Immigration reform advances in US Senate

Immigration reform legislation passed an important procedural hurdle in the US Senate today, which should allow an entire package to come up for debate and a vote later in the week. The legislation is very closely watched in El Salvador. The possibility of a temporary worker program and a "path to citizenship" for those many Salvadorans living without legal status in the US is very important for the thousands of Salvadoran families separated with family members working and living north and south of the border. For updates on the legislation's provisions, you can view the coverage by the Washington Post here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Err, I think the advance of the immigration reform encountered a bump in the road in the Senate today.

Just say no to guest worker program. You can dress up the Bracero program like something else, but it still exploits low wage immigrant workers and causes a race to the bottom with wages and labor rights for all working people in the U.S.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Opponents effectively killed President Bush's long-fought and emotion-laden Senate immigration bill Thursday when members voted against advancing the controversial legislation.

The tally was 46 to 53, 14 votes shy of the 60 needed to end debate.
Anonymous said…
The pressure is back on Presidente Saca to improve working conditions and wages in El Salvador.
Immigration cannot be seen as the only escape from a life of poverty. As one American Senator said "It's time that the countries of Latin America make improvements back home."
Anonymous said…
In Canada we have guest workers who come to Canada legally. They work for six months and return home. While here they have all the rights of all other workers, including Workers' Compensation, Labour Laws Rights, proper housing et cetera. I have spoken to many of them and they are happy to have a chance to earn a decent wage, be legal and still get to return to their families. It is not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. There are problems with some employers, but that is something that happens to everyone. There are churches and communtiy groups to help them through the long time without their family.