LIEBERMAN HAS SOLID PRO-IMMIGRATION RECORD Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Vice-President Al Gore’s choice for running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, has a strong pro-immigration voting record during his years in the Senate.
He voted in favor of the Immigration Act of 1990, which significantly increased the number of immigrants authorized to enter the US each year. In 1996, he opposed efforts that would have ended the ability of citizens to file immigrant petitions for their parents and siblings. Sen. Lieberman voted in favor of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, which made it easier for Central Americans who fled civil wars during the 1980s to avoid deportation. He was one of the primary sponsors of the Haitian Refugee and Immigration Fairness Act, which provided relief from deportation to Haitians who fled the country’s oppressive dictatorship.
Sen. Lieberman voted in support of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act, the most recent H-1B bill, which increased the annual cap for three years. Of legislation currently pending that would raise the cap again, the Senator has said “if enough people make it a priority, it will get done.”
One reason for Lieberman’s pro-immigrant stance could be his family background and his wife. Lieberman is the children of immigrants from Eastern Europe. His wife Hadassah Lieberman was born in a refugee camp in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and immigrated to the US with her parents in 1951. His in-laws were among the first beneficiaries of the Refugee Act. Her mother was imprisoned in the Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps, and her father was held in a Nazi slave labor camp. Her own experiences as an immigrant, and as the child of Holocaust survivors were reflected in a speech given on the day Gore’s selection of Lieberman was made official. “Here I am, the daughter of survivors of the Holocaust. Whether you and your family immigrated from Europe, Africa, Mexico, Latin America or Asia, I am standing here for you,” she said. < Back | Next > Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. | 
