Colin Powell Urges Path to Citizenship for Undocumented

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 06:13:54 PM EST
Tags: immigration reform (all tags)

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Congress to pass immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented today. He said undocumented workers have made repairs on his house and they are an essential part of our labor force.

"They're all over my house, doing things whenever I call for repairs, and I'm sure you've seen them at your house. We've got to find a way to bring these people out of the darkness and give them some kind of status."

Here's the text of the Dream Act, S. 729, as introduced in 2009. Thomas page is here. PDF version here. [More...]

From the summary:

Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2009 or the DREAM Act of 2009 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence.

Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional permanent resident status, an alien who: (1) entered the United States before his or her 16th birthday and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding enactment of this Act; (2) is a person of good moral character; (3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (4) at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education or has earned a high school or equivalent diploma; (5) from the age of 16 and older, has never been under a final order of exclusion, deportation, or removal; and (6) was under age 35 on the date of this Act's enactment.

Sets forth the conditions for conditional permanent resident status, including: (1) termination of status for violation of this Act; and (2) removal of conditional status to permanent status.

Authorizes an alien who has satisfied the appropriate requirements prior to enactment of this Act to petition the Secretary for conditional permanent resident status.

Provides for: (1) exclusive jurisdiction; (2) penalties for false application statements; (3) confidentiality; (4) fee prohibitions; (5) higher education assistance; and (6) a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report respecting the number of aliens adjusted under this Act.

We need far more than the DREAM Act, but it's a good beginning. The Senate should vote and pass it this week when it considers the defense authorization bill.

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Colin Powell Urges Path to Citizenship for Undocumented | 34 comments (34 topical)

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Colin Powell (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by itscookin on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 09:20:19 PM EST

is publicly admitting that he hires illegals to work on his house? Isn't that against federal law?

Yes, apparently it's okay (5.00 / 2) (#7)
by Cream City on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 09:37:51 PM EST

after you serve in the Cabinet, just not before. Interesting interpretation of the law, huh?


: Also okay to not pay your taxes (4.00 / 3) (#10)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 11:57:26 PM EST

Perhaps... (5.00 / 4) (#13)
by desertswine on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:19:28 AM EST

"They're all over my house, doing things whenever I call for repairs..."

Powell wouldn't have so many repairs to make if he would hire union plumbers, carpenters, or contractors for whatever the he11 he needs instead of going cheap. It's not like he's going broke.

This guys got no credibility with me.

I don't have to like him, even when he's right.

Powell Just Go Away !!! (5.00 / 1) (#17)
by ScottW714 on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 09:46:02 AM EST

Powell's has less than zero credibility. Why he thinks anyone cares what he says is mind boggling, admitting to hiring people he knows aren't citizens is illegal.

The real question I want answered is how exactly does he know the people working on his house aren't citizens. Has he asked or is making assumptions ?

I just wish he would go away and at the very least try and wash some of the blood off his hands and dripping from his mouth.

: On immigration I'd be inclined to trust him (none / 0) (#24)
by Socraticsilence on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:18:46 PM EST

he does have a rather personal connection to the issue- actually on a lot of things as of late he's been pretty good- I'm not inclined to completely forgive and forget but I have more lenience for Powell than perhaps any Bush cabinet figure on the war- he follows orders its in his nature given his path in life.

I might (5.00 / 3) (#18)
by lentinel on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 10:05:55 AM EST

be wrong, but I thought that it was illegal to knowingly hire undocumented immigrant workers...

I hope so - because I would like to see Mr. Powell in jail.

A Dream to have and hold (none / 0) (#1)
by christinep on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 06:28:54 PM EST

Truly and at long last, it would be a very good new beginning. Any information about the numbers...the votes and the chance to make this advancement a reality? Schedule for the vote yet?

Works for me (none / 0) (#2)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 06:32:47 PM EST

AFTER they close the borders.

Until then, now way.

Real question is (none / 0) (#3)
by nyjets on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 07:02:58 PM EST

THe real question is when you consider the state of the economy and how there are not enough jobs and resources for American citizens, can the US afford to make all of the 'undocumented' immigrants citizens.


Good point (none / 0) (#5)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 08:08:37 PM EST

You and everyone are more than welcome (none / 0) (#8)
by nycstray on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 09:53:34 PM EST

to do some field work on the farms . . . . or perhaps housecleaning? yard work? or low pay abuse factory jobs?

As far as I know, white dudes aren't signing up for farm hands in CA . . . . .


They would (none / 0) (#9)
by nyjets on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 10:09:03 PM EST

They would if the jobs were not going to 'undocumented' immigrants.


It's an issue of pay (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 11:58:56 PM EST

Get the money right and the workers will come.

Of course that means that the rich can't have cheap Nannies and housekeepers and gardeners...


