ImmPolitic

Welcome to ImmPolitic, the National Immigration Forum’s blog. Here we will comment on current developments in immigration policy and politics from the perspective of a Washington-based, national pro-immigrant organization.

As the Facts Come Out about Arizona, the Politicians Become More Shrill

July 12, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

 

The more the press examines the premise behind Arizona’s SB 1070 law, the more it looks to be one of those “emperor-has-no-clothes” stories.  On Sunday, Dana Milbank, of the Washington Post devoted his column to examining the claims being made by Arizona’s politicians about crime in Arizona and comparing them to a reality that can be verified. 

 

ImmPolitic first wrote about the verifiable reality in Arizona back on April 29th and May 5th.  Since then, the mainstream press has increasingly picked up on the fact that claims being made by supporters of SB 1070 contrast sharply with Arizona crime statistics and with the observations of border community law enforcement agencies.  In response, Arizona politicians have made more spectacular (but un-verifiable) claims.

 

Among others, Milbank singles out Senator John McCain, who might be excused for not bothering to check out a claim repeated in several news sources when he said that Phoenix is the “number two kidnapping capital of the world.”  As this exhaustive PolitiFact article notes, kidnapping statistics aren’t really kept in many other cities around the world, and kidnapping experts can only speculate where Phoenix might rank on a world list—somewhere far below number 2.

 

Governor Jan Brewer made the claim that “the majority” of people crossing the border illegally are “coming here and they’re bringing drugs and they’re terrorizing families.”  Milbank notes that, since October 1st of last year, 170,000 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector.  In the same period, there have been 1,100 drug prosecutions filed.  Even assuming all of those prosecutions are of undocumented immigrants, six-tenths of one percent does not make a majority in the real world.

 

With the press persistently calling into question these and other claims, Governor Brewer has reacted by becoming more shrill. She recently told a local television station that “law enforcement agencies” have been finding people who have been beheaded in the desert, presumably by people crossing into the country illegally. 

 

There has been no evidence to support this claim—certainly not from “law enforcement agencies.”

 

Milbank notes the importance of all these falsehoods:

 

[t]his matters, because it means the entire premise of the Arizona immigration law is a fallacy. Arizona officials say they’ve had to step in because federal officials aren’t doing enough to stem increasing border violence. The scary claims of violence, in turn, explain why the American public supports the Arizona crackdown.

 

In other words, the Arizona law, and public support for it, are predicated on the lies being told by Arizona’s politicians.

 

While the press has been more willing to challenge the assertions of our so-called leaders on this issue, there is a story in the July 12th New York Times reporting that some Democratic governors, gathered in Boston for a meeting of the National Governors Association, would rather run from the problem.  With governors all gathered in Boston, they have an opportunity to challenge their colleague Jan Brewer for shamelessly whipping up people’s fears on false pretenses.  Instead, they have expressed concern about the Obama Administration’s legal challenge to the Arizona law.

 

Some Democratic governors complained about the timing of the government’s lawsuit, coming as re-election campaigns are beginning to heat up.  Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee said of the Justice Department’s lawsuit,

 

“Maybe you do that when you’re strong and not when there’s an election looming out there.”

 

Last I checked, the Constitution doesn’t get suspended in an election year.  The Administration is not deliberately timing the suit for election season; the timing was determined by the fact that the Arizona law goes into effect at the end of this month, and the Administration is claiming that the state law unconstitutionally challenges federal authority on immigration maters.

 

In any event, even if the Justice Department had not filed suit, Democrats would be faced with a debate on immigration during this campaign season.  Republicans have decided that they will (again) take a harsh stance on immigrants and immigration, and they will point to their hard line as a weapon against their opponents.  As Frank Sharry noted in the July 11th Washington Post,

 

Democrats should make the inevitable election-year fight over illegal immigration about comprehensive immigration reform—not just about the Arizona law or lawsuit. They should lean into the debate rather than run from it, calling out Republicans for blocking a solution that strengthens border security, turns off the jobs magnet and makes sure the immigrants here are legal taxpayers.

 

If Democrats want this issue to go away, they’d be better off doing everything they can to pass comprehensive immigration reform.  Until the immigration system is fixed and we deal realistically with immigrants who are living and working in this country illegally, immigration hardliners on the right will try to use the public’s frustration with lack of Congressional action to their political advantage.  Meanwhile, immigrants, their friends, families and supporters, their pastors and rabbis, their employers, and their shop stewards will continue to press for comprehensive reform in thousands of forums across the country.

