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Bernie Sanders Voted Against Immigration Reform in 2007 (and Was Right)
Hector Luis Alamo is a Chicago-based writer and the deputy editor at Latino Rebels.
“I’m a strong supporter of immigration reform,” Hillary Clinton stated during last Thursday’s debate in Milwaukee. “And I have been ever since I was in the Senate. I was one of the original sponsors of the DREAM Act. I voted for comprehensive immigration reform in 2007; Senator Sanders voted against it at that time.” This is where my partner Rocio looks over at me from the opposite end of the couch. “Is that true?” she says, her voice tinged with a sense of betrayal and disappointment. How could Bernie Sanders, the people’s candidate, have voted against an effort to end one of the United States’ major injustices?
Hoping to maintain her lead in the polls among Latino voters, Clinton is trying to present herself as a more consistent advocate of immigration reform than Bernie Sanders, and in this her most effective attack is pointing out that Sanders voted against a bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill in 2007. The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, introduced by Senate majority leader Harry Reid on the heels of the Democrats’ retaking control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, was largely a compromise between earlier legislation proposed by Senators Ted Kennedy, John McCain, Jon Kyl and John Cornyn. It was also a last ditch effort by George W. Bush and the Republicans to stem the flow of immigration, while eliminating issue from the Democratic Party’s platform. Containing all of the DREAM Act, which would’ve provided a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as minors who graduated from high school and met other requirements, the 2007 bill also included provisions for increased border security, a guest worker program, and restrictions on future immigration.
The bill called for 20,000 more Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of additional fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. It removed four of the five family-based categories under which an immigrant could apply for permanent residency, keeping only the preference for spouses and children of U.S. citizens. The guest worker program would’ve allowed 200,000 Latin Americans to work in the United States for two years, after which they would have to return to their home countries for a full year before they could reapply for temporary work.
Bernie Sanders supported the DREAM Act part of the bill, but opposed the guest worker bit and the downgrading of family reunification. So did one of the United States’ most venerated Latino civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the country’s largest trade union, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Hoping to maintain her lead in the polls among Latino voters, Clinton is trying to present herself as a more consistent advocate of immigration reform than Bernie Sanders, and in this her most effective attack is pointing out that Sanders voted against a bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill in 2007. The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, introduced by Senate majority leader Harry Reid on the heels of the Democrats’ retaking control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, was largely a compromise between earlier legislation proposed by Senators Ted Kennedy, John McCain, Jon Kyl and John Cornyn. It was also a last ditch effort by George W. Bush and the Republicans to stem the flow of immigration, while eliminating issue from the Democratic Party’s platform. Containing all of the DREAM Act, which would’ve provided a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as minors who graduated from high school and met other requirements, the 2007 bill also included provisions for increased border security, a guest worker program, and restrictions on future immigration.
The bill called for 20,000 more Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of additional fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. It removed four of the five family-based categories under which an immigrant could apply for permanent residency, keeping only the preference for spouses and children of U.S. citizens. The guest worker program would’ve allowed 200,000 Latin Americans to work in the United States for two years, after which they would have to return to their home countries for a full year before they could reapply for temporary work.
Bernie Sanders supported the DREAM Act part of the bill, but opposed the guest worker bit and the downgrading of family reunification. So did one of the United States’ most venerated Latino civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the country’s largest trade union, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
More: http://www.latinorebels.com/2016/02/15/bernie-sanders-voted-against-immigration-reform-in-2007-and-was-right/
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