Comprehensive Immigration Reform Not Likely
Posted Feb 27, 2004

Since President George W. Bush gave his speech on January 7, 2004, expressing commitment to immigration reform, he has not been able to garner support from within his own party for his proposals. Many members of the Republican Party have been reluctant or even passionately opposed to the President's position. For a description of the President's immigration reform plan, see our January 8, 2004 MurthyBulletin article, President Bush Announces Commitment to Immigration Reform, available on MurthyDotCom. Congress is currently made up of more Republicans than Democrats. Therefore, even if the Democratic members of Congress would support a plan similar to the President's, there must be support from within the Republican Party for the legislation to pass in Congress and reach the President's desk to be signed into law.

A Chicago news article on this issue, released on February 21, 2004, quotes the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) of Georgia. He expresses doubt that the President's immigration reform agenda will pass this year. Instead, the Senator believes it will take place "within the next couple of calendar years." Smaller immigration reform, such as the Ag Bill which permits temporary workers for agricultural businesses, may still have some chance of passing this year.

We remind MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers that their friends who may not be lawfully present in the U.S. should not assume that they will qualify eventually under yet-to-be-approved immigration reform provisions. Similarly, persons who are coming to the end of their statuses should not remain unlawfully, based upon an assumption that the laws may suddenly become lenient and forgiving. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been working diligently to locate and remove those who are unlawfully present in the United States. There is always a substantial risk for an unlawfully present individual to remain in the U.S. Immigration reform is an uncertain matter. While immigration laws have been constantly changing, the timeframe for favorable legislation is not always swift and the results are not always as hoped or predicted.