N.Y. Senators Are Pushed on Immigration

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Immigration advocates in New York are stepping up pressure on Senator Clinton and Senator Schumer, saying they have been disappointed in the lawmakers for their low profiles on the issue.


While members of Congress from across the country have weighed in on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform, proposing legislation and speaking out against restrictive measures, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Schumer have been relatively silent, to the dismay of community leaders in New York.


“Immigrant communities in New York are looking for a lot more leadership from our senators when it comes to immigration reform,” the executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, Chung-Wha Hong, said. “Their being silent makes them tacit supporters of an enforcement-only approach.”


Ms. Hong said the senators have been absent on more than one major piece of legislation. For example, she said, they did not speak out forcefully against the Real ID Act, which created national measures for driver’s licenses earlier this year. Nor have they responded to an immigration enforcement bill that passed in the House last week.


“They have the symbolic importance of New York and the support of the country, and they are instead choosing to stay on the safe side, which is no side, showing a lack of interest and a total lack of leadership,” the executive director of the Latin American Integration Center, Ana Maria Archila, said. “In the Senate they’re just basically handing over the conversation to the right.”


Mrs. Clinton’s and Mr. Schumer’s offices did not respond to requests for comment.


Another immigration bill popular with New York immigration advocates, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, was introduced by Senator Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts, and Senator McCain, a Republican of Arizona. It would allow the 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in America to have a chance for permanent legal residency after paying fines, passing a background check, and completing a period under a temporary visa.


“They should be up there, up front, talking about immigration in the same way that Senator Kennedy is doing it, in the same way that Senator McCain is doing it,” Ms. Archila said of New York’s senators. “From New York there is consensus about what kind of immigration reform we need to see, and that is immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.”


The McCain-Kennedy bill would also create new avenues for legal immigration to America through a temporary worker program, of the sort the president initially proposed in a set of principles nearly two years ago. It likely would affect more than 500,000 illegal immigrants living in New York, according to the Pew Hispanic Center’s estimates.


Last week, Senator Obama, a Democrat of Illinois, and Senator Martinez, a Republican of Florida, signed on to McCain-Kennedy, saying they supported combining the bill with some of the measures in Senator Hagel’s proposal. The other senators who are co-sponsors are Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat of Connecticut; Samuel Brownback, a Republican of Kansas; Kenneth Salazar, a Democrat of Colorado; and Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina.


It is this type of leadership, both through sponsoring reform measures and speaking up against scapegoating of immigrants, that New York advocates say their senators are lacking.


“Immigration has become a hot-button issue, and we need leaders who will defend the basic human rights and dignity of immigrants and not shy away from the issue,” the executive director of the New York Civic Participation Project, Gouri Sadhwani, said. “Without this leadership, New York will have failed the nation at a very important time in our history.”


Yesterday, Ms. Hong led a rally of scores of immigrants, labor organizers, and business leaders in a rally against the type of restrictive immigration measures that moved forward in the House last week. The coalition instead wants comprehensive immigration reform.


“This bill has got to be the worst immigration bill since the national origins quota bill of 1925,” Rep.Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat of New York, said. “All of these people who came here for economic opportunity, or perhaps for freedom, would be criminals.”


The bill also would criminalize millions of illegal immigrant students.


Senator Clinton is a sponsor and Senator Schumer a past sponsor of a bill that would give illegal immigrant students a chance to gain legal status through military service or study. Neither senator has taken a public stance against the House bill, which is not expected to pass in the Senate.


Despite the frigid weather and transit strike, Korean, Chinese, Dominican, African, Colombian and other leaders came out and pledged to rally their communities against the bill, introduced by Reps. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican of Wisconsin, and Peter King, a Republican of New York. Instead, they said, they would show legislators the need for comprehensive reform.


“We need to speak out about what they passed last week, but also it’s important to get our two senators, Senator Schumer and Senator Hillary Clinton, to make sure they’re with us to defeat this bill in the Senate,” the deputy executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, Margaret Chin, said. “We’re here to say, ‘Do not use this to divert our attention away from comprehensive immigration reform.’ Immigrants build this country and they have to recognize that. We want comprehensive reform so families can unite, people who work hard can have legal status, kids who are here can have a right to a college education and to go to school without fear.”


While New York’s senators have been disappointing to date, the advocates said they remain hopeful.


Moving forward, Ms. Hong said, she hopes Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Clinton, who have proved in the past to be “dogged fighters for their issues,” will come out strong on comprehensive immigration and support a bill like Secure America.


“The senators cannot afford not to work with community groups in forging a Senate response. Of course, they could have spoken up last week,” Ms. Hong said “But this is moving to the Senate, and we need them to fight back and be courageous.”


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use