 

Some Democrats may want to run from this problem, but there is no way they can hide from it.

Image by Flickr user John Gevers. 

Arizona Immigration Reform Politics

Taxes… Someone’s Gotta Pay ‘em

April 16, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

Yesterday, while the tea party turned out to protest their taxes, there were counter-demonstrations, of a sort, by immigrants who were telling us, “Bring ‘em on!” 

Most of the media focus on tax day is on people who complain about their taxes.  This year, there was an effort by advocates for immigrants to show that, not only are immigrants willing to contribute, but comprehensive immigration reform, according to the Immigration Policy Center and the Center for American Progress, is predicted to result in an increase of as much as $5.4 billion in additional tax revenue for the U.S. within a three-year period.  This is for a variety of reasons, including bringing some immigrants working in the underground economy on to the tax rolls, and the prospect that some immigrants would move into more stable jobs with higher pay.  One of the actions advocates carried out yesterday was a visit to the office of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison with box loads of blank tax forms representing taxes that could be added to the treasury if only Congress would pass comprehensive immigration reform.

While loving taxes might be a bit of a stretch, it is impressive the extent to which undocumented immigrants, who are ordinarily not made to feel welcome in their encounters with the government, are nevertheless determined to figure out how to interact with the government to pay their taxes.  An article from the Associated Press from 2007 looked in to some empirical measurements:

“One measure of the immigrant market is the growth of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, or ITINs, which the IRS issues to immigrants to use on their tax forms instead of Social Security numbers.

Last year [2006], the IRS issued 1.5 million ITINs, the most since the program was started in 1996 and a 30 percent increase from the 1.2 million issued in 2005. In total, the agency has issued 10.8 million ITINs since the program began [though not all have gone to immigrants in the U.S.].”

ITINS are issued to persons who are not entitled to Social Security numbers.  Most are thought to be issued to undocumented immigrants.

Why do they bother?  Eric Jiminez, an undocumented immigrant from Nashville, told the Associated Press in this article from USA Today that he knows nothing would happen to him if he didn’t pay his taxes, but,

“I have an idea, a mentality, that to be a good citizen you have to pay taxes,” he said. “Also, I’m conscious of the fact that the money we pay in taxes supports the schools and all the public services.”

The Social Security Administration has estimated that about three-quarters of undocumented immigrant workers pay in to the Social Security and Medicare system, even though they are not eligible to receive benefits.  In 2005, most of the $9 billion in taxes paid into the Social Security system that could not be matched to a legitimate Social Security account was thought to have come from taxes paid by undocumented immigrants.

The tax impact of immigrants, however, comes from more than their individual payments.  It comes from the prosperity they bring to the communities in which they reside.  A new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute (summarized in this article in the New York Times) provides some interesting data on immigrants in the 25 largest U.S. metropolitan areas.  The article notes that, contrary to the popular image that recent immigration has flooded the U.S. with low-wage workers,

”…the 25 million immigrants who live in the country’s largest metropolitan areas (about two-thirds of all immigrants in the country) are nearly evenly distributed across the job and income spectrum.”

Even more intriguing, the cities with the greatest economic growth were not the ones that attracted primarily high-skilled immigrants.

”…the fastest economic growth between 1990 and 2008 was in cities like Atlanta, Denver and Phoenix that received large influxes of immigrants with a mix of occupations — including many in lower-paid service and blue-collar jobs.”

For example,

“In metropolitan Denver, where the economy doubled between 1990 and 2008, 63 percent of immigrants worked in jobs on the lower end of the pay scale.”

As the report notes,

“Immigration is part of the story of economic growth. Immigrants are drawn by economic expansion, and once they are in a metro area they earn and spend money, expand consumer demand, start small businesses to meet new needs, and fuel further growth.”

That new prosperity leads to more tax revenue.

We are going to need more taxpayers, because our society is aging and unprecedented numbers are retiring from the workforce. 

Immigrants tend to be younger than the population as a whole, and have their prime earning years ahead of them.

