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(SOUND OF DRUMS)
NAR: Drum beats punctuated the air as people gathered in front of the Capitol building on Tuesday. Among the speakers was former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, (Kwhy-E-See Oom FOOM eh) who eluded to the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of immigrant history.
SOT: She's still saying after all these years, Send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, who yearn to breathe free…
NAR: Immigrants in the crowd held signs that read "Legalization is the solution" and "No human being is illegal." Although most were from the Washington, D.C. area, some came from New York, such as Restaurant Opportunity Center representative Mohammad Ali.
SOT: Now that the bill is going to pass, it is totally against us. We are immigrants, it's true, but we are not criminal.
NAR: Enforcement provisions from the House Bill are currently being reviewed by the Senate judiciary committee as part of a proposal by committee chair Arlen Specter. The proposed bill also allows foreigners outside the country to apply for a temporary guest worker program. Undocumented immigrants already here could apply for a work permit called a "gold card," a step below a green card, with no path to citizenship. If they were to lose their jobs and remain out of work for more than six weeks, they could be deported. Immigrant rights groups, religious leaders and businesspeople say such an approach is contrary to national interests. U.S. Chamber of Commerce representative Randy Johnson co-chairs an alliance of business and trade associations. He says a path to citizenship is necessary for those estimated 11 million undocumented people already here.
SOT: They're holding down jobs that have to be done, and we're not going to deport them, nor should we deport them, and so we think that after going through a clearance process, to kick out the criminals and all that, these workers should be given a type of legal status that allows them to work legally, and then after going through certain criteria such as learning English, can qualify for permanent residency.
NAR: Specter's bill is controversial among groups on all sides. The AFL-CIO opposes it because it says guest worker programs create second-class workers without enough rights and labor protections. John Kealey, of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, says all undocumented immigrants should return home.
SOT: It can't be a good idea, particularly in a post-9/11 world, to have 12 million strangers in your midst, you know, not know who they are, or who they're affiliated with. So there's a fundamental national security perspective.
NAR: National security has instigated proposals to beef up the border patrol, build hundreds of miles of fence along the border, and reimburse local and state police for apprehending undocumented immigrants. After the rally, Miguel Ramirez, of the New York-based Centro Hispano Cuzcatlan, said security provisions should include respect for the human rights of migrants.
SOT: They are talking about security, but security for who? Because so far, our communities don't feel safe, as a result of all this anti-immigrant sentiment and all those bills that they are approving, which are criminalizing us, and which give the authority to local agencies such as the police to be an arm of immigration forces.
NAR: The Senate Judiciary Committee will resume debate on the Chairman's proposal next Wednesday. Senate majority leader Bill Frist has said if the committee doesn't present a bill for debate on the Senate floor by March 27th, he will present his own legislation, which is expected to be more heavy on enforcement. Zaidee Stavely, Columbia Radio News.