Immigration

Adult Education Provisions in 2010 Immigration Reform Bill

/ The Old Crank / 1 Comment

Earlier this week I suggested a few broad adult education issues that might potentially be addressed in the bipartisan immigration reform bill the Senate hopes to release sometime in March.

But I hadn’t had a chance (until today) to look at what specific adult education provisions might have been proposed in prior immigration reform legislation. Most notably, I had not reviewed the not-so-old Democratic bill introduced by Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Leahy (D-VT) late in 2010, which included a number of specific provisions designed to strengthen adult education in the context of immigrant integration. “The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010” (SB 3932) not only included an expansion of federal investments in English literacy and civics education, but included other programs and policies designed to encourage English literacy instructional opportunities—such as tax credits for English literacy teachers and for businesses that provided English language instruction for their employees.

Sen. Menendez is one of the eight lead Senators hammering out the bipartisan bill we expect to see in a few weeks. I haven’t spoken to anyone about any conversations with Sen. Menendez on what might be in this new bill, and I don’t know if any of the adult education pieces in SB 3932 have come up during his discussions with his Republican colleagues. I don’t even have a solid sense of what my colleagues in the adult education field in general think about these provisions, although they look pretty good to me.

But since we know that Sen. Menendez is part of the team developing the new legislation, and that Sen. Leahy will have an influential role in the process as the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, it seems to me that it’s instructive to review what they were thinking back in 2010.

Is a House Immigration Reform Bill Imminent?

/ The Old Crank

(Updated Below)

This week I’ve been hearing from some my friends in the field that the House is getting ready to introduce an immigration reform bill in the very near future—even, perhaps, ahead of the Senate. I’ll believe it when I see it. After reading some of the published reports about House action on this issue, I still think that the Senate, where a bipartisan group of influential Senators has actually put out a plan, is going to be first up with a bill.

The Hill did report Monday that a “bipartisan group of House negotiators is even further along in drafting a comprehensive immigration overhaul than its counterpart in the Senate,” and that this group was trying to release a draft bill directly before or after President Obama’s State of the Union address on February 12th.

But The Hill also noted that even though House Speaker John Boehner told a Republican advocacy organization last month that the House immigration group “basically [had] an agreement,” an aide later said that the Speaker’s assessment was “overly optimistic” as they “have not come to agreement on some of the big stuff.”

Moreover, Caitlin Huey-Burns, writing today forRealClearPolitics, suggests that Republican leadership is actually tapping the brakes on this effort:

House Speaker John Boehner… has advised his chamber to approach immigration reform slowly. “This is not about being in a hurry. This is about trying to get it right on behalf of the American people and those who are suffering under an immigration system that doesn’t work very well for anybody,” he told reporters Tuesday.

She also reports (as many others have) that there are still a significant number of Republicans in the House who are opposed to introducing a comprehensive bill, and would rather take on reform in a piecemeal fashion, through a series of separate bills.

Mike Flynn, writing for Breitbart.com about the revelation that a group of House members has been meeting to draft legislation on immigration reform reminiscent of the Senate talks, thinks that “the talks are even more political theater than the Senate effort.”

If I were in a position where I had to choose between focusing my advocacy efforts between the House and the Senate over the next few weeks, I think I’d go with the Senate. In particular, considering Sen. Marco Rubio’s strong interest in this topic—and apparent influence within his party on the pending legislation—the sizable number of adult education advocates in Florida seem to me to be in an interesting position to advocate for adult education resources in the Senate bill.

UPDATE 2/7/13: The National Journal seems to agree:

[[T]he House will likely hold hearings and markups, and maybe even offer the bipartisan bill, but they’re not going first. House Republican leadership thinks immigration will likely fail in the Senate, and they’re not wild about the idea of making their members take a politically tough vote only to have reform die.

Educational Opportunities for Adult Immigrants

/ The Old Crank

I didn’t watch any of the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on immigration yesterday but I would guess from a quick scan of the written testimony that there wasn’t any significant discussion about the role of adult education in immigrant integration.

It appears that the best opportunity might have been during the testimony of Michael Teitelbaum, who served as the Commissioner and Vice Chair U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform back in the 1990s. For his written testimony, he attached the commission report—which is now over 15 years old. But the commission’s assessment of the state of adult education could have been written yesterday:

The Commission urges the federal, state, and local governments and private institutions to enhance educational opportunities for adult immigrants. Education for basic skills and literacy in English is the major vehicle that integrates adult immigrants into American society and participation in its civic activities. Literate adults are more likely to participate in the workforce and twice as likely to participate in our democracy. Literate adults foster literacy in their children, and parents’ educational levels positively affect their children’s academic performance.

Adult education is severely underfunded. Available resources are inadequate to meet the demand for adult immigrant education, particularly for English proficiency and job skills. In recognition of the benefits they receive from immigration, the Commission urges leaders from businesses and corporations to participate in skills training, English instruction, and civics education programs for immigrants. Religious schools and institutions, charities, foundations, community organizations, public and private schools, colleges and universities also can contribute resources, facilities, and expertise.

