if it had passed the House, it would have been the most comprehensive reform of the American immigration system since It covered four major aspects of immigration reform as shown in its four titles: (1) border security, (2) immigrant visas, (3) interior immigration status enforcement, and (4) nonimmigrant and work visa programs. 4 Among all of these areas, this short paper will introduce the approaches by this bill to legalize existing undocumented workers in the United States, and then evaluate the benefits and problems it could have brought to American society if it became law. As President Barack Obama pointed out in his announcement launching executive action on 1 Jens Manuel Krogstad & Jeffrey S. Passel, 5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S., PEW RESEARCH CENTER (Nov. 18, 2014), % Now Consider Immigration Very Important to Their Next Vote, RASMUSSEN REPORTS (June 25, 2013), consider_ immigration_very_important_to_their_next_vote. 3 Melissa V. La Venia, Update: U.S. Senate Votes to Approve Gang of Eight s U.S. Immigration Reform Bill and Key Canadian Provisions, NAT L L. REV., June 28, 2013, 4 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S. 744, 113th Cong. (2013).

2 immigration reform on November 20, 2013, the public and Congress have realized that it is impractical to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. 5 The President also said that deporting undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country for a long time with their families is also against American values, because this nation s people are descended from immigrants. 6 Furthermore, economists have shown that legalizing undocumented immigrants through comprehensive immigration reform would be beneficial to the American economy. As noted by a report from the Center for American Progress, comprehensive immigration reform generates an increase in U.S. GDP of at least 0.84[%] It also boosts wages for both native-born and newly legalized immigrant workers. 7 S. 744 establishes the legal approach that would enable undocumented immigrants to acquire permanent residency and work visas in the United States. Title II of the Senate bill, Immigrant Visas, created the Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) program, which includes the pathway to citizenship clauses, allowing a certain part of the undocumented immigrant population to apply for permanent residency. 8 According to S. 744, undocumented immigrants qualify for RPI status if they (1) have not been convicted of a felony or more than three misdemeanors, including previous immigration status violations; (2) have been in [U.S. territory] since December 31, 2011; (3) have paid their taxes and passed 5 President Barack Obama, Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Immigration (Nov. 20, 2014), available at 6 Id. 7 Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS, 1-2 (Jan. 2010), 8 S

3 background checks; and (4) have paid an application fee and $1000 penalty. 9 Maintaining a RPI visa requires the immigrants to reach an income level above the poverty level and avoid unemployment periods of more than sixty days under RPI status. 10 Also, many public benefits would not cover the immigrants and their families while under RPI status, including Medicare and Medicaid as well as health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act until after they gain permanent residency. 11 Immigrants would be eligible to apply for permanent residency after holding RPI status for at least ten years and they would become eligible for US citizenship after holding permanent residency for three years. 12 The Senate bill also embraced the DREAM Act, which accelerates the process of providing permanent residency for young and well-educated undocumented immigrants, who only need to maintain RPI status for five years to be eligible for permanent residency. 13 Undocumented agricultural workers also would be granted a faster legal process of gaining permanent residency. 14 Immigration reform would help the American economy. If S. 744 became law, it would have turned undocumented immigrants, the group of people who used to weaken the economy due to their illegal status, into a group that contributes to economic growth. Researchers have shown that immigration has a positive effect on American wages across all education levels, increasing the quality of life for all American families. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated 9 Nicholas J. Ferraro, Notes and Comment: The U.S. Senate Immigration Reform Bill and the Need for Amendments Before Passing, 36 U. LA VERNE L. REV. 17, 34 (2014). 10 Id. 11 Id. at S Id Ferraro, supra note 9, at

4 that immigration reform would increase real Gross Domestic Product by 3.3% in 2023 and 5.4% in 2033, relative to current law projections. 15 These are the direct economic benefits of the reform, but they are not the only ones. Introducing the RPI system also empowers the former unauthorized workers to resolve employment conflicts under federal and state employment and labor laws. RPI visa holders will be on the same level as American workers are under employment protections. 16 This would significantly increase the social status of undocumented immigrants and the accountability of employers. Under the proposed system, undocumented workers would be able to seek safe working conditions or file discrimination claims against their employers. This would greatly discourage employers from subjecting their employees to unsafe working conditions or discrimination because the immigrants legal status grants them automatic protection against abusive employers. 17 Even though the establishment of the RPI visa will benefit both the American economy and society to a great extent, the current version of S. 744 is not perfect. The flaw of the current RPI visa will undermine its ability to deliver the most benefits that it could bring to the United States. The fundamental flaw of the bill is its halting of the visa application process for certain undocumented immigrants. That is, an undocumented immigrant would not be eligible to apply 15 Cecilia Muñoz, Gene Sperling, Alan Krueger & Sylvia Mathews Burwell, The Economic Benefits of Fixing Our Broken Immigration System, THE WHITE HOUSE (July 10, 2013), economic-benefits- fixing-our-broken-immigration-system. 16 Daniel Costa, Future Flows and Worker Rights in S. 744: A Guide to How the Senate Immigration Bill Would Modify Current Law, ECON. POL Y INST. (Nov. 12, 2013), s744-guide-immigration/. 17 Ferraro, supra note 9, at 54.

5 for this visa if he was charged with a felony. 18 However, the reality is that virtually all illegal aliens are guilty of multiple felonies, among them identity theft, document fraud, tax evasion, and perjury. 19 Therefore, for a significant portion of the undocumented immigrant population, applying for a RPI visa not only would be meaningless, but also could expose them to government identification. Many years of living undetected peacefully would further deter them from coming out. The effects of S. 744 would be greatly undermined due to this reason. Therefore, if the aim of the bill is to help the immigrants integrate into American society and contribute to its economic and social development, there has to be an amendment to the bill to fix this flaw. S. 744 s passage in the Senate has already been a historic feat. It was a product of a bipartisan effort after negotiation and compromise among lawmakers, union leaders, and business owners, intending to reform an entire system that would significantly influence the future of the American people. The establishment of the RPI visa was just one part of this effort. If the bill had passed in the House with a certain number of amendments fixing the flaws, the broken immigration system would be much less broken. 18 S (b). 19 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013: Hearing on S. 744 Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 113th Cong., (2013) (statement of Mark Krikorian, Exec. Dir., Center for Immigration Studies), available at