Garcia: Aid those who fled Chávez Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03

Dres2011 · 03-05-2013, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Cuban-American U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Miami, announced Monday that when the immigration reform debate begins in the House he will present an amendment that would grant permanent residence to tens of thousands of undocumented Venezuelans living in the United States.

“Many of these people have spent a big part of their lives here,” Garcia said at a press conference at his office in west Miami-Dade County. “Many are people who attend schools with our children, who are business partners with us and who live in a very difficult status and we want to give them a forward solution.”

Garcia’s Venezuelan Liberty Act is a response to requests from leaders of the growing Venezuelan community nationwide to provide immigration relief to undocumented Venezuelans, many of whom not only lack immigration papers but also fear they will be persecuted and tortured if they are sent back to their country.

Garcia’s proposal is the first concrete action in the form of a bill that would benefit Venezuelan immigrants who are in the country illegally and do not have a police record. If the proposal were to become law, it would grant green cards to Venezuelans who have arrived in the U.S. from Feb. 2, 1999, when Hugo Chávez took office as president of Venezuela, until now, according to an explanatory sheet from Garcia’s office.

Although the document did not offer specifics, Garcia said that the conditions under which Venezuelans would receive residence status would conform to the parameters of any immigration reform legislation approved by Congress. Under a bipartisan proposal by eight senators, including Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, undocumented immigrants would have to wait up to 10 years to apply for residence. Under President Barack Obama’s proposal, the wait would be about eight years.

Garcia said the dates in his proposal cover Venezuelans who have arrived here during the years Chávez has been in power. He said that unlike the Cuban Adjustment Act, which gives every Cuban who arrives in the U.S. without a visa the right to apply for residence after a year and one day, his bill would only benefit Venezuelans who are already here. He said his plan is not open-ended because he does not want to encourage more Venezuelans to come to the U.S. simply to obtain an immigration benefit.

Garcia said between 85,000 and 160,000 undocumented Venezuelans nationwide would be covered by his proposal. Leaders of the Venezuelan community said more than 70 percent of undocumented Venezuelans live in South Florida.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/0...#storylink=cpy

Sounds great actually, I fit right perfectly into the bill requirements. I'd take that green card and run.

RJD · 03-05-2013, 01:39 AM

How about focusing on all the undocumented people instead of just people from one country

smh

Dres2011 · 03:12 AM

Im sure they're focusing on all of the undocumented people, but this bill stems from the fact that too many Venezuelans file for political asylum only to be denied and then deported.getting asylee status is hard and you're suppose to file within a year of arriving at the latest. Hopefully it does get attached to CIR,i'd take this route over Dream Act.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 03-05-2013, 02:21 AM

you know, I wouldn't doubt that if a CIR/DA didn't pass, the next thing to do would to introduce a bill that grant DACAers permanent residency

Dres2011 · 03-05-2013, 02:24 AM

^^^ yeah everyone go take out your car loans, get a house in your name, have children. the more you become part of the fabric the harder it is to remove you.

Dres2011 · 03-05-2013, 05:59 PM

Chavez died today.

DamLeon123 · 03-05-2013, 07:20 PM

Are they really going to be tortured? Hum, like the Egyptian cleric who was kidnapped in Italy and taken into one of America's torture buddy countries and in where an Italian court recently convicted all those US agents. But if the US sponsors other people to be kidnapped and turtore, tis' it be ok.

MalditoDuende · 03-06-2013, 04:54 PM

Hmm Mexicans come from a country that is in a civil war right now. Over 75,000 dead and 25,000 missing . How come no special status for us? We have it way harder than Cubans or Venezuelans..Is it just because there are so many of us? lol

AL · 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalditoDuende

Hmm Mexicans come from a country that is in a civil war right now. Over 75,000 dead and 25,000 missing . How come no special status for us? We have it way harder than Cubans or Venezuelans..Is it just because there are so many of us? lol

I know man, sometimes I wish El Peje would of won last year so they would give us mexicans a better treatment but alas el pri won haha. We would of at least have our own dry feet policy, but now we're still screwed by both sides of the border.

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Garcia: Aid those who fled Chávez Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03