Obama risks alienating Latinos with lack of immigration reform

[Orlando Sepulveda]

Joshua Hoyt is executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Though, sometimes I found my self disagreeing with ICIRR on how to move the movement forward, as I do right now, the opinion of its leadership is important to all of us. Orlando.   Obama risks alienating Latinos with lack of immigration reform http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030404037.html   Below is also a document that Carlos Arango, of Casa Aztlan,another important immigration rights movement leader in Chicago, released this week.    LET’S HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT IMMIGRATION REFORM An Open Letter On December 15, 2009, Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois presented the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) in the House of Representatives. After the introduction of CIR ASAP ACT 2009, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced that any discussion of immigration legislation will start in the Senate, and predicted that it will not to take place in 2010. This may in fact be likely, since 2010 is an election year. We are also aware that Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is set to introduce a separate immigration reform proposal in early 2010. Schumer’s proposal is expected to be much more draconian, and will likely include a guest worker program provision. But we will not permit the immigration debate to become a rerun of the health care reform fiasco; we are not willing to watch the House and Senate compromise away any sections of the reform that have the potential to benefit the immigrant community. Instead of these contradictory messages sent by our elected officials, we suggest a different approach to discussing Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We need to generate a national debate around immigration as a labor mobility and human rights issue, not as an issue of national security and enforcement. We should recognize the vast contributions of immigrants to our country by offering legalization and family reunification for all, not a second-class status. Nor should immigrants have to continue living under the fear of raids and deportations, detention, loss of work, and criminal charges. Immigration, economic, and foreign policies should also support the rights of families to stay at home and earn a living in their own countries. Immigration is a global phenomenon. Any immigration reform that does not address the root economic and foreign policy causes of migration is incapable of offering a solution to the present crisis. The principles guiding the national debate around immigration reform should consist of: 1. Build bridges between the peoples of Mexico and the U.S. to foster collaboration instead of building walls that segregate and separate them and make them into competitors in a struggle for survival. Take immediate action to stop the deaths along the border and end border militarization, including the building of physical and virtual walls. View human migration not as a law-enforcement issue but as the complex socio-economic phenomenon that it is. Criminalizing workers crossing the border negates their humanity by regimenting them into a force of low-wage laborers. Equal rights under the law will mean an end to the competition between immigrants and their native-born co-workers; it will end the race to the bottom and start a race to the top. 2. Analyze the trends of immigration and the economic impact of free trade agreements like NAFTA on the local economies of the “sender” countries. End all economic and foreign policies which undermine the ability of people in “sender” countries to provide for themselves and their families and leave them with no choice but migration. Support the right of workers to “stay at home” and contribute to their own countries. 3. Provide a just and unconditional legalization program for the millions of undocumented immigrants who have built their homes and families here and contributed greatly to the prosperity of the U.S. economy. The legalization program should include a clear and easy path to citizenship that does not include fines or unreasonable wait times to obtain permanent residence. All immigrants deserve the full rights accorded to U.S. citizens, not a second-class status. 4. Clear the backlogs of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been patiently enduring the endless bureaucratic delays to their attempts to legalize their status. Many immigrants have been patiently “waiting in line” since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Allow more families to reunite with their loved ones living in the U.S. by increasing the number of family visas available and by expanding the definition of “family” to include more extended family members as well as non-traditional families. 5. Bracero-style guest worker programs and other forms of labor exploitation should be eliminated, and the labor system made to benefit workers and their families, not corporations and agribusiness. Temporary workers, by definition, do not enjoy equal treatment under the law. Full labor and democratic rights can only come from a policy that provides protection from discrimination, and establishes fair wages, organizing rights, and full entitlement to all social benefits. Labor protections should also include the freedom of movement between jobs and across national borders. 6. End the criminalization of work through the use of I-9 audits, E-verify, “silent raids,” and other tactics used carry out mass firings of workers through use of the Social Security database. These employer sanction systems are costly, prone to error, and promote discrimination. All workers, immigrants included, have the right to work and seek work without fear of retaliation or discrimination. Our resources should be spent on the protection of universal workers’ rights, not on failed enforcement strategies that target workers and their families. 