Take action: something might actually happen to fix our broken immigration policies.

After years of failed attempts to develop new immigration legislation there is a post-election buzz: something might actually happen to fix our broken immigration policies. 

Our voices are critical in shaping this moment, in broadening the space for a real conversation. Your experiences and beliefs about our communities need to be heard at the national level. The opportunity of this moment is historical, together we can put forward our vision. Share with our legislators and friends the idea that we are all one people, that we are better together, and insist immigrant are not the problem, our policies are.

Please email your congressional delegation today! 
Call on them to work for just and humane reform, and let them know you will no longer stand for policies and practices that tear apart families and communities. 

In the hope that we can truly bring fundamental and lasting change, the American Friends Service Committee’s immigrant constituents puts forth seven principles that would recognize the dignity of all migrants and protect human rights. An immigration policy that mirrors these principles would protect rights of all migrants and would be a model for immigration policies worldwide.

• Create justice with humane economic policies.  International economic policies, including trade agreements, need to be consistent with human rights, trade justice, and sustainable approaches to the environment and economic development.
•  Protect the labor rights of all workers.  All workers are entitled to humane policies that protect their labor and employment rights.
• Develop a clear path to permanent residence.  Inclusive measures must be enacted that lead to permanent residence for undocumented immigrants, multi-status families, refugees, and asylees.
• Respect the civil and human rights of immigrants.  Immigrants, regardless of status, deserve the same civil and human rights as all U.S. residents.
• Demilitarize the U.S.-Mexico border.  The U.S.-Mexico border region must be demilitarized and the quality of life of border communities needs to be protected. 
•  Make family reunification a top priority.  Recognize the distinctly important and valuable role of family ties by supporting the reunification of immigrant families in a way that equally respects both heterosexual and same-sex relationships.
•  Ensure that immigrants and refugees have access to services.  Public programs and services should not exclude immigrants or refugees.  

The dangerous alternative: In the Senate, Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham are already bringing forward a misguided proposal. How does it measure up to our principles for a humane immigration policy? 

• Their call to “close the border” would perpetuate violence for border communities. It comes at a time when record numbers of migrants have died while crossing into arduous terrain. In addition, U.S. Border Patrol has killed at least 18 unarmed border residents in the last two years. 
• Their call for non-forgeable employment documents would create a new system that would be fraught with errors and erode everyone’s privacy. Calls for a new system ignore the lessons being learned by E-Verify and other electronic employment enforcement programs. Further, increased employer sanctions do more harm to workers than to unscrupulous employers. 
• Their call for more temporary guest worker visas for workers in technology, engineering, sciences, and agricultural would be ineffective. Guest worker programs lower community labor standards, and the few protections offered to workers are rarely enforced by agencies in charge of oversight. 
• Their call for a “Go to the Back of the Line” pathway to citizenship is more of an obstacle course than a fair procedure. Requirements include paying “back” taxes, having gainful employment, learning English, paying an undetermined fine, and having no criminal history. These requirements punish a marginalized and vulnerable community.

Email your congressional delegation today — tell them to stand for humane reform to fix our broken immigration system!

The DREAM shall never die

Reflections on Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the DREAM Act

By CFIR memberMark O'Brien

Proponents of the DREAM Act failed to gain the 60 votes needed for a cloture vote in the U.S. Senate in order to end a filibuster on the Bill.

This of course was a major disappointment for millions of individuals who were hoping that the DREAM Act would pass in the Congress. The prevailing view was that the DREAM Act had a low chance of successfully passing in the Senate despite a courageous victory in the House.

It may seem like this is the end for the DREAM Act at least until the 2012 elections. However, this is just the beginning. While the Legislation failed to gain the necessary votes in the Senate, the DREAM is still alive! As Senator Edward Kennedy stated at the Democratic National Convention in 2008:

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the DREAM shall never die…

December 20th marked the 5th anniversary of H.R. 4437, otherwise known as the Sensenbrenner Bill that passed in the House. This highly punitive legislation would have made it, among other things, a felony to be in the United States undocumented. The Sensenbrenner Bill was a wake-up call for people of all races, colors and creeds to come together and unite against the hard-hearted nature of such legislation.

