In Immigration Reform, A Path To Citizenship Is The Only Option

Jon Kyl has contended that a path to citizenship is not necessary because those immigrants who qualify for ACHIEVE can attain citizenship through marriage. This position is misguided. It sets up a kind of marriage derby where love becomes a negligible factor. Kyl’s “anybody” also excludes all homosexual couples whose marriage is still not recognized by the federal government. And it excludes most heterosexual married couples where one is a citizen and one is undocumented because undocumented immigrants who have accumulated more than 365 days of illegal presence–which they need to qualify for ACHIEVE–have to return to their country of citizenship for ten years to qualify for legal residency based on marriage.

Given the current laws, this path of “citizenship through marriage” is a sham.

These Senators apparently want their legacy to be the creation of a permanent underclass: people who can remain here, but who are denied citizenship, access to health care, educational loans, and the right to vote.

The time has come for us to stop piddling around with half-measures and phony gestures. None need to heed this call more than Republicans, who stand to lose even more credibility if they continue to appease xenophobic elements in their party, who are already appalled by something as weak as ACHIEVE. The Republicans are in for a dime; they may as well throw in the dollar and join the American consensus on the issue at last.

Immigration reform must include a path towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants–young and old. ACHIEVE, in its failure to do this, is as unhealthy for Republicans as it is for immigrants.

Amalia Pallares is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Latin American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the author of ‘Marcha! Latino Chicago and the Immigrant Rights Movement’ (Illinois 2010).

Tanya Golash-Boza is an Associate Professor Sociology at the University of California, Merced, and the author of ‘Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, and Deportations in Post-9/11 America’ (Paradigm 2012).

Image Credit: Ouij

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