7. Immigrants and their families have the right to live in their communities without fear. Decriminalize the status of undocumented workers, reestablish due process for immigrants regardless of status, and eliminate the privatization of the detention system. Reverse the emphasis on ‘enforcement first’ policies like 287(g), Secure Communities, and the National Fugitive Operations Program. Stop the raids and deportations of immigrants. Repeal all policies which serve to create a second-class status of immigrant workers. Extend equal rights to all, thereby stopping the treatment of immigration as a criminal phenomenon. Ratify the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers, which would provide human rights protections for immigrants and their families. ***** We would like to begin our comments on the Gutierrez bill by recognizing that many people in the immigrant community look with hope toward this bill. Undocumented immigrants in the United States have been living in fear for too long, and many are hoping this bill will provide relief. We are pleased that the Gutierrez legislative proposal has made some positive advances, particularly the elimination or suspension of the 287(g) program and Operation Streamline, and the improvement of regulation and oversight in the detention system. In addition, all bars related to undocumented status—such as using a false Social Security number or unlawful presence—will be waived (although security and criminal bars cannot be waived). These changes will help to eliminate some of the injustices that are currently part of the U.S. immigration system, and which immigrant communities have been struggling against for years. However, the Gutierrez legislation doesn’t go far enough in offering real solutions or in making our immigration system truly just. The grassroots immigrant rights movement across the United States has been pushing for an end to raids and deportations, improvements in detention centers, an end to enforcement activities such as border militarization and 287(g), fair treatment of immigrant workers, family reunification, and an unconditional legalization for all. The immigrant communities and their allies in the struggle have always recognized the need to address the root causes of migration. And while the Gutierrez bill does address some of these demands, it falls short in meeting many of them. As a result of these shortcomings, many immigrant rights organizations and leaders in the immigrant community have concerns about the Gutierrez proposal. The Gutierrez bill does not represent a fundamental change in U.S. immigration policy or in the immigration enforcement structure. It does not address the root causes of undocumented immigration. Nor does it offer a real solution for the millions of undocumented workers living in this country or fundamentally change the concept of the criminalization of undocumented workers. It does nothing to alleviate and resolve the tension on the U.S.-Mexico border, but instead will only increase suffering there. Although the proposal does provide for some much-needed improvements in detention center regulations and due process protections, it does not eliminate or address the privatization of the detention system, which will no doubt allow the violation of human rights to continue. Below is a more detailed analysis of our concerns: 1. On Border Security: Gutierrez introduced a border security proposal that would increase border militarization and enforcement instead of addressing the economic and social issues that fuel migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Since 1994, the military build-up along the U.S.-Mexico border has caused a shift in border traffic away from points of entry in cities and towns to the most desolate and dangerous stretches of desert in the American Southwest. The Gutierrez proposal promises to escalate this process, and will lead to an increase in the number of border deaths. Under the heading of border security, the Gutierrez bill proposes to add thousands of border agents, to install new surveillance technology such as unmanned drones and an electronic border wall, and to enlist local police as collaborators in the arrest and jailing of immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border (while at the same time claiming to end the 287(g) program, or polimigra). Apart from the suspension of Operation Streamline pending “further study,” the bill also supports all the existing measures and government programs that make the border a zone of danger and death for those crossing from Mexico, a zone where the violation of human rights has been a constant experience. Operation Streamline requires no further study; it is a costly and cruel program which facilitates the mass conviction, incarceration, and removal of immigrant workers on a daily basis. It should be terminated immediately, along with other policies like it which only serve to criminalize the movement of workers across national borders. 2. On the Immigrant Detention System: The Gutierrez proposal fails to address the privatization of the detention system, which has led to an increasing number of human rights abuses. For-profit prisons have a financial incentive to jail more immigrants for longer periods of time. The Gutierrez bill would improve the current conditions in detention by including increased access to medical care for prisoners, providing more services for vulnerable populations, and prohibiting the separation of families with children. It also provides for much-needed government oversight of the detention system. But without a commitment to change the policy which regards the undocumented worker as a criminal, these improvements will only streamline the round-ups and deportations, making them a more efficient means to an unjust end. 3. On Enforcement Activities: Although the proposal continues the use of raids and deportations as enforcement activities, it also attempts to make raids more “humane” by screening for U.S. citizens and allowing (but not guaranteeing) more access to lawyers. Although it does eliminate the 287(g) program and restores some of the discretion of federal courts, it does not establish or guarantee due process procedures for those being deported. Moreover, it proposes (at least in border areas) to accelerate the process of integrating local and state police agencies into the arrest, jailing, and deportation of workers on immigration charges. This means that immigrants will continue to live in a climate of fear under the terms of the Gutierrez