Comprehensive Immigration Reform

This piece is from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and is reprinted with permission. To see it in its original form, click here.  For more information about the work of this great organization, check out their website lirs.org. 

[1] An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently reside in the United States. They are our friends, neighbors, classmates, and members of our churches. In recent years, the federal government has expanded the use of immigration detention and other harsh measures, resulting in the separation of families and the suffering of communities nationwide. Moreover, many close family members must wait years, even decades, to be able to enter the United States to reunite with their loved ones. 

These and other consequences of our current immigration laws compel us to seek reform. LIRS supports a comprehensive solution to the challenge of the United States’ broken immigration system.

If you’re looking for an overview of the current state of play, check out the follow-up resources from our July 2013 webcast briefing on immigration reform legislation in the 113th Congress!

Immigration Reform in the House of Representatives

[2] A comprehensive immigration reform bill has not yet been introduced in the House of Representatives. Instead, several piecemeal bills have been passed in committees, each addressing one aspect of our immigration system. LIRS is concerned this piecemeal approach will perpetuate the shortcomings of our current immigration system. Reforming only select areas of our complex system will not lead to immigration laws that reflect the needs of the country and the God-given dignity of migrants and refugees seeking safety, family reunification, or the opportunity to work in the United States.

[3] The House Homeland Security Committee has passed the Border Security Results Act while the House Judiciary Committee has passed four piecemeal bills reforming different portions of our immigration system:

• The SKILLS Visa Act primarily addresses the employment-based immigration system
• The SAFE Act addresses the enforcement of our immigration laws
• The Legal Workforce Act addresses employment verification
•  The Agricultural Guestworker Act addresses temporary worker programs for agriculture  

[4] An LIRS analysis of how the specifics of each of these five bills line up with our principles for immigration reform is now available.

Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744)

[5] S.744 (the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act) was introduced by the bipartisan “Gang of 8″ senators on April 17, 2013 and passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 21. The full Senate passed the legislation in a broad bipartisan vote (68-32) on June 27.

[6] This comprehensive immigration reform legislation would make many necessary improvements to our immigration process. Below are LIRS analyses, examining how the bill as passed by the Senate lines up with each of our five principles for reform. These analyses are also available as a single document.

• Statement on passage of S. 744 by the full Senate
• Statement on passage of S. 744 out of the Senate Ju​​diciary Committee
• Statement on pro-family amendments to S. 744 offered in the Senate Judiciary Committee
• Statement on amendment in the Senate Judiciary Committee to widen indefinite detention of migrants
• Statement on amendments to restrict refugee provisions in S. 744 offered in the Senate Judiciary Committee
• Faith leader statement supporting refugee provisions in S. 744
• Statement on introduction of the bipartisan  S. 744
• Statement on the release of the bipartisan Senate principles
• Statement on President Obama’s January 2013 speech on comprehensive immigration reform