Almost immediately, individuals and organizations started to mobilize and an awakening began that brought together communities across the nation. People mobilized and engaged in organizing, outreach and service. Folks from all walks of life rose up to say NO to the Sensenbrenner Bill and the hostile tone that was taking shape in the United States towards immigrants.

The energy and enthusiasm was palpable as communities came together through the bond of peace. There was a tremendous amount of organizing, meeting with legislators and their staff, working on messaging, framing and advocacy. We took sharp, decisive action and did not rest or let up during the Christmas holiday break, and by the time Congress returned, the momentum took them off guard. The Sensenbrenner Bill died in the Senate.

The momentum culminated in March 2006 with rallies across the country that drew 50,000 to 150,000 people. In Denver, a March 25, 2006 rally at Civic Center Park drew an estimated 75,000 people. This was extraordinary given that organizers had met 3 days before and thought that there might be 5,000 people in attendance. But the word went out and then suddenly, when all the forces came together in a singular moment, there was an outpouring that came forth like a river. As I drove into town, streams of individuals, families and groups came from all directions towards Civic Center Park. There were people coming from everywhere and I recall telling a friend on the cell phone, who had asked how I thought the rally would go, "hold on...something is happening-something is breaking lose". This was confirmed when I got close to downtown, parked and joined the procession of people heading to the Park. The presence, power and energy of this gathering was effervescent, there was a joyfulness among the crowd. The morning gave way to a celebration of community and an inspiring presentation. No one there that day will forget, nor should forget, the beauty of the experience.

Over the past 5 years a tremendous amount of time, effort and energy has gone into Comprehensive Immigration Reform. From the McCain-Kennedy Bill to the DREAM Act, there has been an enormous amount of debate, argument, demonstration and lobbying regarding this issue. There has been many promises from politicians who have been, at best, ineffectual in providing genuine leadership on immigration reform. The economic crisis has certainly not helped this situation.

Along with other Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation, the DREAM Act was a parallel effort to provide an opportunity for children, teenagers and young adults, brought to the U.S. with their parents, an opportunity to come from the shadows and be able to work, attend school, join the military and have a path towards legal residency, and the potential to become a permanent resident and/or U.S. Citizen.

The fact that the DREAM Act failed to pass in the Congress is a great disappointment to many and will impose difficult hardships on folks who are undocumented, but it cannot be overstated that this is just the beginning of what will be a very challenging road ahead and we will need to press on toward the goal by working together and staying united in one vision, mission and purpose. We will need to work hard and sacrificially with deliberate intent on CIR and a new DREAM Act.

We need to hearken back to those who came before us and have provided an example to follow. I think of Martin Luther King and how many years he and millions labored, and still labor, for Human Rights. I think of Gandhi and the peace movement in India and how it influenced Dr. King and peace movements around the world. I think of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers movement and his efforts that began in the 1950s. I think of Dorothy Day and the many that advocated for immigrants rights in the late 19th and early 20th century. I think of my own father who worked tirelessly for immigrant rights beginning with Dorothy Day in the 1940s and with Cesar Chavez in the 1950s before the United Farm Workers existed. I think about 'the long journey' fighting against the abuse and exploitation of the Bracero Program and picketing in California during the 'Don't Eat the Grapes' strikes. These were long, hard battles that lasted many years and required extraordinary sacrifice.

The main thing is this : The experience over the past 5 years has shown how a communities can come together with a shared vision to advocate for the cause of justice and Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We will not waiver in our commitment and we will stand together in unity willing to sacrifice time and time again until we achieve our common goal. But even when we do achieve this goal we must remember the words of Senator Edward Kennedy when he said...

One of the great lessons I have learned from a life in politics is that no reform is ever truly complete. We must constantly keep moving forward, seeking ways to create that more perfect union..

We must continue and intensify our work to manifest what Martin Luther King, Jr. named "The beloved community."

