Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future

Panel convened by the MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE ^ | 5/2/2005 (approx) | Summary (author unstated)

[JesseJane]

New Task Force of Prominent Leaders to Take Up Immigration Debate

As the debate over immigration policy and legislation heats up, the Migration Policy Institute announced today that it is convening a bipartisan panel of prominent leaders from key sectors concerned with immigration to generate sound information and workable policy ideas.

Former Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN) will serve as co-chairs of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future. The panel's work will be directed by Doris Meissner, the former Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

"Immigration issues are complex and wide-ranging in their consequences," noted a background document outlining the scope of immigration issues the Task Force will tackle. It said the lack of progress in immigration reform is, in part, because "immigration policy debates are often poorly informed, polarized and narrow."

Abraham and Hamilton said the Task Force will be a working group in which influential parties with different views and interests can search for common ground. It will focus on four major policy areas: the growing unauthorized immigrant population, immigration enforcement and security issues, labor markets and the legal immigration system, and integrating immigrants into American society. The panel will issue a series of reports and issue briefs, beginning as early as this summer, leading to a comprehensive set of recommendations next spring.

The approximately 25 task force members include high-ranking members of Congress who are involved in shaping legislation; leaders from key business, labor and immigrant groups; and public policy and immigration experts. MPI's partner institutions in the project are Manhattan Institute and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"Neither national security nor individual liberties can be properly safeguarded in the United States without sensible and effective immigration laws," said Hamilton, who was Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission. "This task force will not only evaluate what is broken in the current system, but outline what kind of immigration policy best supports our national interests in the years ahead."

"The Task Force has an ambitious agenda, but there is a great deal that needs to be addressed," said Abraham. "We intend to foster a balanced, informed dialogue on issues of central importance to America's success as a nation. The comprehensive changes that are needed must be achieved through bipartisanship in the spirit this Task Force represents."

The roadmap document the panel released today said, "There is a growing gap between our official immigration policies and realities on the ground." The paper noted the scope of the subject, saying immigration issues span "individual rights, the rule of law, the way our cities and labor markets operate, American competitiveness, national security, and the unique character of the United States in the world."

The roadmap focuses on four key policy areas:

• The Unauthorized Population: This large and growing population "represent a fundamental breakdown in the rule of law…." Most of the adult unauthorized population is working and living in households with some members who have legal status. They have a profound economic impact on U.S. labor markets, communities and their home countries to which they send billions of dollars annually.

• Immigration Enforcement and Security: "Tough border enforcement has not been equal to the task of stopping the flow [of illegal immigration]." Current policy "invites people to take great personal risk to defeat border controls for the payoff of ready access to the U.S. labor market."

• Labor Markets: "Using immigration effectively will be a key ingredient for America's long-term economic prosperity and competitiveness. It will require some fundamental changes in existing immigration criteria."

• Immigrant Integration: "The nation's immigrant integration policies are ad hoc, fragmentary, underfunded and fall largely to state and local governments." The most pressing issues relate to the large numbers coming in, geographical concentration and dispersion, skill and education levels, child poverty, the capacity of institutions that have historically played a role in integration, and the status of the social safety net.

  "As a nation, we need to build a broader public consensus on how to reform our immigration system, because the status quo encourages lawlessness, exploitation and economic distortions," said Doris Meissner. "The disconnect between current policy and reality in the United States has reached a point where new, bipartisan solutions are imperative. This Task Force represents an opportunity for a diverse group of leaders from key vantage points within the body politic to discuss, debate and advance sound policy ideas for immigration reform."

  Spencer Abraham, now a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, served as Secretary of Energy during President Bush's first term. In the Senate, he was the Chairman of the Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. Lee Hamilton is President and Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He served as Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission and as a member of Congress, where he was Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. Doris Meissner, an MPI Senior Fellow, was Commissioner of the

  Immigration and Naturalization Service from 1993 to 2000 and a senior official in the Department of Justice during the Ford, Reagan and Carter administrations.

  ###

  The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide. http://www.migrationpolicy.org

  The Manhattan Institute is a think tank that develops and disseminates new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility. http://www.manhattan-institute.org/

  The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is a nonpartisan institution that commemorates the ideals and concerns of President Woodrow Wilson by uniting the world of ideas to the world of policy through supporting pre-eminent scholarship and linking that scholarship to issues of concern to officials in Washington. http://www.wilsoncenter.org

[JesseJane]

Please go to website for hotlinks to each of these members. Also, there are other reports available for review. PLEASE NOTE who is on this panel. McCain, Kennedy, Flake, and LA RAZA.

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List of Members

As of May 2, 2005

Co-Chairs:

Spencer Abraham, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, former Secretary of Energy and Senator (R) from Michigan

Lee Hamilton, President and Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Former Vice Chair, 9/11 Commission and Member of Congress (D) from Indiana

Director:

Doris Meissner, Senior Fellow, Migration Policy Institute, former Commissioner, United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Members:

T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean of the Law Center and Executive Vice President for Law Center Affairs, Georgetown University; former General Counsel, United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Howard Berman, (D) Member of Congress, California

Jeanne Butterfield, Executive Director, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

Oscar A. Chacón, Director of Enlaces América,, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights

Lee Culpepper, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, National Restaurant Association

Thomas J. Donohue, President & CEO, United.States Chamber of Commerce

Jeff Flake, (R) Member of Congress, Arizona

Fernando Garcia, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights

Bill Ong Hing, Professor of Law and Asian American Studies, University of California, Davis

Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute

Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; former member of the National Commission on Terrorism

Edward Kennedy (D), Senator, Massachusetts

John McCain (R), Senator, Arizona

Janet Murguia, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza

Leon Panetta, Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, California State University at Monterey Bay; former Chief of Staff to the President; Director; Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Steven J. Rauschenberger, Senator, state of Illinois; President-elect, National Conference of State Legislatures; Deputy Republican Leader and former chairman, Illinois Senate Appropriations committee

Robert Reischauer, President, Urban Institute; former Director, Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Kurt L. Schmoke, Dean, Howard University School of Law; former mayor, Baltimore, MD

Frank Sharry, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum

Debra W. Stewart, President of the Council of Graduate Schools; former Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School at North Carolina State University.

