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Ann Chin Lin: The bipartisan group of Senators' proposal really rewards the high-tech industry
and the agriculture industry, both of these industries get immigrant workers they need
and get them under a fast-track system. Children who were brought to the US illegally also
win under this system, they also get a fast-track into permanent residence. Who loses however,
is all the other immigrants.
So we are used to thinking of immigrants as either very high-tech or very low-tech. But
it turns out we have a lot of immigrants who dominate the construction industry, food services,
other hotel and restaurant workers. All of these people can contribute a lot to America.
They often work and then create businesses of their own, and we need a line, a need a
way for those people to come to the US legally.
The important problem that the current proposal overlooks is that in the US today the majority
of our immigrant workers come because they are the family member of an American citizen.
If you are not a family member, there is no line for you to apply for admission.
The most promising aspect of the proposals are that they really focus on citizenship.
Citizenship isn’t just a reward that you give you to immigrants, citizenship is a way
for immigrants to really commit to the US and to build and contribute to a society.
And what makes the US different from other immigration countries is that we have always
really encouraged citizenship, and so it’s good to see that the current proposal continues
to do that.