In addition, I am reminded of a quote that I hears a few years back which was: "the difference between peacemaking and activism is that peacemaking is transformational". So, as we go forth, let us also be peacemakers in the pursuit of just immigration policy, because in addition to our activism; it is peacemaking that is transformational and ultimately what brings about true and lasting change.

Let us love and serve one another, encouraging each other as long as today is called today, remembering that

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the DREAM shall never die…

Peace and Love,

Mark

Two good Senators

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

I read with interest the “framework” on immigration reform submitted by New York Senator Charles Schumer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Once again, I thought my hopes for true immigration reform were about to become a reality.

We have seen other hopeful pieces of federal legislation that had been proposed in the past, only to read in the details that little were being proposed in terms of how the legislation would affect the undocumented masses. There was plenty in the past pieces of legislation on how to do everything except deal humanely with the people most affected by the legislation. The framework provided by these two good senators is no different.

Again we have little in terms of federal legislation trying to be passed on as “comprehensive immigration reform.” While both senators agree “our immigration system is badly broken,” they also expressed their “belief that America’s security and economic well-being depend on enacting sensible immigration policies.”

Sounds a lot like the same ole, same ole baloney from the past.

So now, both senators are only proposing “draft framework for action on immigration,” not even a full proposal, much less anything to propose to the Congress. Even President Obama agreed that the Schumer/Graham proposal was a good idea, probably because it didn’t commit him to anything.

You will notice that Senator Schumer, the real chief of the “guidelines,” and the “draft framework for action on immigration,” really has nothing to propose at all. It is the same old “secure the borders and make sure we supply enough low paying jobs to the economy.” Nothing in their guidelines to address the injustice and job robbery we have committed against undocumented immigrants in the past.

In essence here is their plan. “Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here.”

Do you see anything new here? The “biometric Social Security card” proposal is nothing more than a national ID card pipe dream. The Homeland Security Department has tried different ways to impose a national ID card on Americans. Now they think they have a way around our strong objections to a national ID card.

A “biometric Social Security card” has nothing to do with immigration reform, only as a means by which the Federal Government can track workers.. Much like the question recently sent to you by the Census Bureau asking if you own or rent your home. Whose business is that in the Federal Government?? How does that relate to “the count required every ten years by the government?”

We have heard so much good news on how the E-Verify Employee tracking system is working. Wrong, we have heard how the E-Very employee tracking system has not been very reliable and how hard working individuals are being denied good employment because some federal tracking plan is not very reliable or can actually track who should or should not be working in country. Now we are going to be given a “new biometric Social Security card” that is going to be one of the pillars for comprehensive reform.

The two good senators also expect that “fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement” will be key in their immigration proposal. That doesn’t sound very original either.

What these two senators are proposing is ridiculous and only means increasing ICE type enforcement in our country. “Interior enforcement?” What does that mean? It sounds like they are going to continue to separate and destroy families by increased detention and deportations and do it legally under a new comprehensive immigration law.

Our government already detains over 34,000 undocumented immigrants in detentions every single day. Our government continues to contract with private prison vendors to build and manage these jails we have built claiming they will provide us security and safety by eliminating the criminal elements associated with illegal immigration

The Obama Administration in its first year has already deported more than 120,000 fathers, mothers, and children than the Bush Administration did in it last year in power. And now our good senators want tougher “interior enforcement”? Is that something you really want? Do you really think all the people in immigration detention are the bad criminals ICE says they are?

I am not so sure I like the way the two good senators propose fixing the border issues. After spending billions of dollars on a border fence that only covers about half of the 2000 mile border with Mexico, our two good senators want to continue to pour billions more on border security. They propose, “We would bolster recent efforts to secure our borders by increasing the Border Patrol's staffing and funding for infrastructure and technology. More personnel would be deployed to the border immediately to fill gaps in apprehension capabilities.”