C. Stewart Verdery, Principal at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc., and Adjunct Fellow, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS); former Assistant Secretary, Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

John Wilhelm, President, Hospitality Industry of UNITE HERE

James W. Ziglar, Managing Director and Chief Business Strategist, UBS Financial Services, Inc.; former Commissioner, United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Ex Officio

Representatives of the Departments of Homeland Security, State and Labor and the Domestic Policy staff of the White House

Senior representatives of the governments of Mexico, Canada, and the European Commission

[JesseJane]

~fyi ping~

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Right now America's future is about three to five years.

Judging by the cast of characters for this "distinguished panel" they are hoping to cut that time down quite a bit.

[JesseJane]

~ping~

FYI, there is much more at the Institute website.

[jackbenimble]

Clearly this group is going to be totally one-sided and pro-open borders. Spencer Abraham was one of the worst open borders members of Congress and was defeated largely because of his open borders positions. Dorris Meisner was in charge of the INS when Clinton had her accelerate new citizenships and bypass background checks in order to make a bunch of grateful new citizen Democrats in time for the 1996 election. She of course willingly complied. Tamar Jacoby is the shill in chief for the Bush shamnesty. Jeff Flake and John McCain are both pro-amnesty RINOs. Teddy Kennedy is the architect of our current immigration disaster. Almost everybody else is part of the open borders business cheap labor lobby.

There is not a single person in this group that will be taking the side of taxpayers who are going to pick up the tab for this massive cheap labor subsidy.

[JesseJane]

~fyi ping~

[JesseJane]

I think you are right. The elections of 2006, and who will be voting, will change the political landscape completely for 2008, IMO. There is not much time left for the America we knew. The 109th also saw to that with the 'deal' struck by McCain. In otherwords, there may not be an American constitution to rule by.. they shall honor International law, but call it by another name to dupe the American public.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

B.L.O.A.T.

[JesseJane]

There is not a single person in this group that will be taking the side of taxpayers who are going to pick up the tab for this massive cheap labor subsidy.

Agreed. Nor is there one that will address American sovereignty of our "citizen only" voice. Those kings in Congress have figured a way to go around the voice of the people through 'deals'. The judiciary is hopelessly corrupted. The 109th will be remembered as the Congress that dismantled America.

[twas]

Migration Policy Institute

The fact that they are discussing MIGRATION is all you need to know.

The MIGRATION of herd animals is a perfectly natural and normal event and it's a crime against nature to oppose such a trend.

[JesseJane]

Yes. See also: Dangers of CSME (CAFTA precursor)

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Former Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN) will serve as co-chairs of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future.

That says all we need to know right there. Anything they have to say should be discarded like leftover food that's been in the refrigerator too long.

[B4Ranch]

To Representatives of the Departments of Homeland Security, State and Labor and the Domestic Policy staff of the White House; Senior representatives of the governments of Mexico, Canada, and the European Commission; The American public just might be making their own " comprehensive set of recommendations" before next spring."

[B4Ranch]

>>The MIGRATION of herd animals is a perfectly natural and normal event and it's a crime against nature to oppose such a trend.<<

So are lightning storms are perfectly natural and normal events, so are wildfires.

[skeeter]

It will focus on four major policy areas: the growing unauthorized immigrant population, immigration enforcement and security issues, labor markets and the legal immigration system, and integrating immigrants into American society. The panel will issue a series of reports and issue briefs, beginning as early as this summer, leading to a comprehensive set of recommendations next spring.

Whats to investigate? Given the areas of focus it sounds like the report has already been written.

With this 'bipartisan team', it should be a doozy. Only a couple of internationalist has-beens like Abraham & Hamilton would believe you can throw a national security issue into the pot with a labor issue and come up with a cogent, common sense immigration policy.

[JesseJane]

Good.

JD Hayworth was on Fox this morning. He get's it. Totally.

[KittyKares]

I have to throw this into the pot because it is still bothering me. I heard something about Wal-Mart on my local radio station this morning. Budweiser is promoting on signs in Wal-Mart stores the fact that it is American owned. Wal-Mart, however, is quietly pushing Budweiser to remove these signs from their stores because it does not want to offend its immigrant patrons and their children -- particularly its Hispanic immigrants!!

Can you imagine that it is now offensive to be an American product!? What are we coming to?

[JesseJane]

Hmm.. something tells me that could be the politically correct and popular way to address the long rivalry between Coors and Bud. Bud has not necessarily been the KING OF BEERS in certain demographic groups. However, if you put Corona bottled in Mexico out there, it's totally fine with me. That said, Bud, should be able to market to the demographic they choose. Walmart can choose to give them shelf space or not I guess.

Also, it could be the angle that Walmart is using rather than adddressing other concerns with Bud Distributorship or policy.

[JesseJane]

The word Bipartisan seems to be evolving into another word for 'Global Anti-American leftist'. We need to dump the pot of as many of that sort in 2006.

[B4Ranch]

Gettin it and doin sumptin bout it are very far apart. If the people don't do nuttin, we'll be sayin g'bye to liberty.

It getting too damn close to Tea Party time for me.