Immigration Reform Caucus Elevates Anti-Immigrant Paranoia

Originally posted at Imagine 2050. Imagine 2050 is a project which includes activists, immigrants, artists and students who are invested in a future nation that embraces multiculturalism and tolerance.

Immigration Reform Caucus Elevates Anti-Immigrant Paranoia

By Stephen Piggott
http://www.imagine2050.net/

Over the past few weeks, the anti-immigrant movement has been on high alert after rumors surfaced that President Obama may be planning to use his executive powers to fast track a pathway to citizenship for America’s undocumented immigrants. One player in the anti-immigrant movement, the House Immigration Reform Caucus, sent a letter to Obama on July 1, voicing its opposition to Obama’s supposed plan. In total, thirty-nine members of the Caucus signed on to the letter.

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Cato Institute: Legalization could boost prosperity for everyone

According to an editorial from The Oregonian from Friday, the right leaning Cato Institute addressed the topic of undocumented immigration.

The report, Restriction or Legalization? Measuring the Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform, makes the case that the U.S. actually would have much to lose from a massive crackdown on undocumented immigrants and that legalization would benefit citizens and documented workers.

Read what The Oregonian Editorial Board had to say about legalization and the CATO Institute Report by linking here.

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Visas protect undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime

The Oregonian ran a story on "T" and "U" visas designed to help protect undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime.

The program, according to the article is not very well known. And, although there has been a law in place for 9 years to protect immigrants who are crime victims, the Government has only recently started approving the "T" and "U" visas.

The T visa provides legal status for victims of trafficking, including those who are recruited for labor or services through force, fraud or coercion. And the U visa is for victims of crimes such as murder, assault, rape and sexual exploitation.

The T and U visas allow applicants to secure legal status, a work permit good for four years, and a petition for family members.

For the complete story, please link here

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Community Organizations Energized by President Obama's Call for Immigration Reform this Year

For Immediate Release
April 9, 2009

Contact:
Francisco Lopez, Executive Director, 503.984.6816
Erik Sorensen, Communications Director, 503.488.0263

Community Organizations Energized by President Obama's Call for Immigration Reform this Year
Statement by Francisco Lopez, Executive Director of CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition
Salem, Ore.-Today's news on the front page of the New York Times that President Obama will move on immigration reform this year has community organizations across the country ramping up to achieve a just and humane immigration solution. Story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/us/politics/09immig.html?ref=global-home

"We endorse President Obama's call for immigration reform and admire his courage to fight for something we all know must get done. This is the kind of bold and visionary action we expect from our political leaders. Climbing our way out of this economic crisis means forward thinking policies that include fixing a broken immigration system that has created a servant class in our midst. America's economy cannot recover if we allow 12 million immigrants to continue to live and work in the margins of our society.

Obstructionist will throw everything at this Administration's attempts to create a society which recognizes the inherent value and worth in us all. For too long we have shrunk in the face of key decisions that must be made to get our country back on track. We will not allow this to happen.

We've seen first hand the pain of immigrant families ripped apart by unjust raids. Our communities and our nation have suffered long enough."

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CAUSA is Oregon's statewide, grassroots immigrant rights coalition. We work to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies.

CAUSA is a member of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a coalition of grassroots community organizations nationwide, including statewide immigrant rights coalitions, organizing networks, faith-based groups, and low-income and other networks organized around ethnicity or national origin, working on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform and immigrant rights. FIRM is convened by the Center for Community Change.

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President Obama to Push for Passage of Immigration Bill

President Obama today has announced that he will begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year which includes a path for undocumented immigrants to become legal citizens.

A report appearing in the New York Times said the President’s would recognize millions of undocumented immigrants who have already been working here. According to independent studies of census data, there is no evidence of any wholesale exodus of illegal immigrant workers given the current economic recession in the U.S.

Currently two-thirds of all Americans consistently support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Americans of every political stripe recognize that fixing our broken system is in the country’s interest, and that these immigrants are already our co-workers, our neighbors, and frequently our family members.

For more on this report, please link here.