bill. 4. On Employment Verification: The proposal mandates the use of the Employment Verification system (E-Verify) by all employers within three years. Employers will now be ordered to fire employees whose names do not match their Social Security numbers. This guarantees that millions of workers will become victims of employment discrimination. Furthermore, programs like E-verify are prone to error because the database of the Social Security Administration is full of mistakes. Recent security breaches in E-verify systems have also allowed unauthorized access to workers’ social security numbers. Even if these errors are fixed, E-verify will continue to serve as a way to streamline the criminalization of immigrant workers. In the past, employer sanctions have been ineffective and selectively enforced. They have frequently been used to police and intimidate workers, not employers—as in efforts to break union election drives and contract negotiations in plants and farms across the U.S. As a result, it’s the employees who will continue to be hurt by this system while many companies will escape unscathed. Employer sanctions only serve to degrade workers’ rights and further enable the race to the bottom and we oppose them unconditionally. 5. On Family Unity: On family unity, the proposal makes important progress by reclassifying spouses and children of legal permanent residents (LPRs) as immediate relatives. This will increase the total number of family visas available. Per country visas are also increased, and the bill gives more discretion to judges when granting waivers to detainees. While the government is given greater discretion to waive unlawful presence bars to family reunification, the proposal fails to eliminate the 3-year and 10-year bars to people living without documents in the U.S., which was created by the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act signed into law by Bill Clinton. This law requires the undocumented to leave the U.S. for 3-10 years in order to become eligible to legalize their status. This measure has resulted in unnecessary family separation and immense suffering and should be repealed. 6. On Legalization: The bill will not grant a fair and fast path for the millions of undocumented immigrants who deserve a chance to legalize their status quickly and affordably. Instead, the bill will create a new conditional non-immigrant visa status (CNIS). Applicants would have to register their biometrics to the Department of Homeland Security, would have to pay over $500 in fines and fees (over half of which will go towards border militarization funding), and will receive a separate ID card. Although they will have the authorization to work and travel and protection from deportation, they will not be guaranteed democratic rights equal to those of their fellow U.S. residents. Those with CNIS status could apply for legal permanent residency, but no Green Cards would be issued for 6 years after the proposal’s enactment unless existing immigrant backlogs have been cleared. The path to citizenship would likely take many more years. Many people waiting for citizenship status have already been living here for more than 10 or 20 years. They shouldn’t have to wait even longer to gain legal citizenship status. 7. On Agricultural Jobs: The Gutierrez bill includes the AgJOBS Act of 2009. AgJOBS would provide a temporary “blue card visa” for undocumented farm workers who have already been working in the U.S. The blue card would permit those who hold it to earn an adjustment of status after 3-5 years. Those who apply would have to pay fines and back taxes, but would not be eligible to receive any welfare benefits for five years. In the past, temporary worker visa programs (like the notorious Bracero program) have been rife with abuses and only served to benefit companies, not working immigrants supporting families. 8. On Students: The Gutierrez bill also includes the DREAM Act, which provides for greater access to higher education for the children of undocumented immigrants. The DREAM Act should also provide full legalization and the educational benefits that accompany citizenship status for the young people who form such an important part of our communities. Any proposal which conditions the college loans and grants that these young people need on a type of ‘community service’ which includes military service is unacceptable. 9. On Future Flows of Immigration: The bill creates a Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to determine the future quotas of temporary legal immigration visas. Any changes in immigration and labor policies would be based on the report of that commission. The anti-worker character of this commission is evident in that its stated goal is to pursue “employment-based immigration policies that promote economic growth and competitiveness, while minimizing job displacement, wage depression, and unauthorized unemployment.” The establishment of this commission is the first step towards setting up an expanded guest worker program. The bill also creates a complicated formula for admittance of new unskilled immigrant workers for 3 years as conditional residents, with the option to apply for legal permanent resident (LPR) status later. 100,000 temporary Prevent Unauthorized Migration (PUM) visas will be awarded annually through a lottery system. Historically, immigrant workers in the U.S. under temporary visa programs have been subject to many labor abuses and low wages. Under the Gutierrez proposal, employers would still be able to exploit cheap immigrant labor while temporary workers would be barred from many of the benefits and rights of U.S. citizenship, as well as from many of the labor protections guaranteed under U.S. laws. ***** Immigrants have fought for justice in their communities for many years, and in 2006 they reminded our legislators and politicians just how strong and intelligent their voices are. They have pushed for workers’ rights, an end to raids and deportations, and a fair and just legalization for all. Now is the time to engage with our communities in honest dialogue and to hold our elected officials accountable to the vision of justice coming from the immigrant communities that make up our nation. We shall overcome! ¡Vencerémos! Casa Aztlan