 "Obama wants Senate to move quickly on immigration reform")
Washington: US President Barack Obama has requested the Senate to quickly move forward the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill proposed by a bipartisan group of eight Senators, saying the legislation, once passed, will pave the way for the required changes in the immigration rules.
“The bill will provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are already in this country illegally. It will modernise our legal immigration system so that we’re able to reunite families and attract highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will help create good paying jobs and grow our economy,” said the US President.
[caption id=“attachment_704868” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AP[/caption]
He said although the legislation may not provide “everything” due to its “compromising” nature owing to various complications, it will bring in the necessary amendments required in country’s immigration policy. “It is largely consistent with the principles that I have repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform. This bill will continue to strengthen security at our borders and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers,” Obama said.
The President was speaking after being briefed on the bill by the two leading Senators Chuck Schumer and John McCain at the White House. Noting that provisions of the bill are all commonsense steps that majority of Americans support, Obama urged the Senate to quickly move this bill forward.
“As I told Senators Schumer and McCain, I stand willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that comprehensive immigration reform becomes a reality as soon as possible,” Obama said. Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, one of the members of the group of eight senators, said the current immigration reform is broken.
“It is not a 21st century immigration system. One of the things we do in this bill is we change that,” he said, underscoring that with this bill, the existing family-based immigration system will be replaced by a merit-based system.With this, “our immigration is actually going to be about attracting people who have skills or talents or a job waiting for them here, and have something to contribute to the economy,” he said, giving an insight into the nature of immigration reforms that his group is proposing.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“So I think that’s one of the reason’s I think we need to do immigration reform,” he said. “The second problem we have that is encouraging illegal immigration is we don’t have a viable temporary worker programme. And so, for example, agriculture needs temporary workers. These are jobs that sometimes Americans won’t do. And there’s no way to legally get that workforce,” he said. “So if you have a supply of people willing to do that job, a demand for those jobs, and no legal way for the two to meet, they’re going to meet illegally, and that’s what we have now. So to defend the current system, I think is a terrible mistake,” he said.
A summary of the proposed Senate Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernisation Act was made public yesterday, outlining significant changes to the complex array of immigration laws in the US. The bill is set to be considered by the full Senate starting today. “The Senate proposal could prove a watershed moment in the history of US immigration by bringing millions of people out of the shadows,” said Alison Parker, US programme director at Human Rights Watch.
“But the proposal still threatens the rights of migrants to family unity and due process,” he noted. The proposal calls for strengthening prohibitions against racial profiling in enforcing immigration laws, which would help curtail discrimination against immigrants and the broader public, Human Rights Watch said. It would also beef up training of immigration agents to address the growing problem of their misuse of force, the rights body added.
PTI
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