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He's successful and undocumented

American Public Media did a story yesterday on Marketplace about a small businessman who runs a car repair shop in Minneapolis who doing rather well these days, as customers try to extend the lives of their beaters. The businessman has a big obstacle to success -- he's an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.

Millions of undocumented immigrants are in similar positions which makes passage of just and humane immigration reform a top priority for the new Obama Administration.

For the Podcast (audio) of the complete report, link here

For a full text of the story, link here.

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Coalition Files Complaint Against Measure Targeting Employers, Undocumented Immigrants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2008

Contacts:
Marcy Westerling, Director, Rural Organizing Project, (503) 543-8417 or (503) 543-3647
D. Michael Dale, Executive Director, Northwest Workers' Justice Project, (503) 357-8290
Meg Heaton, Staff Attorney, Northwest Workers' Justice Project, (503) 525-8454
David Fidanque, Executive Director, ACLU of Oregon, (541) 954-7731
Brian Willoughby, Communications Director, ACLU of Oregon, (503) 502-7675

Coalition Challenges Measure 5-190

Anti-Immigrant Law Exceeds Columbia County Jurisdiction and Violates State Law
ST. HELENS, Ore. – A coalition of social justice groups and business owners is formally challenging Measure 5-190, an anti-immigrant law recently passed by voters in Columbia County. The ACLU of Oregon and Northwest Workers’ Justice Project, on behalf of the coalition, filed the complaint today in Columbia County Circuit Court.

Our Complaint for Declaratory Relief contends that Measure 1-590, which would fine employers for hiring or employing undocumented immigrants:

•Exceeds the powers of Columbia County as granted by the state of Oregon;
•Violates the Single Subject requirement of the Oregon Constitution; and
•Is preempted by existing state laws, as well as land-use statutes and regulations.

The coalition includes Rural Organizing Project, Columbia County Citizens for Human Dignity, Columbia County business owner and resident Gary Liao, CAUSA Immigrant Rights Coalition and others.

“The measure, as written, contains errors, omissions, confuses jurisdictions and oversteps its bounds,” said Columbia County business owner Gary Liao. “Can a county government, for example, rescind a city- or state-given license? And fairness for all concerned requires action at the federal level. What would this nation look like if every local jurisdiction passed unique and contradictory laws seeking to enforce federal immigration policy?”

On Nov. 4, 2008, Columbia County voters passed Measure 5-190, which imposes fines of up to $10,000 and threatens the loss of business licenses for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

“Clearly, there has been a vacuum of leadership on immigration reform at the federal level,” said Marcy Westerling, Director of the Rural Organizing Project in Scappoose. “The proper response to that frustration is not to enact a mismatched patchwork of local laws seeking to usurp federal authority on this issue. Such an approach is misguided and unmanageable.”

Even Columbia County Counsel Sarah Hanson has issued a public statement saying the measure has “numerous legal flaws and … [is] unlikely to survive a legal challenge.”

Similar measures in Hazelton, Pa.; Farmers Branch, Texas; Escondido, Calif; and other jurisdictions already have been struck down.

Proponent Wayne Mayo, a local building contractor, has said he modeled the measure on Arizona’s Legal Worker Act. While that law has passed some court scrutiny, it still faces continued challenges regarding its constitutionality. Already, the state there has spent more than $75,000 in legal fees defending the law and has budgeted $2.6 million this fiscal year for enforcement and notification.

Mayo’s law also relies on E-Verify, a federal database designed to check employees’ names against Social Security records. That database has proven to be very flawed and ineffective. One transposed digit or misspelled name could flag longtime citizens as “illegal.”

