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Happy New Year! It may seem a
little odd to be ushering in the new year just before the start of
the year's third month. But here at NILC, we're feeling energized
and inspired at the prospect of new beginnings, new opportunities,
and new horizons. This is because we've had some incredible
victories this month that you've no doubt heard about.
These victories on children's
health care and economic security represent issues that NILC cares
deeply about and has been working on for many years. But we're also
excited because they may signal a new political landscape in which
immigrants are viewed not as criminals, outlaws, and threats to
national security, but as contributing members of society looking
for -- and deserving of -- viable means of forging healthy,
productive, and prosperous lives.
Investing in Children's Health
After more than a decade of
dedicated work to try to undo the harmful impact of restrictions on
health care coverage for lawfully residing immigrants, NILC is still
woozy from the passage of the Children's Health Insurance Program
Reauthorization Act of 2009. The new law signed by President Obama
at the beginning of this month reauthorized a highly successful
program that offers states federal funding to provide affordable
health insurance to low- and middle-income children. But it also
eliminates a requirement that lawfully residing immigrant children
and pregnant women wait 5 long years before being eligible for this
federally-funded health care coverage.
This is an incredible victory
being celebrated not only by NILC, but also by a whole host of
immigrant and health advocates nationwide who tirelessly fought for
the elimination of this waiting period, first enacted as part of the
1996 welfare law.
It also seems to mark the first
telltale sign that the political climate around immigrants may be
changing. Even though immigration restrictionists for over a decade
had successfully generated a cloud of fear and caution over what
used to be called the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act,
in the end, advocates drowned out restrictionist cries with this
catchphrase: "5 years is a lifetime to a child."
That poignant message was
repeated by advocates and policymakers throughout the debate. We are
proud to report that this phrase originally came out of focus groups
that were part of NILC's strategic communications project to develop
messages to promote health care policies that include, rather than
exclude, immigrants. Because in past years immigration had been used
as a wedge issue to block the elimination of the 5-year waiting
period and attack the children's health bill as a whole, NILC
embarked on this communications research specifically to develop
winning messages that policymakers can use to promote the
elimination of health care barriers for immigrants, especially
immigrant children.
We are honored to have been a
part of this hard-fought victory, and pay homage to the many legal
immigrant children and pregnant women who have until now been denied
health care coverage under this unjust law. We could not have
achieved this critical victory without a diverse and committed
coalition of children's, health, and immigrants' rights allies who
also struggled over the years to advance this important policy
change. This is not only a major investment in the health of the
nation's children, but also a critical first step toward making sure
that everyone in the U.S. -- regardless of immigration status -- can
get affordable, quality health care.
Economic Recovery for More
Workers and Families
Earlier this month, Congress
passed the biggest economic stimulus bill in the nation's history.
Coordinated advocacy efforts by worker, immigrant, and other
advocates across the country ensured that the new law's benefits
will be available to many more hardworking and deserving families.
First, a harmful requirement that
any company or agency receiving stimulus funds must use E-Verify --
an error-prone program currently being pilot-tested as a means for
electronically verifying whether a worker is eligible to work in the
U.S. -- was stripped from the final bill.
Anti-immigrant restrictionists
have for many years touted the benefits of E-Verify (formerly known
as Basic Pilot) as an immigration enforcement tool. But since the
program was created 13 years ago, NILC has been at the forefront of
efforts to counter these disingenuous claims.
Advocates and policymakers
throughout the country see NILC as the primary source of information
on the Basic Pilot/E-Verify program, its serious flaws, and the
potential negative consequences of a nationwide, mandatory expansion
of such electronic employment eligibility systems. Because of NILC's
leadership on this issue over the years, a diverse coalition of
advocacy groups has begun to share our concerns about a mandatory
EEVS outside of the context of broad immigration reform.
Policymakers now also increasingly recognize that the current system
has problems that need to be addressed. Had the final stimulus bill
required the use of E-Verify, it would have caused widespread
unemployment and disastrously slowed down the progress of economic
recovery.
Second, the final stimulus bill
now ensures that many more hardworking taxpayers will be able to get
the stimulus tax credit they deserve. If earlier versions of the
bill had been enacted, millions of tax-paying citizens and
immigrants would have been denied the new "Making Work Pay" tax
credit. The versions of the bill passed by the House and Senate
would have imposed an overbroad restriction devised in response to
anti-immigrant attacks. The restriction would have unfairly
penalized citizens and legal immigrant workers who are married to
spouses who don't have Social Security numbers. It would have also
had the unintended consequence of disqualifying millions of married
citizens who file their taxes separately. The bill signed by the
President, however, modified the restriction significantly.
NILC fought relentlessly to shed
light on how unfair and counterproductive these tax restrictions
would be, even when our struggle seemed doomed to failure. Our
commitment and unique expertise on issues affecting low-income
immigrants proved to be critical in raising awareness about this
very complex tax issue for policymakers and advocates alike. As a
result of NILC's advocacy, an additional four million low- and
middle-income taxpayers will now be eligible to receive the stimulus
tax credits they rightly deserve.
All of these hopeful developments
may very well signal a changing political climate. They may also
pave the way for broader immigration reforms and policy changes that
continue to improve the lives of low-income immigrants in dramatic
ways.
Again, thank you for your
invaluable support of NILC!
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