You're right about the pay (none / 0) (#19)
by Zorba on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 10:07:09 AM EST

If you pay enough, Americans will certainly do those jobs. However. it's not just the fact that the wealthy won't have any more cheap nannies, housekeepers, and gardeners. It's that Mr. and Mrs. Average American won't want to (or be able to, in many cases) pay $8/head for lettuce, correspondingly more for other fruits and vegetables, lots more even for chicken (who do you think works at poultry processing plans?). The factory and farm owners and the wealthy individuals who need personal services are not the only ones guilty of hiring cheap illegal immigrant labor. We are all complicit, because we (I mean the generic American "we") don't want to pay what it would cost otherwise. We want cheap food- so we look the other way when the agricultural industry and food processors hire illegals. We want cheap clothing, toys, and other consumer goods so we looked the other way when our manufacturing jobs were sent overseas. If it's going to cost more, Americans won't want to pay (and with the economy the way it is right now, they may not be able to pay more).


When the Pay is Right.. (none / 0) (#22)
by ScottW714 on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 11:42:09 AM EST

.. for who, the workers or the employers ?

Either way, we are starting to import a lot of fruit and vegetables from south America.

Crops that are labor intensive will be moved to other countries where labor remains cheap. Crops that require little labor will be expanded by corporate agriculture.

I grew up on a farm and I can guarantee none of the clowns commenting on this site about Americans taking the jobs would last a week laboring in the field on a hot summer week at $7.25/hour, the current minimum wage.

$7.25 would also be the absolute highest wage all the industries could afford to pay that are currently using the labor. No Benefits. So either the country as a whole is going to have to pay more for these products/services (which seems unlikely), or the jobs will be moved to countries with cheap labor.

Construction is an industry that cannot be moved, so Americans have a choice, pay a considerable increase in the cost of a home/home repairs or look the other way and continue to allow cheap labor.

Maybe someone should ask the very Republican Colonel Powell why is is hiring the people he does. I am guessing they are cheaper than their American counterparts. If Powell can't afford American labor, what are the 95% of the rest of us to do, who make far less ?


: Powell is to Repub (none / 0) (#33)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 06:36:48 PM EST

as corn is to cotton.

Walk the unemployment line (none / 0) (#14)
by nycstray on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:51:06 AM EST

and see how many farm workers you get.


While I do support the Dream Act, (none / 0) (#12)
by MO Blue on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:16:52 AM EST

I do think that you may be overstating the jobs that citizens will no longer do. Where I live, many citizens make a decent living doing yard work and have businesses providing housecleaning services.

Granted field work in a lot of areas is done by temporary immigrant labor. No one, citizen or immigrant, should work in low pay abuse jobs.


Absolutely (5.00 / 2) (#20)
by DancingOpossum on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 11:08:06 AM EST

I know a lot of Americans who are happy to do yard work, housecleaning, and the like. What they're not happy to do is live under the abusive conditions that cheap-labor Republicans (and now Democrats) impose on immgrant agricultural workers. I live in a neighborhood with a lot of lower-skilled and blue-collar workers and I don't see a lot of people who are picky about what jobs they will take. There are a lot of women here who have started their own cleaning businesses and the money can be quite good (and usually under the table). None of them are foreign-born.

In an expose' in Mother Jones several years ago, the journalists found that many agro companies deliberately word their job openings to sound as unappealing as possible so that nobody will apply for them, and they can get desperate (i.e., immigrant) workers rather than Americans who are less likely to put up with their nonsense--and more likely to report them to the authorities.

Of course, many Americans are becoming equally desperate these days--it's all part of a really beautiful plan. Well, beautiful for them.


I should have clarified (none / 0) (#15)
by nycstray on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 01:17:06 AM EST

I was not talking about jobs "citizens will no longer do". I won't go down that repub speak road. But I will question what jobs they are supposedly taking from 'us'. I just don't see it.


: Jobs citizens won't do (none / 0) (#16)
by BrassTacks on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 01:32:06 AM EST

AT THAT PAY. I wish people wouldn't leave off that important part. If farm workers were being paid $500 a day, I bet many people would prefer that over unemployment.

Well Send Them Down.. (none / 0) (#23)
by ScottW714 on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:13:52 PM EST

... here to Houston, I am sure they won't mind mowing my lawn all summer long in 100+ degree heat. Because I sure as hell won't, and I am pretty sure my neighbors would concur.

I pay $40 for two guys and it takes them about 1/2 hr. That's $40/hr for one person and in the 10 years I have resided in my home, not one white person has offered their services. Where are all the unemployed Americans with mowers ? A logical person might think they can't handle the work in the Houston heat, or is there another angle I am not seeing ?

Ditto with my roof that needed replacing after Ike. I can't remember seeing one white guy on a roof, and 1 in 4 were probably replaced in my area at a cost of ~ $10k for mine. There has to be some Americans who will work on a hot roof in 100+ degree weather, right ?

Of course I am making the assumptions that my lawn guy and the roofers were not Americans, I don't know. What I do know, is they aren't white, which leads me to believe that white people aren't going to do the work, it's out there, it's a decent wage, and they aren't part of the market. Why is that ?


Well we get 100+ degree heat (5.00 / 1) (#27)
by MO Blue on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 01:01:55 PM EST

here and I have absolutely no problem finding crews of AA and white people to do my yard work. In fact, my current company is owned by a white person and a 3 man crew (2 white, 1 AA) does my yard work. Same with replacing my roof.

