Invest in Today for a Brighter Future for all Floridians

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By Natalie Carlier, Regional Field Coordinator, Civic Engagement Department, NCLR

CHILDREN youth sitting togetherIn our next video installment we meet Maria Pinzon from Tampa, Florida.  Maria is the Executive Director of Hispanic Services Council, an NCLR Affiliate that works to improve the quality of life of all residents in Hillsborough County by promoting academic success and preparing Latinos to excel in today’s workforce.  Every day Maria sees the impact of federal budget cuts in her community.  She recognizes that Floridians need a federal budget that puts working families before politics and echoes our society’s highest priorities:  education and workforce development.

What does it say about our country’s values when the needs of the wealthy and corporations come before our youth, our students, and our community’s ability to pursue the American Dream?  The federal budget should uphold programs that invest in education and our youth’s future.  It should increase opportunities for our most vulnerable children to access education programs, workers to receive job training, and our families to move forward.

Federal budget cuts will reduce funding for primary and secondary education, college work-study programs, and job search and placement programs.  In Florida this means 95,000 fewer students would be served, 130 fewer schools would receive funding, 6,250 fewer low-income students would receive aid for college, and 78,960 fewer people will get the help and skills they need to find employment.

Federal budget cuts are hurting working families who are trying to make a better life for themselves.  The federal budget should look to close tax loopholes that benefit wealthy corporations and the top 2%.  As Americans we take pride in our ability to pursue the American Dream, no matter where we start from, but we must also take pride in our ability to help others on their way to this dream.

Watch Maria talk about the need to invest in education and job training in her community to prepare tomorrow’s workforce.

Senate Immigration Bill Moves Forward with Bipartisan Support!

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Kudos to the Senate Judiciary STOCK PHOTO capitol buildingCommittee!  After five long days of markup, the committee voted 13–5 yesterday to advance the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013” (S. 744).  With solid bipartisan support, we are now one great big step closer to passing comprehensive immigration reform this year.  Passage of this bill is good for American families and will improve U.S. border and economic security.

Three Republicans, Senators Jeff Flake (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Orrin Hatch (UT), joined with the ten Democrats on the committee to support the bill.  S.744 now moves onto the full Senate for consideration.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) has indicated that he will bring the bill up for a vote in June.

Over the course of three weeks, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered more than 200 of the approximately 300 amendments that were filed.  Some of these amendments sought to weaken the bill; many more were intended to strengthen it.  Ultimately, members of the Committee preserved the core principles of the bill, defeating all of the “poison pill” amendments designed to bring down the legislation and approving many good amendments.

Senators from both sides of the aisle were deeply engaged in the debate and negotiations until the very end.  On the last day of markup, Senator Hirono (D–HI) brought up a very narrow amendment that would have been beneficial for some U.S. citizens separated from siblings or adult children.  Although the amendment was not offered, it elevated this important issue, and a number of senators spoke in favor of the amendment.  Senator Leahy (D–VT) also spoke eloquently about the need to include LGBT families in immigration reform, and even though the amendment was not offered in the committee, many senators spoke in favor of it.

As we have said, the bill is not perfect, but it provides some desperately needed fixes to our broken immigration system.  Yesterday’s vote proves that Republicans and Democrats can work together and are committed to immigration reform this year.  As Chairman Leahy stated in his closing statement:

“We’re American.  We need an immigration system that lives up to American values and helps us write the next great chapter in American history.  We can do it.  We’ve demonstrated to the U.S. Senate that we can all work together—Republicans and Democrats.”

Chairman Leahy is correct:  We can do it.  And we owe it to all Americans to get it done.

Senate Judiciary Committee to Consider Amendments to Roadmap to Citizenship

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Photo: Talk Radio News Service

Photo: Talk Radio News Service

Day 5 of the markup of the Senate’s immigration bill has resumed. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee considers amendments to Title 2, the section involving a pathway to citizenship and legalization, the heart of immigration reform. Watch live and follow the conversation below.



Maintain Social Security’s Compact for All Taxpaying Americans

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By Victoria Brenner, Legislative Analyst, and Leticia Miranda, Senior Policy Advisor, NCLR

As part of its mark-up of the comprehensive immigration reform proposal S. 744, the Senate Judiciary Committee has already considered 81 amendments.   On Monday, when the committee reconvenes, it is slated to take up one that would be exceedingly harmful – amendment #24 offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah (Hatch #24), which denies lawfully present immigrants the Social Security benefits they earned through their work and payroll taxes.  This is particularly unfair because hardworking immigrant taxpayers have contributed billions in payroll taxes to the Social Security Trust Fund, boosting its revenue and prolonging its solvency.

