Forum paper - Challenging the criminalization of immigrants

 Top-down Comprehensive Immigration Reform Proposals and Compromises Lack Intelligence, Justice, and Democracy (April 16 2013) Manuel Barajas The Gang of 8 in the Senate proposed a comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) that emphasized border security, guest worker program aligned with US economic interests, and an earned and restricted legalization path (Janurary 28, 2013). Soon after, President Obama in his State of the Union articulated a similar position, and asked congress to compromise on something he could sign (February 13, 2013). An illusion of hope was projected to the 11 million living in the shadows and their relatives/friends also living in fear of being separated from loved ones. Also exciting the public (March 29, 2013), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO/other conformists compromised on a lobbying platform that advances both of their interests. Their compromise also prioritized border security (e.g., e-verify) and permited another form of guestworkers—i.e., W visas—satisfying corporate interests and promising prevailing wages for labor. Past programs have made similar formal promises but failed in enforcing them. The Gang of 8, after listening to their powerful constituencies, now present a largely unchanged but more punitive CIR proposal that secures the border above all, permits guest workers, and lastly restricts and complicates legalization, where a great a majority will be disenfranchised and without guarantee to legalize even after 10 years of waiting.