Immigrant-rights leaders say latest bill needs work

A bill in the U.S. House offers helpful fixes to the nation's immigration system but still needs some work, a local coalition of immigrant-rights leaders said Monday.

The local leaders assembled downtown at Seattle City Hall to comment on an immigration bill unveiled last week by Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007, or STRIVE Act, comes a year after a similar effort stalled in Congress after inspiring immigrant-rights rallies across the country, including one in Seattle last April that drew more than 30,000 people.

The STRIVE Act would offer the prospect of legal residence, and eventually citizenship, to an estimated 12 million people now living illegally in the United States if they meet a list of requirements, including proof of employment and no felony convictions.

The bill also would create a temporary guest-worker program.

But the bill first requires the government to step up enforcement against illegal immigrants along and within the nation's borders and requires certain employers to participate in a federal program for verifying that workers have permission to work here.

Pramila Jayapal, executive director of Hate Free Zone, a Seattle-based advocacy group, praised the bill for addressing a backlog of about 3.5 million people who have applied legally for family- and employment-based visas.

Siblings of U.S. citizens who immigrated to America can expect to wait 11 to 12 years before they can immigrate, according to a study last year by the National Foundation for American Policy.

But Jayapal and others criticize the bill's focus on expanding the number of detention facilities, involving local police in enforcing immigration law and not providing resources for court-appointed counsel for detainees.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com