From: Nativo Lopez nlopez@hermandadmexicana.org
To: NetworkAztlan_Action@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 3:24:14 PM
Subject: RE: [NetworkAztlan_Action]
LET'S HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT IMMIGRATION REFORM - OPEN LETTER
No number or sponsor as of this moment. We are attempting to open up a broader and honest debate about the issue and the parameters from which the immigration issue and reform should be considered, and not only debate the issue within the narrow confines of the current versions of legislation that have been proposed, or what Schumer has in store for us, for example. We can observe that the debate is narrower to only address what's on the table, and not the root causes of immigration and the manipulation of labor and the labor-force - both domestic and international. That's the point of the OPEN LETTER, which is already gathering many endorsers nationally.
Nativo V. Lopez
National Director
Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana
611 W. Civic Center Drive, Suite 402
Santa Ana, CA 92701
(714) 541-0250
Fax: (714) 541-4597
National President
Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
310 N. Soto Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 269-1575
nativolopez@mapa-ca.org
This letter was initiated by the Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network, a group which was recently formed by leaders in the immigrant rights and labor movements across the country. Initial members include Isabel Garcia, David Silva Villalobos, Carlos Arango, Juan Jose Bocanegra, Nativo Lopez, David Bacon, Lisa Luinenburg, Cristobal Cavazos, John Steinbach, Daniela Ortiz-Bahamonde, George Shriver, Jason McGahan, and Domingo Gonzales.
Although the political climate seems uncertain, we are proposing a different approach to discussing Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We need to generate a national debate based on immigration as a labor mobility and human rights issue, not as an issue of national security and enforcement. Immigrants have made vast contributions to the U.S., and they should be granted the right to live here legally and without fear. We should recognize migration as the global phenomenon it is and address the root economic causes of migration.
The principles guiding the national debate around immigration reform should consist of:
1. Build bridges between the peoples of the U.S. and Mexico instead of walls that segregate them and turn them into competitors in a struggle for survival. Take immediate action to stop the deaths along the border and end border militarization.
2. Analyze the effects of free trade agreements like NAFTA on the economies of "sender" countries. End all economic and foreign policies that leave people in "sender" countries with no choice but to migrate in order to support their families.
3. Provide a clear and easy legalization program for the millions of undocumented immigrants who have built their homes here and contributed greatly to the prosperity of the U.S. economy. All immigrants deserve the full rights accorded to U.S. citizens, not a second-class status.
4. Clear the backlogs of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been waiting to legalize their status since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Allow more families to reunite with their loved ones by expanding the definition of "family" under current immigration law.
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. Increased labor protections for immigrant workers should also include the freedom of movement between jobs and across national borders.
6. End the criminalization of work through the use of 1-9 audits, E-verify, "silent raids," and other tactics used to carry out mass firings of workers. All workers, immigrants included, have the right to work and seek work without the fear of retaliation.
7. Immigrants and their families have the right to live in their communities without fear. Stop the raids and deportations, end 'enforcement first' policies like 287(g) and Secure Communities, eliminate the privatization of the detention system, and decriminalize the status of undocumented workers. Extend equal rights to all by ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers.
*****
Many people in the immigrant community look with hope towards the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), recently introduced by Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL). The bill does make some positive and much-needed changes to the immigration system, including the suspension of 287(g) and Operation Streamline and improvements in the detention system, and the elimination of all bars related to undocumented status (although security and criminal bars cannot be waived). However, it fails to change the basic 'enforcement first' structure of the U.S. immigration system. The bill also falls far short of meeting the just demands raised by the grassroots immigrant rights movement, including an end to the raids and deportations and the militarization of the border, increased protections for immigrant workers, and a fair legalization for all.
Below is a list of concerns being raised by immigrant rights organizations and leaders across the country:
1. On Border Security: The bill increases militarization of the border, guaranteeing the continued deaths of thousands of desperate workers instead of addressing the root causes that fuel immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Although 287(g) and Operation Streamline will be suspended, the bill increases collaboration between police and ICE agents along the border.
2. On the Immigrant Detention System: The bill fails to ban the privatization of the detention system, which has led to an increasing number of human rights abuses at the hands of for-profit, non-transparent corporations. Although some improvements are made to conditions in detention centers, immigrants will continue to be criminalized under the current system of enforcement.
3. On Enforcement Activities: While providing a few protections for vulnerable populations picked up in raids, the bill does not guarantee due process procedures for those being deported. At the same time, while in theory suspending the 287(g) program, or polimigra, the bill also seeks to accelerate (at least in border areas) the process of integrating local and state law enforcement agents into the detention and deportation of immigrant workers.
4. On Employment Verification: The proposal mandates the use of the Employment Verification (E-Verify) system by all employers within three years. It also requires employers to fire workers whose social security numbers don't match Social Security Administration databases. This results in the criminalization of immigrant workers and gives employers another tool to break unions and degrade workers' rights across the board.
5. On Family Unity: Although increasing the numbers of family visas available and giving the government greater discretion to waive unlawful presence bars to family reunification, the proposal keeps in place the 1996 law that requires the undocumented to leave the U.S. for 3-10 years in order to become eligible to legalize their status. This law has resulted in unnecessary family separation and immense suffering.