Where have these two good senators been for the last ten years? The Bush Administration added thousands of Border Patrol agents to the border. He even assigned thousands of National Guard troops to the border, along with his hundreds of volunteer border vigilantes who stood guard on the border. Now these two good senators feel the billions spent on the Bush border wall was a waste of money and we need to spend more money on border security that only bleeds more illicit drugs and gang violence into our country?

Even I know the tactical strategy for fighting the drug war along our southern border with Mexico should be different than trying to run down undocumented immigrants who come here for a better job. We are facing two different entry strategies – one with good consequences, and the other that has created a violent war zone between Mexico and the United States over illicit drugs.

Applying the same amount of federal dollars “securing our border” should have different distinct strategies trying to prevent the hard working immigrant from crossing the border, and preventing the Mexican cartels from delivering billions of dollars in drugs to the American consumer. Maybe better interior enforcement of selling illicit drugs and human trafficking would solve a big part of the criminal element the two good senators want to capture?

I wonder if the two good senators have ever heard of the “system of supply and demand.” The only reason these drug cartels are killing innocent men, women, and children is for the right to export illicit drugs to the American consumer. Yes indeed, the user who lives in the belt way, the high end condos and apartments, the rich neighborhoods, and who have the billions to spend on drug related trips away from reality?

While I may partly agree with the zero tolerance strategy to capture, detain, and deport criminals, we have seen how this policy has not worked very well under the Obama Administration. In fact, interior enforcement is stronger today than under President Bush. It is just good politicking to be for “zero tolerance.”

Our two good senators are trying to sell this “new enforcement strategy” under the guise of a new proposal on immigration reform. Here is what they propose, as a way of securing “our interior.” “Other steps include expanding domestic enforcement to better apprehend and deport those who commit crimes and completing an entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases.”

Did you know that over 50% of the undocumented immigrants in our country over stay their legal visa? It is not the scene ICE likes to paint. ICE likes to portray their job as tracking down hundreds of thousands crossing the border every day and thus the need for more Border Patrol agents, more high tech surveillance, and miles more of a fence proven to be inadequate for the job.

Most of the people who fall into the category of “illegal alien,” and “overstay their visas” are good people who want a new life here. They are not criminals as the two good senators would have you believe. We all are for “a zero-tolerance policy for gang members, smugglers, terrorists and those who commit other felonies after coming here illegally.” The problem is the agencies involved in enforcement cannot tell the difference between “gang member, smugglers, and terrorists who commit other felonies after coming here illegally.”

You have heard the expression, “Well, they all look alike.” So under that false premise, ICE fills the detention centers with “criminals,” in other words, just using a criminal and racial profiling kit to detain and deport hundreds of good fathers, mothers, and families under a zero tolerance that does not allow for questioning who ICE may have in their jails. I would challenge you to see what the “criminal profile” looks like in your local ICE and privately contracted detention center.

If they intend is to track down people who overstay their legal visas, and create a new “entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases,” then look out for the need for more privately controlled detention centers that have forgotten the United States Constitution is still the law of the land.

Then look for more enforcement raids at the homes of people who have overstayed their visas. Look for local enforcement to bemoan the fact that they must now stop, detain, and report to ICE any good hard working individual because they may have overstayed their visas.

Please stop and consider for a moment. More momentum being built by the “framework or guidelines” for immigration control by these two good senators is only going to create a more suspicious and hate filled political environment in our country. Now everyone will be suspect….and trust me, this will only give law enforcement a free rein on racial profiling.

Their proposal to create a new process for allowing low income workers, I mean temporary workers, into the country, means a “new Bracero problem, I mean program.” We have seen how manufacturing, farming, and the service industry have treated temporary workers. By providing a new process for allowing these low income workers in the country, will that include protections against abuse, robbery, housing, and assurances of a living wage? Or does this new process just mean more of the same?

Read the incentive for doing a good job, “Our framework would facilitate this desired circular migration by allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can show they were unsuccessful in recruiting an American to fill an open position; allowing more lower-skilled immigrants to come here when our economy is creating jobs and fewer in a recession; and permitting workers who have succeeded in the workplace, and contributed to their communities over many years, the chance to earn a green card .”

