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McClatchy Washington Bureau
May 6, 2011 Friday
Feinstein uses private bills to block deportations
BY: Michael Doyle; McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Fresno resident Nayely Arreola was a high school junior
when a U.S. senator first protected her from deportation. The year:
2003.
Nayely is now 25, newly married and a graduate of Fresno Pacific
University. She and her family still remain protected, thanks to
special bills that need not pass to exert influence.
"Perhaps the greatest hardship to this family, if forced to return to
Mexico, will be (Nayely's) lost opportunity to realize her dreams and
further contribute to her community and this country," Democratic Sen.
Dianne Feinstein
Enhanced Coverage LinkingSen. Dianne Feinstein -Search using:
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declared.
As she has regularly since 2003, Feinstein in March re-introduced a
so-called private bill on behalf of the Arreola family. It effectively
blocks deportation, even without final approval from Congress.
Private bills, though controversial in some circles, have become a
part of Feinstein's arsenal.
Feinstein this year has introduced 13 private bills to block
deportations, more than any other member of Congress. Her private
bills account for one-fifth of the 64 private bills introduced in the
entire House and Senate, records show.
Each bill would grant specific individuals legal U.S. residency. To
balance the immigration books, each bill correspondingly reduces the
number of visas available to others. All told, Feinstein's 13 bills
would grant 28 illegal immigrants U.S. residency.
Once introduced, the bills essentially freeze immigration enforcement
actions. Consequently, the private bills reintroduced every Congress
amount to permanent ad hoc solutions.
"It's been a huge blessing to have these bills," Nayely said Friday.
Nayely Arreola Carlos, as she is now known, works as an admissions
counselor at Fresno Pacific while she's studying for a master's in
business administration. The private bills, she said, have opened
opportunities including her undergraduate scholarship.
Nayely's father, Esidronio, first entered the United States illegally
in 1986 as a migrant farmworker. Feinstein said "poor legal
representation" by a subsequently disbarred attorney cost Esidronio
and his wife, Maria Elena, a conventional shot at legal residency.
Even under the private bill shield, though, Nayely acknowledged
anxiety. Every year, her family is reinvestigated. The future brings
uncertainty.
"Not knowing what happens if Senator Feinstein
Enhanced Coverage LinkingSenator Feinstein -Search using:
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is no longer in office," Nayely said, describing her big looming concern.
Fresno truck driver Ruben Mkoian and his family have likewise stayed
in the United States with the help of private bills repeatedly
introduced by Feinstein. So has a San Bruno couple from Laos and
Taiwan, a Pacifica resident from the Philippines and a Reedley family
originally from Mexico, among others.
Critics call the private bills a bad habit. In the past, some private
bills in particular have given lawmakers a black eye.
Last year, reflecting in part the congressional discomfort, only two
private bills were signed into law. One was Feinstein's. In 2009, no
private bill became law.
"Private bills should only be used for very extraordinary
circumstances, not just because someone is a good student," said Mark
Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
While acknowledging that "there is a potential role" for rare private
bills, Krikorian warned that "the danger is that they become a goodie
you can give to friends and supporters." Choosing beneficiaries can
also become very subjective, he cautioned.
Gregory Chen, advocacy director for the American Immigration Lawyers
Association, added that private bills require "particularly compelling
circumstances." Different people can have different ideas of what
qualifies, he stressed.
On Friday, noting that "California is a state of 38 million
residents," Feinstein said she has introduced private bills "on rare
occasions ... for cases that were compelling, for one reason or
another."
Private immigration bills were once common, with hundreds passing
annually. The Congressional Research Service noted private bills began
to decline after the 1970s following "a series of corruption scandals
... involving payoffs for the sponsorship of private immigration
laws."
When she introduces them, Feinstein casts the private bills as justice
for families filled with high-achievers and hard-workers.
Ruben Mkoian, for instance, was a police officer in Armenia who was
reportedly attacked when he blew the whistle on corruption. He, his
wife, Asmik Karapetian, and their 3-year-old son, Arthur, fled to the
United States in the early 1990s but eventually were denied political
asylum.
Arthur is now a junior at the University of California at Davis,
studying chemistry.
"The Mkoians have worked hard to build a place for their family in
California," Feinstein stated.
In a similar vein, Feinstein in 2004 first introduced a private bill
to aid the family of Ana Laura Buendia, a straight-A student at
Reedley High School. Later this year, still protected by the latest
private bill, Ana Laura will graduate from the University of
California at Irvine.
"The Buendias," Feinstein said, "have shown that they are committed to
working to achieve the American dream."
