Copyright 2000 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San
Diego Union-Tribune
September 14, 2000, Thursday
SECTION: OPINION;Pg. B-15
LENGTH: 629 words
HEADLINE: A
passel of bills affecting Hispanics
BYLINE: Patricia
Guadalupe; (C) Hispanic Link News Service | Distributed by Los Angeles Times
Syndicate | Guadalupe is Capitol Hill correspondent for Hispanic Link News
Service and interim news director of Pacific Radio's Network News in Washington,
D.C.
BODY:
The 106th U.S. Congress has reconvened
for its last session before the November elections, coming back to chip away at
a packed "to do" list, including several issues of particular interest to the
Hispanic community.
Legislators are considering a $1
increase in the minimum wage, to $6.15 an hour. Both
Republicans and Democrats -- including the Clinton administration -- support an
increase, but the measure has been bogged down by political infighting.
Republicans want to help businesses pay for the hike with a series of tax cuts,
which the Democrats oppose as unnecessary.
Immigration issues also
figure prominently. Latino legislators and immigrant-rights groups have been
lobbying to grant permanent-residence status to groups in addition to the
Nicaraguans and Cubans covered under the 1997 Nicaraguan and Central American
Relief Act (NACARA).
"It's only fair," says Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.,
a sponsor of the bill to extend NACARA. "Many of these people from El Salvador,
Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti are here because of the same kinds of
circumstances in their native countries as those who came here and are covered
by the law. They should all be treated equally."
Also under
consideration is a bill to restore Section 245(I) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, which had allowed immigrants to remain legally in the United
States while awaiting permanent residency. Because Congress did not reauthorize
Section 245(I) when it was up for renewal in 1998, immigrants now must return to
their country of origin during the waiting period.
Legislators could
also discuss a bill that would grant permanent residency to long-time residents
wrongly denied this status due to a misinterpretation of a 1986 law by the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
At that time, thousands of
immigrants who were eligible to apply for legal residency under the Immigration
Reform and Control Act (IRCA) were erroneously turned down by the INS. Even
though courts have subsequently ruled in favor of the immigrants, the INS has
failed to act, and many of those immigrants have lost their work authorizations
and face deportation.
Additionally, Congress may consider legislation to
create a new "guest worker" program patterned after the old "bracero" program
that ran from 1942 to 1964 to alleviate what the bill's supporters say is a
shortage of workers, particularly in the agriculture industry.
The
United Farm Workers, along with other labor and Latino groups, opposes the
measure, saying it would lower wages for their unionized U.S. workers and would
increase exploitation.
Congress could also consider increasing the
number of H1-B visas -- the so-called "professional visas" -- which the
Republican majority considers necessary to address what it says is a shortage of
U.S. professional workers in several fields, including high-tech. While most
Democrats are not opposed to H1-B visas, Latino groups say that Congress should
at the same time help immigrants already in the United States.
Education
is also a key issue facing legislators this session. Congress is considering
reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA), which includes Title 1 funding. Title 1 monies -- $8
billion -- cover some 11 million needy children.
Congress is also
considering numerous bills to reauthorize funding for key components within the
11 federal agencies, including monies for the Minority Business Development
Agency at the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs
(OBLEMA) at the U.S. Department of Education, and the Office of Minority Health
at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to name a few.
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2001
