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When it comes to immigration, Senators Obama and McCain share some views and differ on others. Both are committed to finish securing the U.S./Mexico border. However, McCain now states that this must be completed before he will enact a guest worker program and support legalization for the undocumented already present in the U.S. 

Like many others, McCain believes America's immigration system is broken. McCain's top immigration priority is to finish securing our borders. He proposed the implementation of a secure, accurate and reliable E-Verify system and wants to move ahead with the continued prosecution of "Bad-Actor" employers that continue to hire illegal immigrants. Once the "borders are secure," he also plans to implement a temporary Worker Program for both the high-tech and low-skilled sectors while protecting employment opportunities for U.S. workers. McCain is also committed to eliminating the "green card" backlog for individuals waiting legally outside of the U.S. These latter provisions were originally proposed in his 2007 immigration bill, co-sponsored with Sen. Kennedy, a position he now has publicly retracted.

"John McCain has always believed that our border must be secure and that the federal government has utterly failed in its responsibility to ensure that it is secure. If we have learned anything from the recent immigration debate, it is that Americans have little trust that their government will honor a pledge to do the things necessary to make the border secure." - John McCain's website.

On September 10, Obama spoke to a crowd of Hispanic leaders about the one of the issues that has largely been ignored on the campaign trail, proclaiming "This election is about the 12 million people living in the shadows, the communities taking immigration enforcement into their own hand. They are counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling our airwaves, and rise above the fear, and rise above the demagoguery, and finally enact comprehensive immigration reform."

According to Obama's website, there are three major problems with our current immigration system: the "exploding" population of undocumented immigrants, broken bureaucracy, and enforcement before reform mentality. Therefore, Obama has proposed five ways to fix this broken system: create and maintain secure borders, improve our immigration system by fixing the bureaucracy, remove incentives to enter the US illegally, bring people out of the shadows by creating a smoother path to citizenship, and work with Mexico to promote economic development.

With either as President, we look forward to a positive change in our immigration system.

Click here to learn more about their issues.

Just last month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made headlines by both launching and then scrapping an immigration enforcement program within three weeks. 
 
The program, called Operation Scheduled Departure, was an attempt to have undocumented immigrants with no criminal records turn themselves in for deportation within ninety days, after they have had time to get their affairs in order. The program applied to the almost half a million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. who have ignored judicial orders to leave the country. However, only eight individuals volunteered to return to their home countries through the program. ICE spent over $40,000 to advertise the program, but many argue it offered no real incentive for immigrants to volunteer themselves for deportation.

Many fear that this failed program is just an attempt for ICE to justify its increasing home and worksite raids. "To call the effort half-hearted would give ICE half a heart too much credit," said Charles Kuck, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). "It was never anything more than a public relations ploy so that ICE could say in the end 'gosh, we tried, but no one turned up, now we can go back to doing enforcement our way,' which is precisely what they are now saying. It was never a serious effort."

As worksite enforcement is becoming a bigger concern for many employers, we urge any company with questions or concerns to contact our office to ensure that you are protected.

 

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF) is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation. Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research, including more than $137 million in FY2007. In FY2007, the Foundation funded 700 centers, grants and fellowships in 20 countries.

For more information about type 1 diabetes and research efforts for the cure, please visit   www.jdrf.org.