Why is this amendment so bad?  First, reducing access to Social Security for Latino immigrant workers would push millions into poverty later in life.  If aspiring citizens are denied credit for their past contributions, their benefits would be substantially reduced and many would fail to achieve sufficient credits to ever qualify for Social Security.  Moreover, over four million Latino children of immigrants would be would be left without the protection of Social Security in case their working parent died or became disabled.  There are also broader macroeconomic considerations.

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Denying the Earned Income Tax Credit to Aspiring Citizens Harms Us All

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By Leticia Miranda, Senior Policy Advisor, Economic Security Policy, NCLR

Child Tax Credit AdvocatesFor three days now, the Senate Judiciary Committee has been reviewing numerous amendments to S. 744, the Gang of 8’s immigration bill.  Amid the slew of 300 amendments is one that should concern all Americans: Sen. Jeff Sessions’ (R-Ala.) amendment 31 . The Alabama senator’s amendment would deny the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to legally present taxpayers who have earned Resident Provisional Immigrant status, as outlined in S. 744.  These hardworking taxpayers could not claim the EITC for at least ten years until they become Legal Permanent Residents.  Ten years is a lifetime to a growing child.  This exclusion is unjust and will have negative consequences for America’s future.

Workers with legal status should be treated like all other Americans: responsible for paying taxes and eligible for any tax credits due.  The Sessions #31 would create a two-tiered tax system with one group of legal workers required to pay significantly higher tax rates than other workers with the exact same income. It would hurt over four million Latino children of aspiring citizens by eliminating their eligibility for this important tax credit.

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Scenes from the Sequester: Adult Decisions Hurting Our Youth

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Milagro Kids

In the latest installment of our semi-regular video series, we meet Aldira Aldape and Mike Toledo. Both work at nonprofit community-based organizations in NCLR’s Affiliate network.  Aldira and Mike both have deep concerns about the effects of the sequester—mandatory across-the-board cuts to the federal budget—will have on one of our most successful early education programs, Head Start.

We all know that Latino children will make up the bulk of our future workforce. That’s why investments in our youth are so important. With the sequester in effect, however, those investments are harder to make. The policies of austerity in place today jeopardize the future prosperity of America.

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After Waiting 13 Years, My Family Reunified

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By Alicia Criado, Policy Associate, Economic and Employment Policy Project, NCLR

www.violettamarkelou.comWhen I initially heard the current immigration reform bill introduced on April 17 proposed to remove or limit certain family-based immigration petitions all I could think about was my personal family story.  Without these petitions, many of my family members currently living and helping to strengthen the United States’ economy would not be here.

My family is similar to many Latinos families in that we are close-knit and this includes my extended family.  My mom was the first in her family to immigrate to the U.S. and through the family immigration system my mom sponsored her mother and eventually her sibling living in Peru.

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Don’t Let These Amendments Become Part of the Immigration Bill

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BeTheDifference

The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently debating amendments to the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013” (S. 744).  As the committee considers the section of the bill that addresses interior immigration enforcement, we have gotten news that certain harmful amendments could be voted on as soon as today!

Below are a few amendments that impact all workers and restrict the ability of people to earn their citizenship.  Please call your senators and tell them to vote as explained below.  Click here to call and be patched through to your senator now!

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Work Visas Are Focus on Day 2 of the Senate’s Immigration Bill Markup

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Durbin

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee spent the day yesterday considering how to reform the non-immigrant work visa system, which will play an important role in fixing our immigration system. The committee resumed its markup of the immigration bill, S. 744, in a spirited day-long session that ended with Senators from both parties reaffirming their commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform. Title IV, the section of the bill under consideration yesterday, provides legal mechanisms for foreign workers to enter the country for employment purposes. Senators in the committee were successful in adopting some amendments intended to strengthen the bill and rejecting those that would undermine it.

One of the more notable amendments was offered by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Her amendment, which was adopted, would allow spouses of non-immigrant visa holders who are victims of domestic violence to have a pathway to independence and self-sufficiency.

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