A female senator in the United States has criticized the proposed bill for immigration reform, saying that it puts women at a disadvantage, according to a new report. The Washington Post posted an interview on Tuesday with Senator Mazie Horono in which she alleges that the new bill “institutionalizes and sets in concrete the unequal opportunities that women have in these countries.”
The congressional representative, who was born in Japan, does not approve of the immigration bill that strives to put people into a two-tiered system, giving foreigners rewards for their level of work experience or education. The US lawmaker has been calling on other female senators to ask for a three-tiered measure that addresses the immigration experience for members of both sexes who might have different levels of work experience.
In the meantime, immigration activists and rights groups are becoming increasingly concerned that the plan for immigration reform will only end up putting even more pressure on the shoulders of immigrants. Support by the American public for immigration reform has been slowly but surely on the increase, with protest rallies starting to be held on a regular basis in major cities all across the United States.
On an average day in the US, some 33,000 people will find themselves being detained by immigration authorities, and end up serving around 26.5 days in prison. Almost 400,000 people were deported by ICE in 2011, with the annual cost of holding immigrants being as much as $1.7 billion.