McClatchy Newspapers 2011
From: A. Papazian
May 6, 2011 Friday
Feinstein uses private bills to block deportations
BY: Michael Doyle; McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Fresno resident Nayely Arreola was a high school junior
when a U.S. senator first protected her from deportation. The year:
2003.
Nayely is now 25, newly married and a graduate of Fresno Pacific
University. She and her family still remain protected, thanks to
special bills that need not pass to exert influence.
"Perhaps the greatest hardship to this family, if forced to return to
Mexico, will be (Nayely's) lost opportunity to realize her dreams and
further contribute to her community and this country," Democratic Sen.
Dianne Feinstein
Enhanced Coverage LinkingSen. Dianne Feinstein -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
News, Most Recent 60 Days
declared.
As she has regularly since 2003, Feinstein in March re-introduced a
so-called private bill on behalf of the Arreola family. It effectively
blocks deportation, even without final approval from Congress.
Private bills, though controversial in some circles, have become a
part of Feinstein's arsenal.
Feinstein this year has introduced 13 private bills to block
deportations, more than any other member of Congress. Her private
bills account for one-fifth of the 64 private bills introduced in the
entire House and Senate, records show.
Each bill would grant specific individuals legal U.S. residency. To
balance the immigration books, each bill correspondingly reduces the
number of visas available to others. All told, Feinstein's 13 bills
would grant 28 illegal immigrants U.S. residency.
Once introduced, the bills essentially freeze immigration enforcement
actions. Consequently, the private bills reintroduced every Congress
amount to permanent ad hoc solutions.
"It's been a huge blessing to have these bills," Nayely said Friday.
Nayely Arreola Carlos, as she is now known, works as an admissions
counselor at Fresno Pacific while she's studying for a master's in
business administration. The private bills, she said, have opened
opportunities including her undergraduate scholarship.
Nayely's father, Esidronio, first entered the United States illegally
in 1986 as a migrant farmworker. Feinstein said "poor legal
representation" by a subsequently disbarred attorney cost Esidronio
and his wife, Maria Elena, a conventional shot at legal residency.
Even under the private bill shield, though, Nayely acknowledged
anxiety. Every year, her family is reinvestigated. The future brings
uncertainty.
"Not knowing what happens if Senator Feinstein
Enhanced Coverage LinkingSenator Feinstein -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
News, Most Recent 60 Days
is no longer in office," Nayely said, describing her big looming concern.
Fresno truck driver Ruben Mkoian and his family have likewise stayed
in the United States with the help of private bills repeatedly
introduced by Feinstein. So has a San Bruno couple from Laos and
Taiwan, a Pacifica resident from the Philippines and a Reedley family
originally from Mexico, among others.
Critics call the private bills a bad habit. In the past, some private
bills in particular have given lawmakers a black eye.
Last year, reflecting in part the congressional discomfort, only two
private bills were signed into law. One was Feinstein's. In 2009, no
private bill became law.
"Private bills should only be used for very extraordinary
circumstances, not just because someone is a good student," said Mark
Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
While acknowledging that "there is a potential role" for rare private
bills, Krikorian warned that "the danger is that they become a goodie
you can give to friends and supporters." Choosing beneficiaries can
also become very subjective, he cautioned.
Gregory Chen, advocacy director for the American Immigration Lawyers
Association, added that private bills require "particularly compelling
circumstances." Different people can have different ideas of what
qualifies, he stressed.
On Friday, noting that "California is a state of 38 million
residents," Feinstein said she has introduced private bills "on rare
occasions ... for cases that were compelling, for one reason or
another."
Private immigration bills were once common, with hundreds passing
annually. The Congressional Research Service noted private bills began
to decline after the 1970s following "a series of corruption scandals
... involving payoffs for the sponsorship of private immigration
laws."
When she introduces them, Feinstein casts the private bills as justice
for families filled with high-achievers and hard-workers.
Ruben Mkoian, for instance, was a police officer in Armenia who was
reportedly attacked when he blew the whistle on corruption. He, his
wife, Asmik Karapetian, and their 3-year-old son, Arthur, fled to the
United States in the early 1990s but eventually were denied political
asylum.
Arthur is now a junior at the University of California at Davis,
studying chemistry.
"The Mkoians have worked hard to build a place for their family in
California," Feinstein stated.
In a similar vein, Feinstein in 2004 first introduced a private bill
to aid the family of Ana Laura Buendia, a straight-A student at
Reedley High School. Later this year, still protected by the latest
private bill, Ana Laura will graduate from the University of
California at Irvine.
"The Buendias," Feinstein said, "have shown that they are committed to
working to achieve the American dream."
McClatchy Newspapers 2011
From: A. Papazian