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 creates a new conditional non-immigrant status (CNIS) visa. Those with CNIS status could apply for legal permanent resident (LPR) status, 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.
7. On Agricultural Jobs: The Gutierrez bill includes the AgJOBS Act of 2009, which would provide temporary "blue card" visas to undocumented farm workers who have been living in the United States. In the past, temporary visa programs like the infamous Bracero program have been rife with abuse, benefiting growing companies and not workers.
8. On Students: The Gutierrez bill also includes the DREAM Act, which aims to offer in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. But it conditions the college loans and grants that these young people need on a type of 'community service' which includes military service. This is unacceptable.
9. On Future Flows of Immigrants: 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 will be based on the report of that commission. The establishment of this commission is the first step towards setting up an expanded guest worker program.
*****
Immigrants have fought for justice for many years, and in 2006 they reminded our legislators and politicians just how strong and intelligent their voices are. Now is the time to engage with our communities in honest dialogue and continue 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!
Nativo V. Lopez
National Director
Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana
611 W. Civic Center Drive, Suite 402
Santa Ana, CA 92701
(714) 541-0250
Fax: (714) 541-4597
nativolopez@sbcglobal.net
National President
Mexican American Political Association (MAPA)
310 N. Soto Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 269-1575
nativolopez@sbcglobal.net
http://aztlannet-news-blog.blogspot.com/2010/03/lets-have-debbate-about-immigration.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Network-Aztlan-News-Blog Link=
http://aztlannet-news-blog.blogspot.com/
Join Up!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetworkAztlan_News/
Network-Aztlan Home Page
http://www.networkaztlan.com/
+++++++++++++++++++++++
all people, human beings, have rights where ever they are
ReplyDeleteMost people just want to live their lives in peace, be productive and, at the end, be able to think that they accomplished something, be it only in passing on their ideals to their children.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the world does not have infinite resources, and if we choose the wrong model for how we deal with each other, socially, personally, politically, then we will not be at peace, not have any real hope for peace, and we will only leave behind a legacy of destruction.
The bottom line and measure of our ability to impact the world positively is something called "justice." Without justice, their can be no peace. Without a belief in the possibility of justice there can be no hope.
The problem is that people have limited time and resources and there are HUGE amounts of information piled up over the ages about injustices never resolved and about what constitutes real justice. There are many competing models.
Often, because of all the complexities from historical and philosophical processes, we find that we are simply unable to accomplish the kind of communication that would resolve the issues of injustice, and then we have to choose how we will live with that.
Will we go to war? Will we protest and hope that people will listen? Will we try a grass-roots approach, like the Black Panthers, building a framework of justice one person, one neighborhood at a time. At different times and circumstances, any or all these approaches may be valid.
Sometimes, however, we have to take a brutally honest look at what would accomplish the most justice possible under the circumstances. When you are faced with an impasse, you look for another route.
The impasse is that the U.S. citizenry, including most Hispanics, is simply not going to go along with opening the borders. Almost nobody is happy with the results of the border, the illegals, the coyotes, the large scale crime that is funded by the existence of the border, just as the drug gangs are funded by the profits from making drugs illegal.
What is to be done? The closest thing to a practical solution that I have been able to come up with is this:
Charge a fee. The typical illegal before the recession was paying up around $3,000 to a coyote to enter the U.S., and then have to take a low-paying insecure job, always fearful that ICE would come to their workplace or home or school.
The American public is fearful of a massive wave of impoverished, illiterate, sick immigrants flooding in and destroying the economy, culture, educational systems and legal system. Up until now, the limit on illegal immigration was reflected in the fees that the coyotes charged to get past the border guards. There is no way that the U.S. is going to reduce that limit to $zero, because of that fear.
Instead, why not have a realistic up front fee for long-term entry, say $5,000 for the first year, or maybe $2,000 per year, plus the immigrant has to prove they have health insurance? And taxes and Social Security would be extra. There is a level that would be sufficient that the general public would not be able to believe that the immigrants were not dangerous freeloaders, which is the impression now.
The proceeds of the fee would go to the federal, state and local governments, allocated according to actuarial assessments of how much the immigrants were actually costing the country. If there could be shown to be a surplus, then there should be a corresponding refund to the immigrants.
Then, the immigrants would have the same legal rights in general as U.S. citizens. They would actually be able to collect their Social Security benefits, they wouldn't have to worry about ICE, and, as they could afford it, they could bring in their relatives, as well, without having to pay some coyote and hope that they didn't die in the desert.
Would this be an improvement or not?
Clearly our White-American brothers and sisters must come to know the larger longer historical timeline of the immigration debate. I AM OF THE ORIGINAL PEOPLES OF THESE LANDS WE STILL CALL AZTLAN!
ReplyDeleteWe cannot be immigrants if we are in our own original Mother Land. Our native indigenous ancestors crossed no oceans, invaded no people in the name of Manifest Destiny and we ~above all other humane beings~ have a right to be here in these lands known as the U.S. Southwest, that we still call Aztlan ~ an ancient native term in reference to what we consider to of been once Our Land.
We want to live in peace, in liberty and in harmony with all people. There are no Illegal Beings!