A lot depends on if you are contracting out for the jobs and who they chose to employ.

: Yes, in my hot and humid (none / 0) (#32)
by KeysDan on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 03:53:17 PM EST

little island city, the going rate for a gardener is $30/hour--for Americans of all strips as well as for immigrants, including Cubans and the many from the Czech Republic. With year around needs, it is a booming and popular trade.

Because (none / 0) (#28)
by christinep on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 01:10:17 PM EST

it may be that some who lament that immigrants are taking away their jobs make the lament increasingly without factual back-up...and people like you, ScottW714, are calling them on it. Thank you.

The perennial election year-type issue really is another button to push by the right. The lamentation (without support) refrain rings increasingly hollow. And, in his way, that is what Powell is saying. I grew up in Colorado and have spent some time in the southwest in frequent travels. My take: While the issues involving immigration cry for a comprehensive bill to define the now and future path, there are a number of circular manufactured arguments spoken by the same group (out here, Tom Tancredo is the xenophobic champ) that devolve to "them" v "us" or the more blunt "they are coming to take our land & our lifestyles" or Mexico is extending into the US. Mostly, its rubbish--but, it yanks the emotions--and has done so for years. (Recall the recent "headless bodies" in the Arizona desert myth spreak and then recanted by the State's Governor Brewer.)

It is a challenge to peel the onion and consider the component issues. But, despite whatever issues we may have with Gen. Powell's earlier credibility, he has spoken plainly, clearly, and honestly in his interview yesterday. So many of us want to focus on the pathway forward--beyond the myths & repetitive white/hispanic baiting--and the Dream Act is a good step. It is a good progressive step.


Nonsense (none / 0) (#34)
by Rojas on Tue Sep 21, 2010 at 08:01:45 AM EST

The price paid per square (100 sq, feet) for labor to install a composition roof in Texas has been flat for 25 years. For a clue of how this took place see:

State employment statistics hint at a significant shift in the residential roofing industry. Between the summer of 2000 and the summer of 2005, the number of people in the overall Minnesota residential construction industry rose 30 percent. At the same time, the number formally employed by residential roofing contractors in the state dropped by 34 percent -- and it's not because Minnesotans have stopped having work done on their roofs.


status (none / 0) (#4)
by diogenes on Sun Sep 19, 2010 at 07:21:50 PM EST

How about a legal, documentede status of "time-limited guest worker"?

Colin, Colin, Colin (none / 0) (#21)
by beefeater on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 11:27:14 AM EST

We used to have people here to do the jobs that Americans wouldn't do. Some of them may have even been your ancestors. I don't think that made it right, but I could be wrong.

I really hope you're not comparing (none / 0) (#25)
by Socraticsilence on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:20:31 PM EST

the situation with migrant workers (as bad as the conditions can sometimes be) to slavery.


: Indentured servitude was a feature (none / 0) (#26)
by Harry Saxon on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 12:46:03 PM EST

of America's early colonial days, but pretty much disappeared by the time of the Revolution:

Indentured Servants in colonial America were, for the most part, adult white persons who were bound to labor for a period of years. There were three well-known classes: the free-willers, or redemptioners; those who were enticed to leave their home country out of poverty or who were kidnapped for political or religious reasons; and convicts. The first class represented those who chose to bind themselves to labor for a definite time to pay for their passage to America. The best known of these were Germans, but many English and Scottish men and women came in the same way. The second class, those who came to escape poverty or were forcibly brought to the colonies, was large because of the scarcity of labor in America. Their services were profitably sold to plantation owners or farmers, who indentured them for a period of years. The third class, convicts, were sentenced to deportation and on arrival in America were indentured unless they had personal funds to maintain themselves. Seven years was a common term of such service. The West Indies and Maryland appear to have received the largest number of immigrants of the third class.
Indentured servants made up a large portion of the population of the Chesapeake region, especially during the seventeenth century, when they accounted for 80 to 90 percent of European immigrants. The middle colonies of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey also relied heavily on indentured servants, and in the eighteenth century more lived there than in any other region.
Click Me

Prisoners: acceptable alternative laborers? (none / 0) (#29)
by Yes2Truth on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 01:21:06 PM EST

Helping to control labor costs & hiring more (legal)
citizens to help Mr. Powell and others needing lawn or woof care.

Dems who may block the Dream Act (none / 0) (#30)
by MO Blue on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 02:04:12 PM EST

That said, if the motion to proceed does succeed, several Democrats will have a choice to make. Eight of them voted against cloture on the DREAM Act in 2007, and they are undecided today. link

Democrats helped block the bill three years ago when it fell eight votes short on a procedural motion. While some Republicans supported that motion, eight Democrats voted no, including the late Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.) and Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Byron Dorgan (N.D.).
Five of those senators -- Conrad, Dorgan, McCaskill, Pryor and Landrieu -- told The Hill they haven't made up their minds about this week's vote.

Ah sweet Claire, what a worthless excuse for a Dem you are.

Should we only give the illegal immigrants (none / 0) (#31)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 02:37:46 PM EST

who are in the country now a path to citzenship, or should we give all illegal immigrants who enter the country the same path?