Today is truly a seminal event.
The Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific Caucuses along with Members on both sides of the aisle are uniting behind a single piece of comprehensive immigration legislation. For too many years, Congress has witnessed a wave of anti-immigrant legislation, playing on our worst fears and prejudices. Since 1994, we have considered proposals to ban birthright citizenship, ban bilingual ballots, and slash family and employment-based immigration, as well as to limit the number of asylees and refugees. In 1996, we passed laws denying legal residents the right to public benefits and denying immigrants a range of due process and fairness protections, including prohibiting courts from reviewing many INS decisions, requiring lawful permanent residents to be deported for minor offenses committed years ago, and imposing mandatory detention on non-criminal asylum seekers. This year, I believe we have turned the corner, as business and organized labor have joined the advocacy community in recognizing the critical role immigrants play in our workplaces, our communities, our schools, and our culture.