Gloria Steinem's Arguments Against Immigration Reform

Social and political activist and a recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom, Gloria Steinem also joined the cause supporting the immigration reform. Women’s groups, such as immigration group We Belong Together expressed the hope that Steinem’s “star power of feminist activist” would help to propel them forward and bring women to the forefront of conversations surrounding immigration reform. Majority of the women’s groups viewed the proposed legislation as the one disadvantaging immigrant women and offering no protection to them. Women are mostly employed as domestic workers, unlike men, who work in construction, agriculture and tech industries, nevertheless women’s rights groups had their reasons to advocate in favor of the bill. They believed, that voting against the bill and the inaction of the House “is really a vote against women, children, and families.”

In an ideal world a good policy is born out of an informed debate, argument and search of consensus. Nevertheless, in issue networks’ ability to constantly weigh alternative courses of action Hugh Heclo sees a threat to democratic legitimacy. He believes that a more informed argument about policy choices may produce more incomprehensibility. Trying to create a wide-ranging piece of legislation and gain as much support for the immigration bill as possible, hundreds of

744 seemed to have been destined to overhaul the U.S. immigration system. Nevertheless it seems to have repeated the fate of its predecessors, other legislative efforts to address the pressing issue of illegal immigration in the country. What stood in the way of the successful passage of the bill by the House? Why didn’t massive support of interest groups and general public of the immigration reform secure its adoption? Can we argue that technocracy and confrontation between issue networks of supporters of “path to citizenship” and strengthening border security stall the