I must admit I find it humorous that the two good senators would propose a “tough but fair path forward” for the 11 million undocumented immigrants still in our country. They are quick to show that 1 million have left the country in the last year, but can’t conduct an American census without first overspending more than 14 million dollars so far (and still don’t have a reliable count).

The undocumented immigrants would have to admit they are criminals for crossing the border. They would have to pay back taxes, which I thought millions were already doing, and still not being able to apply for medical or social needs?

They would have to perform hundreds of hours of community service, or just another way to allow them to continue to work for free or low end wages.

But wait; here is what really shows me these two good senators have no grasp of reality. They propose, “These people would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before going to the back of the line of prospective immigrants to earn the opportunity to work toward lawful permanent residence.”

They must pass a background check, after spending years in the United States doing whatever was necessary to destroy any documents or evidence they were living in the shadows of America illegally.

Must be proficient in English? Does that mean being able to say, “Wait a minute? I worked 56 hours this week, and you owe me for 56 hours of work?” “Or you promised to pay me $12 an hour to do this work, now you want to pay me $8 because you think I will not report you to the authorities? Or probably the most classic question being asked today, “What do you mean you are not going to pay me for the work I did for you because you know I am undocumented immigrant?”

If the two good senators added up all the work not paid or underpaid to today’s hard working undocumented workers, they would be adding to their framework proposal for repayment to undocumented immigrants for work well done, not more community service or more in “back taxes.”

I trust our Latino Evangelical leaders will not fall in the false trap of “immigration is at hand.” It is not, if we are to follow the two good senators “framework for immigration reform.”

As far as I am concerned, the proof is in the details. I have seen no reason to celebrate a proposed guideline for reform, one from a New York Senator, and the other from a Republican Senator. Show me the money should be our cry. Show me the details.

If our Evangelical leadership does not stand up against this false pretense that immigration is at hand, and condemn the lies of this Administration and United States Representatives and Senators, they please don’t show up on the stage on Sunday, March 21st and claim immigration reform is at hand. Please don’t join the liars from the government. And yes, we will be watching and listening to your speeches. Be fair, but don't lie about immigration reform being at hand, because it is not!

You know what the facts are back home in the barrio, in the local Evangelical church, in the schools back home, or on the job situation. Reading the guidelines proposed by Senators Graham & Schumer, and supported by President Obama should be enough to call for the immigration reform train to stop right now.

We will not accept your piecemeal approach to comprehensive immigration reform. We do not accept your premise that our people are bad people and thus must pay fines, do community service, and deny their culture by making them stop using Spanish to become American citizens.

I suppose if we closed the southern border tight, and allowed immigrants seeking a better life to pass by the Statue of Liberty, they would be worthy to be American citizens. Then they too could say, “¡Gloria a Dios! Hemos llegado a la tierra donde fluyen leche y miel. Siento un inmenso orgullo y es un grab honor estar aquí. Me siento como un ciudadano estadounidense, muy orgulloso. Nuestro hogar está ahora en la tierra de la tranquilidad, la justicia y la paz.”

( "Glory to God, we have arrived to the land of milk and honey. I am so full of pride and honor to be here. I feel like an American citizen...so proud. We are home to a land of tranquility, justice, and peace." )

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Butch Montoya

AFSC Guest Column in Des Moines Register: Reunited family is a blessing of immigration

JON KRIEG is a senior administrative associate of the American Friends Service Committee, Des Moines. Contact: JKrieg@afsc.org

If you're old enough, think back 22 years ago. If my memory serves, I was in Brethren Volunteer Service in Washington, D.C., where I'd often ride my bike to Ethiopian restaurants. Where were you? What were you doing?Michael Madit doesn't have any trouble remembering 1987. Then 7, Michael left his family and fled the violence of his homeland in Sudan for Kenya, eventually ending up in Iowa. It was the last time he'd seen his mother. Five weeks ago, at the airport in Des Moines, Michael saw her once again.