In his written testimony, Teitelbaum said he “was pleased to learn only recently that many of recommendations designed to facilitate the integration of legal immigrants, “including a welcome guide for new immigrants, orientation materials and information clearinghouses, and facilitating access to adult education in civics and English” had been implemented after the Office of Citizenship was created in the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security. (my emphasis)

But while it’s true that USCIS has developed many of the materials and resources envisioned by the commission (and has offered some grants for adult EL/civics education), there has been virtually no progress over the last 15 years to significantly expand educational opportunities for adult immigrants. Funding for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the primary vehicle for federal investment in adult education in the U.S. (which includes a set-aside for EL/Civics) has been stagnant for years; in fact, taking inflation into account, it’s actually gone down.

Moreover, the EL/Civics grant program, which began as as a demonstration grant at the U.S. Department of Education, isn’t actually authorized by WIA. The set-aside has been approved by Congressional appropriators for years now, but the lack of authorization leaves the program more vulnerable to elimination than other programs under WIA. Proponents have been trying to get it authorized in the next version of WIA, but WIA reauthorization itself  has been delayed for about a decade. (A modest—but significant—win for adult education in the immigration reform bill would be to finally codify and authorize the EL/Civics grant program in WIA.)

I don’t think Teitelbaum meant to suggest that the adult education recommendations made by the commission had been achieved, but anyone not familiar with the state of adult education, WIA and EL/Civics education might have been given the impression from his testimony that significant progress has been made made in this area, which is not the case.

What Will Adult Education Advocates Be Looking for in the Pending Immigration Reform Legislation?

/ The Old Crank / 1 Comment

(Updated Below)

The basic outline of the coming immigration reform legislation is pretty clear, but reports are that we probably won’t see any actual legislation until March. (That’s the deadline that the eight senators who signed onto the immigration reform principles last week have set for themselves to deliver a bill.) Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on immigration reform on February 13th.

For those of you in the adult education field, what will you be looking for when the bill is finally released? Here’s my list:

Funding. This is the biggest issue, I think. Will there by any new funding for adult English language instruction in the bill? Members of the Senate group have consistently stated that undocumented immigrants will be required to learn English in order to attain permanent residency status. (This is currently not required for those residing outside the U.S. applying for “regular” permanent residency.) That provision is going to create a large increase in demand for adult english language instruction. (We can be certain of this, as we’ve already seen a big surge in demand due to the President’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.) Will the eventual legislation expand opportunities or provide additional resources for adult English language instruction?

I wasn’t really that closely involved the last time immigration reform was kicked around, but my understanding is that some of the proposals did include additional adult education funding. This time, however, I think it’s highly unlikely, considering the current fiscal climate, that we’ll see a bill that invests any taxpayer money into increasing adult education capacity, (even if it’s the “back taxes” the Senate plan would require of those seeking to obtain probationary legal status)—particularly considering that the primary beneficiaries of that funding would be undocumented immigrants.

But the Senate framework also includes language about additional fines to be paid by undocumented immigrants as well. Could the funds collected from those fines be used to provide funding for additional English classes? Is that something the adult education field would endorse?

Eligibility. In at least one state I know of (Arizona) undocumented immigrants are banned from enrolling in adult education courses administered by the Department of Education at state or federally funded schools. Even if no new dollars are forthcoming for adult education in this bill, could there something in there that might open up access to federally adult education programs to those individuals?

Proficiency. What level of English language skills will be sufficient to meet the English requirement. How will each applicant’s English language skills be assessed? Will it more-or-less mirror the process used by applicants for citizenship, or will it be something else?

Exceptions. As I noted last week, under the normal rules for those applying for citizenship, there are exceptions to the requirement that applicants know English. Generally, those over a certain age who have lived in the U.S. for significant amount of time are exempt from the English requirement when applying for citizenship, and an applicant with “a physical or developmental disability or a mental impairment” may be eligible for an exception to both the English and civics requirements.

Will there be a similar exceptions carved out for older or disabled undocumented immigrants applying for permanent residency status under the Senate plan?

Clarity. Even if the bill addressed none of issues above, the establishment of a fair, open, and transparent process by which undocumented immigrants can acquire some level of legal status will, I’m sure, be a huge relief to many immigrants served by our programs—and their families.

This is not necessarily a complete list. What did I miss?

Those in our field who feel strongly about the role of adult education in the immigration reform package should probably be getting in touch with their representatives in Congress now—particularly those living in the states represented by the eight Senators working on this bill. I think it’s quite possible that no one will be thinking very much about the role of adult education in the bill unless folks in our field speak up. The Senate is on recess the week of February 18th—adult education advocates may want to look into whether their Senators have scheduled town meetings or similar events, and try to raise questions about the role of adult education at those meetings. Program directors might even consider trying to arrange for a visit to their program that week.

I also recommend taking a look at the President’s fact sheet on immigration reform, which outlines the key principles that he believes should be included in the immigration reform package. In this document, the President calls for a proposal that promotes “efforts to integrate immigrants into their new American communities linguistically, civically, and economically.” (my emphasis) Historically, adult education programs have been at the center of those efforts, and so the President’s words may be a good place to start for those advocating for a strong role for adult education in the changes ahead.

UPDATE: I mentioned there was a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on February 13th. For the record, there is also a House Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration tomorrow, February 5th. Because the Senate is going to be out of the gate first with a comprehensive bill, I think it’s the more significant event. For what it’s worth, the House hearing will be focused on the “current legal immigration system and ways to improve it” and “the extent to which our immigration laws have been enforced.”