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On Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Washington, D.C., the Democratic Caucus released its updated Democratic Principles on Immigration. The update was prompted by President George W. Bush’s Jan. 7 announcement that the current system is broken and immigration policy reform is in U.S. national interests, as well as recent proposed legislation by Senators Chuck Hagel (R.-Neb.) and Tom Daschle (D.- S.D.).

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is very pleased that both political parties are showing serious interest in immigration policy reform. MALDEF urges Congress to take cues from the leadership of both parties – from the president as well as the Democratic Caucus – and work on enacting principled, comprehensive immigration policy reform. As Bush stated, immigration policy reform is in U.S. national interests.

MALDEF has been commenting on the president’s proposal and has reviewed the new Democratic Principles on Immigration. MALDEF is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit Latino civil rights organization, and our principles take into account our 35 years of experience on immigration policy reform, working for the best interests of the Latino community.

First, MALDEF would like to emphasize this is a historic opportunity for both parties to work together to reform finally the United States’ broken immigration laws. The United States is a nation made great by immigrants who contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year. A legal system that does not recognize this reality is not good for America. Both parties must take this seriously and make real immigration policy reform happen now.

Secondly, this issue is critical for the Latino community, and Latino voters are very aware of the urgent need to reform U.S. immigration laws. Latino families have been broken apart, small businesses and entire communities have been damaged, and millions of hard-working men, women and children have been forced to live in the shadows.

One of the main causes is that, due to unacceptable backlogs, millions who legally deserve immigration relief are forced to wait up to 10 years to have any real access to legal status. This is especially true in the case of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, who compose 60 percent of applicants yet receive only 7 percent of visas. This has led to the untenable situation in which even young children have been risking their lives in the desert, simply to be with their legal immigrant parents.

Both parties must work in the Congress to increase dramatically the number of visas available for green cards and to decrease the backlogs from Mexico, our close neighbor and trading partner. Both parties seem to agree on the principles of family unity and the need for backlog reduction but have not yet made them a priority. MALDEF’s immigration principles aim to improve family unity through reduction of backlogs – for family as well as employment-based visas – and are at the top of the list of priorities.

Third, MALDEF considers restoration of section 245(i), which allows families to stay together, to be an essential component of any form of immigration policy reform – without restoration of section 245(i), any such reform will not be meaningful for the Latino community.

Fourth, MALDEF respectfully suggests that either party seeking the Latino vote should be aware that any temporary worker program must be accompanied by a path to live in the United States as permanent members of society. A temporary worker program alone would lead to a permanent underclass, which is unacceptable. We note that increasing the number of green cards and restoration of section 245(i) are also needed to make this principle work.

Finally, MALDEF urges Congress to pass the DREAM Act (S. 1545), and we also support the AgJOBs bill (S. 1645), both of which are bipartisan bills that would provide permanent status to deserving immigrants. The DREAM Act would make the dream of a college education attainable for thousands of students.

The United States is a nation of immigrants, and this generation of immigrants, many of whom are Latino, deserve the same chance as earlier generations. They deserve the chance to become full members of our society and to be treated with respect and equality. We urge both parties to fix the currently broken immigration system by making sure such relief is made available to the millions of current and future immigrants who will continue to make the United States great.

Culliton is an Immigrants’ Rights Attorney for MALDEF. A national nonprofit organization founded 1968, MALDEF promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development, higher education scholarships and when necessary, through the legal system. MALDEF’s national headquarters are in Los Angeles.

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