Attorneys handling the case are: D. Michael Dale, Steven Goldberg and Meg Heaton for Northwest Workers' Justice Project; ACLU Cooperating Attorneys Bruce L. Campbell and Elisa J. Dozono, both of Miller Nash LLP; Stephen W. Manning of the Immigrant Law Group; and Chin See Ming, Legal Director for the ACLU of Oregon. The complaint asks the court to declare Measure 5-190 invalid and award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

The Impact on Business in Columbia County

While our complaint challenges the authority of counties to enact such laws, the coalition also is concerned – especially during this time of economic recession – that Measure 5-190 is fundamentally bad for business. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce – not often allied with social justice organizations – has staunchly opposed similar local measures because they are preempted by federal law and violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Measure 5-190 will also create a dangerous climate of suspicion in all the communities that make up Columbia County. “Foreign”-looking or “foreign”-sounding citizens will be put under a public microscope, and businesses that have never employed undocumented immigrants – and never would – may be forced to defend themselves against unwarranted accusations. All businesses owners and all job applicants in Columbia County will be at the mercy of this cumbersome, unconstitutional law.

For more information, visit www.timesaretoughenough.com

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Comprehensive Immigration Reform Requires Next President's Action

According to a recent news story, that is what the former head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services believes. In an interview with the Associated Press, Emilio T. Gonzalez said the next President will need to play an active roll in order for a Comprehensive Immigration Bill to pass. He also said that such a bill would likely fail if left up to Congress

Gonzalez had this to say:

"Immigration is very difficult, and it's very complex. You've got to get dirty, and you're going to get beat up. I can't imagine somebody burning political capital in a honeymoon period tackling immigration."

"I think this will get done when it comes from on high — that is to say when a president really puts it on the line and basically crafts the bill and says: 'Congress, this is what I want.'"

When it came to the impractical solution of deporting undocumented migrants as promoted by anti-immigrant extremists, Gonzalez said that it was "logistically impossible".

The full AP article can be read by linking here

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No Match Rule Would Damage Oregon’s Economy, Study Shows

A new study released yesterday from The Coalition for a Working Oregon (CWO) predicts a significant reductions in economic output and job loss in the state if the federal “No Match” rule is implemented.

According to the study, the threat to Oregon’s economy is significant if the federal law takes effect and could cause a loss of 173,500 jobs in the short-term, or 7.7% of Oregon’s workforce along with a reduction in statewide annual production of up to $17.7 billion.

The long term effects could be a loss of 147,000 jobs, an annual reduction in state output of up to 14.7 billion, a tax loss of $656 million and an overall economic loss of $7.2 billion.”

The Coalition for a Working Oregon further said in their press release yesterday that an enforcement-only approach such as the “No Match” rule is particularly damaging to Oregon’s labor-dependent industries because it provides no mechanism to replace workers removed from the system. And that the only way to fix our broken immigration system is for the federal government to pass comprehensive reform.

Other points included in the report shows that departure of Oregon’s undocumented workers due to the no match rule would not likely to have a significant effect on Oregon’s unemployment rate. Mismatch in skills, education and location between undocumented workers and Oregon’s unemployed would make it extremely difficult for jobs being done by undocumented immigrants to be filled.

As for tax revenues, the study also showed that the departure of undocumented immigrants from Oregon would lower state and local tax revenues by an estimated $400 million to $656 million per year.

The Coalition for a Working Oregon is comprised of 20 Oregon employer groups who represent over 300,000 Oregon workers. The complete copy of the report can be downloaded at http://www.oregoncanwork.org/.

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"18"

Graham Street Productions is now in production on a full-length documentary entitled "Papers," a story about undocumented youth and the choices they must make as they become adults without legal status.

In "Papers" you will hear stories from young people whose parents took great risks to give their children a better life. Some of these young men and women arrived in the U.S. at nine months old, others at three or six years old. They are young people who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only the U.S. as home, and who, by virtue of turning 18, will become criminals.

It's a moving story about coming of age, a human eye on the current immigration debate and a look at how the long-time custom of scape-goating continues to haunt America.

One creation, a three minute preview, entitled "18," was created by Jose Luis Juarez Perez, age 17 and the artist Droopy, age 18.

The story is about youth who were born in Mexico and raised in the United States. America is their home. Their parents are America's "illegal immigrants." As children they have immunity. At 18, they become "illegal." Coming of age should be a celebration. Not a criminal act.

If you like this video and want to support the "Papers" project, go to this video on YouTube by clicking here and give it 5 stars.

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