These folks told me they felt it demeans the efforts they made to obey the law and wait in line to become a U.S. citizen. They realize what a valuable accomplishment they made. The people I saw at that naturalization ceremony truly earned their citizenship. It does not seem fair to me to call the process those newly naturalized citizens followed "earned citizenship" and also to call what the Judiciary Committee is asking the Senate to consider "earned citizenship." There is a fundamental difference between the two and that should be recognized in the rhetoric of the Senate. Another problem I have with the agricultural amnesty endorsed by the Judiciary Committee is that it does not seem to remedy the problem with fraud that was prevalent with the 1986 SAW program. Under the 1986 SAW program. illegal farm workers who did at least 90 days of farm work during a 12month period could earn a legal status. The illegal immigrants had to present evidence that they did at least 90 days of farm work. such as pay stubs or a letter from an employer or even fellow workers. Because it was assumed that many unauthorized farm workers were employed by labor contractors who did not keep accurate records. after a farm worker presented evidence that he had done qualifying farm work. the burden of proof shifted to the Government to disprove the claimed work. The Government was not prepared for the flood of SAW applicants and had little expertise on typical harvesting seasons.
Keywords matched
naturalization naturalized illegal immigrants