Republican Congresswoman Going to Introduce A Offer Of Temporary Visa to Undocumented immigrants in the US

By: MRT Desk

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The Republican congresswoman’s bill is based on the so-called “Dignity Program” that, if passed, would allow undocumented immigrants who have remained in the United States for five years to stay in the country and work legally if they meet certain requirements.

“You can come out of the shadows and live a dignified life,” Salazar told a news conference today. Under the bill, participants in the “Dignity Program” would have to pass a criminal background check, pay back taxes, and start paying others on income based on the new wages. In addition, they must pay the federal government $10,000 in restitution over a period of 10 years for having entered the country illegally.

“A thousand dollars a year to live in the promised land is more than acceptable,” said the Cuban-born congresswoman who represents Florida’s 27th district. According to the press, the money from the restitution would go to a new U.S. Workers Fund, which would pay for the job training of the country’s citizens. Individuals applying to the program would pay a tax in order to increase the number of Border Patrol agents and upgrade the technology of this federal agency.

“Undocumented labor is going to pay for border security,” if this measure is approved, Salazar said. If the bill goes ahead, eligible participants would be allowed to travel back and forth between the U.S. and their home country and would be legal residents rather than citizens, though with a chance of obtaining citizenship in the future.

In a statement, Ali Noorani — president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based immigrant advocacy organization — said today that the introduction of the ‘Dignity Act’ represents a decisive and constructive step toward long-delayed immigration reforms.We need Republicans and Democrats to build consensus on solutions that strengthen our workforce and our economy, offer certainty to all of us that we depend on Dreamers and peasants, and establish an orderly and humane process for migrants arriving at our borders the statement added.

“ELECTORALIST” PROJECT

For her part, Vanessa Cardenas, deputy director of the pro-immigrant group America’s Voice, refuted the bill, saying it “looks like a press release to us aimed at immigrant voters in their Florida district.””It appears designed to polish his (Salazar’s) re-election chances, not a serious effort to pass legislation or take on nativists in the Republican Party,” Cardenas said in a statement.

According to a 2020 report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has remained relatively stable, between 10.5 million and 12 million people since the Great Recession of 2007-2009, but the origin of this population has become more diverse.Earlier this February, Miami-Dade County, southeast Florida, approved the creation of an ID for its residents regardless of their immigration status, a measure that joins other large cities with a large immigrant community.

With this approval, Miami-Dade County joins a list of jurisdictions that offer or recognize identifications for undocumented immigrants such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Washington D.C, among others, and in Florida Broward or Alachua counties.According to some national media, Salazar has been presenting this migratory project since 2021, but it was this Tuesday the day that marked its official presentation.”We look forward to working with Rep. Salazar and her colleagues to improve the initial bill and help Congress negotiate smart solutions,” the National Immigration Forum leader said.

Other points of the plan

The Dignity Act, in addition to including a temporary legalization path for millions of undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for at least 5 years and have no criminal record, notes that it “ends illegal immigration to the United States once and for all, restores law and order, and revitalizes the American workforce.” The bill includes the payment of a $10,000 fine for undocumented stay. The fee must be paid each year with a payment of $1,000. The beneficiaries will also pay a tax of 2% of the income they obtain, funds that will be used for border security projects.

Salazar explained that the initiative “restores the U.S. economy.” He said that “if the economy does not grow, the American dream will die.” And he said that his plan “combines provisions that have been approved in previous congresses on the issue of immigration,” and that he “has provisions that have received bipartisan support in the last decade.” On March 18 of last year, the House of Representatives, with bipartisan support, passed two bills that, unlike Salazar’s bill, included a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country.

Beneficiaries of both plans are Dreamers, essential workers, farmers, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders.The two bills remain stalled in the Senate for lack of Republican support. For their part, Democrats have tried three times to include the immigration issue in the reconciliation package of the social spending budget, but the top adviser to the Upper House (Parliamentary), Elizabeth MacDonough, has rejected the strategy arguing that the legalization of 6.5 million undocumented immigrants would increase the fiscal deficit by $ 131,000 million in 10 years.

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