The Iowa office of the American Friends Service Committee has been aiding Michael's lengthy efforts to reunite with his mother. A seemingly endless list of immigration obstacles - including multi-country DNA testing - delayed the process for years.Finally, on June 1, Michael and his wife, Elizabeth, their three children, Reech, Mayen and Abuk, and a host of other Sudanese-Iowans waited patiently for the very last person to get off a plane from Houston (via Dubai and Uganda). After years of letters, phone calls and red tape, Michael and his mother, also named Abuk, were finally reunited. A grandmother embraced her daughter-in-law and her three grandchildren for the first time.

During a recent visit with the Madits, Grandma Abuk showed us the Bible she brought with her from home. She shared family pictures and told us how good it was to be here. Grandkids scrambled across her lap, eager to have their picture taken. Elizabeth recalled that people asked her what surprise she'd have in store for her mother-in-law. Elizabeth's response? "Me!"Jody Mashek, who currently directs American Friends Service Committee's legal services effort, is quick to credit her predecessor, Ann Naffier, for the bulk of the legal assistance work needed to reunite the Madit family. But some version of the Madits' story is played out every day in the lobby of the committee's home, Friends House, at 42nd and Grand in Des Moines.

Each year, American Friends Service Committee's Iowa office helps more than 1,000 immigrants and refugees from dozens of countries. Many people are escaping dire poverty - as my grandparents did when they emigrated from Sweden 100 years ago. Others are lucky to be alive and, like Michael, are eager to reunite the family they still have left. Nine of Michael's 12 siblings are no longer alive.It's easy to lose our moral balance in this nation's debate over immigration reform. Shrill voices scream about legality and economics. Politicians and the blogosphere can be quick to judge and stereotype, but slow to understand. Bureaucrats push paper, but not reform.

Standing in the Madits' living room on a warm June day in Iowa, the questions seem more basic. Don't all people have a right to live? Shouldn't all families be allowed to be together? The details may be complicated, but the truth is as simple as a child in her grandma's lap. It's an image not hard to remember.

published July 11, 2009 http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090711/OPINION01/907110314/1035/archive

Time for Immigration Reform is Now

Ethnic Media Call for Immigration Reform
New America Media, Commentary, Staff, Posted: Jun 25, 2009

The White House and members of Congress must move quickly on enacting a just and humane immigration reform package that will reunite families, reinvigorate the economy, and remove the term “illegal or undocumented immigrants” from the dialogue in this country. Ethnic media, which reaches over 60 million adults in the United States, calls on Congress to move decisively on immigration reform because there are few issues as important to the nation's well-being as an overhaul of the inefficient, inhumane and economically debilitating immigration system. More importantly, we are also urging our readers and viewers to contact their Senators and Congressmen and let them know that immigration reform must be a national priority.

The immigration system is broken not just for 12 million undocumented immigrants, but also for specialized workers blocked from joining the American economy because of narrow quotas, and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens who must wait for years before being reunited with their families.

Our nation needs comprehensive immigration policies that will replace a broken system of raids and roundups with one that protects all workers from exploitation, improves America's security and builds strong communities. It’s time to end the division between workers, which has allowed big business to exploit both sides. Clearly, working-class citizens and immigrant workers have much in common – dreams of better homes, education for their families and quality healthcare. There is more that brings us together, than separates us. United we can be a strong force for change, changes that that bring more workforce safety and humane conditions.

Immigration is often portrayed as an explosive, divisive issue. In reality it's not. Since the repeal of the national origins quota system in 1965, which discriminated against certain immigrants, a consensus has been building towards an immigration system that respects the country's core values. These include economic opportunity, equality under the law regardless of ethnic background, and an embrace of the world's most innovative, energetic and ambitious workers.

Now, with the country facing serious competition from workers abroad, it's more important than ever to create a world-class immigration system. It's good for families, good for communities and good for America.

Editor’s Note: This editorial was produced in association with New America Media (www.newamericamedia.org), a national association of ethnic media, and was published by ethnic media across the country to bring attention to the urgency of immigration reform. Ethnic media interested in running the editorial can contact mballve@newamericamedia.org.