Legislation
Reuniting Families Act Helps Immigrants Who Play By the Rules
Although many people associate comprehensive immigration reform solely with issues of legalization and deportation of undocumented immigrants, the truth is that millions of legal immigrants are also victims of our broken immigration system—a system that has been floundering for the last 20 years. This week, Congressman Mike Honda will reinforce that point when he introduces the House version of The Reuniting Families Act of 2009, a bill that would end lengthy wait times for U.S. citizens and permanent residents separated from their foreign-born loved ones. The Asian American Justice Center, a leader on family immigration issues, estimates that 5.8 million people—a yearly average of 20,000 people—are currently in immigration processing backlogs, kept from the family members by arbitrary caps, processing delays, and an outdated system. Some family members—like those from China, the Philippines and India—wait up to 5, 10 or 20 years before they are reunited with their loved ones. Read More
The American People are Calling for Change
Yesterday the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign kicked off its efforts to mobilize millions of supporters across the country and press for fair, practical, and humane immigration policies. While small-but-vocal anti-immigrant groups continue to voice their negative and divisive messages, more and more people across the country are speaking out in support of an immigration reform that is consistent with American values and that would benefit American families and the U.S. economy. Today’s newspapers report on rallies in San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Lincoln, Las Vegas, Omaha, Augusta, San Bernardino, and Salinas, among others. Monday’s events will be followed by events throughout the week, culminating with a press conference on Wednesday and a three-day campaign summit in Washington, DC. Read More
Immigration Reform Movement Takes Giant Leap Forward with Launch of National Campaign
The immigration reform movement took one giant step forward today with the formal launch of a new campaign, Reform Immigration FOR America, designed to achieve comprehensive immigration reform during the 111th Congress. The campaign, launched in 40 cities across the country, pulls together diverse voices from immigrant communities, progressive groups, civil rights organizations, business, labor, and community organizers to call on Congress for smart, practical reform of our immigration system. Local immigrant right activists are rallying in cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago and 35 more to the same drumbeat—immigration reform now. Like many other coalition leaders today, Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, echoes the need for all coalition groups to work together to find practical solutions to our broken immigration system: Our current immigration system is broken, everybody knows that. A reform will help America. It will be good for families, it will be good for workers and it would be good for our security. We have Catholics, we have evangelicals, we have Jews, we have Muslims, we have business, we have labor—working together to win immigration reform. We hope people will join us in fighting for sensible solutions. Read More
A New Study Reinforces Growing Influence of Second Generation Latinos
A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that only 7% of all Latino children are undocumented immigrants. Pew also found that a growing share of the children with unauthorized immigrant parents—4 million or 73%—were born in this country and are U.S. Read More
High School Teens Deported on the Way to School
Three high school students were deported to Mexico last week when they were swept up in a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) raid at the Old Town transit center on their way to school in San Diego, California. Border Patrol confirmed that 21 people were detained. According to reports, TSA and Border Patrol agents inquired about the 16-year-old girl’s and two boys’, ages 15 and 17, residency status before taking them into custody and eventually deporting them. The teens were allowed to speak with their U.S.-based parents and Mexican Consulate officials before being deported. Read More
President Obama Honors the American Dream with Supreme Court Nomination
President Obama made history by nominating the first Hispanic, federal judge Sonia Sotomayor, for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will replace retiring Justice David Souter and become the first person of Puerto Rican heritage—and the third woman—to serve on the high court. In a heartwarming speech, President Obama highlighted Judge Sotomayor’s rigorous intellect, mastery of the law and depth of experience on the bench, which he characterized as “more varied than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court when they were appointed”—a measured response to conservative jabs at her credibility and jurisprudence. The President also made a point of honoring the American dream when he praised the hard work of Judge Sotomayor’s Puerto Rican parents, who moved to New York and worked several jobs to support their family. Sotomayor’s father was a factory worker with a third-grade education who died when Sotomayor was nine. Read More
Immigrants Serve U.S. Abroad, Fight For Citizenship At Home
.!. From the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, immigrants have voluntarily served in all branches of the U.S. military from the beginnings of America. Without the contributions of immigrants, the military could not meet its recruiting goals and could not fill the need for foreign-language translators, interpreters, and cultural experts. Since 2001, 47,500 service members have naturalized and become U.S. Citizens in ceremonies around the world from Afghanistan, to Iraq to South Korea and even on board Navy flagships at sea. But despite their honorable service and dedication to America, the U.S. government is still falling short on honoring the service of these young immigrant men and women. Attorney & Lieutenant Colonel in Military Police, Margaret D. Stock, testified before Congress in May of 2008: “Currently, many military members fighting overseas find that they must also fight their own government at home, as that government creates bureaucratic obstacles that impede military readiness by preventing family members from accessing immigration benefits, refuses to allow family members into the United States altogether, or even seeks to deport military personnel or their family members.” Read More
Obama’s Controversial Two-Step Moves in Direction of Immigration Reform
After boosting border enforcement, the Obama Administration recently announced that it will also increase funding for a troublesome program started by George W. Bush. The controversial program gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unregulated access to the immigration information of every person in local prisons across the United States. Although Obama may be sending mixed signals as he paves a road to immigration reform—signals that frustrates many of his most steadfast supporters—he also understands that he must smooth the way for immigration reform by restoring the confidence of the American public and prove that the government is capable of upholding the rule of law. Immigration enforcement is fundamentally a federal responsibility, but state and local governments can and should play a role in helping the federal government remove violent criminals from American society. Obama's focus on catching hardened criminals represents the right prioritization of resources that are being funneled in the wrong direction. Rather than addressing the serious problems associated with the Bush Administration's "Secure Communities" program, Obama's 2010 budget, which allots $200 million for the program, seeks to expand rather than mend the deeply flawed initiative. Read More
White House and Congress to Discuss Immigration Reform June 8th
Politico reports that President Obama has invited members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to discuss immigration reform at the White House on June 8th. According to Politico, an un-named administration official said: “The meeting will be an opportunity to launch a policy conversation that we hope… Read More
Crackdown on Bad Seed Employers a Step in the Right Direction
This week, the Denver Post watch underworld rise of the lycans in HD highlighted the case of five undocumented migrant farmworkers who were imprisoned in squalor at the hands of their smugglers, Moises and Maria Rodriguez. The Mexican farmworkers, who were found working the fields of Northern Colorado, lived in a fenced-in compound on the edge of the Weld County in vile makeshift houses that the Colorado Department of Labor inspectors deemed “uninhabitable.” According to reports, the men piled into an old school bus and rode to a farm field, then put in 12 hours planting, or weeding, or harvesting vegetables. The smugglers paid them a mere $7 an hour, but only allowed the workers to keep $2 an hour. The five migrant workers made headlines when they filed and won a federal lawsuit against Moises and Maria Rodriquez. Denver U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock awarded the imprisoned workers $7.8 million—more than $1.5 million each—for “numerous violations of the Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.” Read More
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