WASHINGTON: The Senate passed an immigration bill to curb illegal immigration, however, the bill introduced by Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan kept legal immigration unchanged, In order to do so he had to face stiff opposition from several lawmakers. However, most of the lawmakers who opposed legal immigration changed their minds as they were convinced that the immigrants contribute to US economy. They also were convinced by family values of these immigrants groups.
However, some fought to curtail legal immigration. One of them was ‘Senator Diane Feinstein who in the past has exploited minorities by claiming herself to be the protector of their interests.
However, Feinstein showed her true colors when she tried to add an amendment to Sen. Abraham’s bill to cut down legal immigration by 43%. She claimed that states like California bear an undue burden of taking care of immigrants both legal and illegal. However, she failed to convince the Senate.
She then joined a coalition with R Alan Simpson to seek bipartisan support for smaller cuts of up to 10%. However, Feinstein’s amendments failed by a margin of 7426. Concerted efforts by immigrant groups and high tech companies helped Senator Abraham strip away the proposed legal immigration restrictions.
Article extracted from this publication >>May 8, 1996
