MIRA Blog
MIRA advocates for the rights and opportunities of immigrants and refugees. In partnership with its members, MIRA advances this mission through policy analysis and advocacy, institutional organizing, training and leadership development, and strategic communications.
‘“E-Verify is a successful program to help ensure that jobs are reserved for citizens and legal workers. The ‘E’ in E-Verify could just as well stand for ‘easy’ and ‘effective.’”
There are many things wrong with Representative Lamar Smith’ s (R-TX) statement about his new bill, the Legal Workforce Act, that would mandate the use of E-Verify. Successful, easy and effective are all three things that E-Verify is not.
“Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created I’ve a good life. I’ve lived the American dream.
But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. “
President Obama’s FY2012 federal spending bill includes two conflicting proposals for immigrant integration. On one hand, the President’s proposed $19.75 million for the Office of Citizenship marks an increase of $1.76 million compared with FY11 (which the GOP-controlled House of Representatives wants to completely eliminate). This is a critical commitment to helping already-integral legal permanent residents to fully participate in our civic life and democratic process by becoming US Citizens.
On the other hand, the President proposed deep cuts to Community Service Block Grants (CSBG), which has been the federal government's only comprehensive approach to address the needs of economically vulnerable residents – helping immigrants and citizens get the services they need to recover from the recession. A cut in CSBG spending will decimate successful and fiscally-efficient programs such as the Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) and Tri-City Community Action Program (Tri-Cap) in Malden. These programs, along with the 1000+ agencies across 99 percent of U.S. counties, together retained over 18,000 jobs, and help provide critical support in employment, workforce training, housing, utilities, child care, disabilities services, etc.
MIRA and other immigrant advocates welcome the Office of Citizenship funding, with which it will continue the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, fee reform, public awareness initiative. The funding can also expand the Citizenship Resource Center, establish regional Citizenship outreach officers, and advance civics and literacy education programs.
However, without economic security, which the defunding of Community Action agencies undermines, it will encumber the naturalization process for many working- and middle-class legal permanent residents. While acquiring citizenship is in many ways a milestone for immigrant integration, the federal government's role in improving economic security, community development and workforce training needs to go hand in hand to comprehensively integrate New Americans into our social, economic and civic future