Vote number 2006-157 establishing a Guest Worker program
on May 25, 2006 regarding bill S. 2611 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act
Results: Bill Passed 62-36

Voting YES establishes a guest worker program with a path to citizenship for illegal aliens who have worked in the US for 5 years. The bill:
• Increases border security and enforcement
• Makes it unlawful to knowingly hire, recruit, or refer for a fee an unauthorized alien.
• Establishes a temporary guest worker program (H-2C visa) with a three-year admission and one additional three-year extension; and issuance of H-4 nonimmigrant visas for accompanying or following spouse and children;
• Provides permanent resident status adjustment for a qualifying illegal alien, and family, for aliens who have been in the US and employed for five years.

Proponents of the bill say:
• Our immigration system is broken and needs to be repaired. This bill is a strong step in the right direction. We need to protect our borders and look out for American workers, and we also need a responsible way to meet the need for temporary workers, particularly in the agricultural area, where they represent about 70 percent of the U.S. agricultural workforce, with a path to earned citizenship for hard-working, law abiding temporary workers. This bill, the product of bipartisan compromise, takes a commonsense approach to all of these issues.

Opponents of the bill say:
• Our country has been built by immigrants. But the reason we have had quotas for immigration is the world has progressed in different parts of this globe at a very different rate. In some countries, the economies have lagged far behind.
• There are jobs available in this country with rates of pay that are far in excess of those of Third World countries. We have on our southern border people who aspire to come to this country. In order to protect our way of life and our standard of living and to protect jobs, we have quotas.

Categorized under Immigration

Voting YES counts for 1 points on VoteMatch question 12:
Illegal immigrants earn citizenship;
Voting NO counts for -1 points on VoteMatch question 12.

Voting YES counts as answer B on AmericansElect question 4;
Voting NO counts as answer D on AmericansElect question 4

• A: All illegal immigrants should be able to stay in the US legally
• B: Most illegal immigrants should be able to stay in the US, with some exceptions
• C: Most illegal immigrants should be deported, with some exceptions
• D: All illegal immigrants should be deported
• E: Unsure