On the other hand, people who identify themselves as supporters of the tea party, according to a New York Times survey tend to be older than 45.  Many of them are drawing Social Security benefits, or soon will be.  We need workers paying in to the system so that these tea party activists can continue to draw the benefits to which they are entitled.  One tea party supporter interviewed for the survey was asked what she thought about her advocacy for smaller government while she was drawing Social Security.  She told the interviewer,

“I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.”

Good thing for her that there are immigrants who want to be a part of our country and pay their taxes.

Economic Impact Immigrant contributions Immigration Reform Taxes

More Rallies for Reform

April 13, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

People continue to raise their voices to pressure Members of Congress to pass immigration reform legislation.  Saturday, thousands of immigration reform advocates rallied in seven cities across the U.S.

The most high-profile event took place in Las Vegas, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a crowd of several thousand who had gathered downtown.  The immigration reform rally was the largest of those Senator Reid addressed in his two-weeks of campaigning in the state.  Senator Reid did not hedge his positions on immigration reform.  He told the crowd that he thought the Senate needed to take up immigration reform this year.

“There are no excuses. This is something America needs,” Reid said. “We’re going to do immigration reform just like we did health care reform.”

Senator Reid told the crowd that he believed immigration reform would garner the support of all but three Democrats in the Senate, so reform proponents would need only “a handful of Republicans” to get past a filibuster. 

In Seattle’s Pioneer Square, there was also a large rally for immigration reform.  People came by bus from all over the state to participate and to hear Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell address the crowd via videotape.  Both Washington Senators support comprehensive immigration reform.  Speaking in person at the rally was U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D).

In Chicago, more than a thousand people turned out for an immigration reform rally.  Senator Richard Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, made a strong pitch for immigration reform,

“In the name of all who fight for social justice, in the name of the families who go to bed with tears in their eyes facing deportation and separation, in their name, we cannot fail. We must pass immigration reform. We must pass it this year,” said Durbin.

Senator Durbin echoed Senator Reid’s comment that all but a few Democrats would support immigration reform.  Of the President, Senator Durbin said that reform advocates would “need that same determination and that same commitment to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year” as the President showed in the health care reform battle.

Also addressing the reform advocates at the Chicago rally was the President of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, who expressed his concern that failure to reform immigration is leading to ” a growing yet hidden population in many towns” who avoid reporting crimes for fear of being turned in to immigration authorities. 

“If they are afraid to speak to us because of their status, we are not giving them the protection they deserve,” O’Connor said.

In El Paso, more than 1,000 people rallied at the University of Texas and marched to downtown El Paso.  There were also events in Philadelphia, Providence, and Lakewood, New Jersey.

The wave of rallies took place at the end of a two-week Congressional recess.  Pressure will continue to build on Congress to reform the immigration system this year.  More rallies are planned for May 1.

Image: Chicago Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Events Immigration Reform

Outside the Beltway Roundup

April 09, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

With Congress still out on recess, the action on immigration reform continues to be outside the beltway and, in any event, one can get a better sense of the momentum for reform by looking at what is going on around the country.  So, here are a few items from around the country from this week’s news: Advocates from Nashville return from Washington and turn to the task of convincing their fellow Tennesseans that immigration reform is crucial.  North America’s fastest-growing labor union is fed up with ICE, and is taking action.  There will be more major immigration rallies Saturday.  Finally, a new poll from California highlights another aspect of demographic change and a shift in the political climate for immigration reform.

Middle Tennesseans for Immigration Reform
An article in the weekly Nashville City Paper focused on the “sizeable contingent of middle Tennesseans” who traveled in a 10-bus caravan to Washington to attend the March 21st immigration rally in Washington. The article noted that this “surprising show of organizational muscle” may signal a change in the immigration debate in Tennessee.

“Middle Tennessee’s immigrant population has been defined publicly less on its own terms than by a small opposition’s attempts to stymie it.”

Today, however, a new willingness to speak up in its own defense,

”…represents a step forward for the region’s immigrant population as a whole, a sign this widening slice of the demographic is no longer content to remain a cloistered part of the local political and social fabric.”

The article notes that Nashville is already ahead of the curve in tolerance for newcomers.  In the days ahead, the task will be “to turn immigration reform from a minority issue into one all Tennesseans see as crucial.”  As Stephen Fotopulos, Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition told the paper,

“It’s important for people to know that this is not just an issue in Illinois or New York or California.  This is our immigration system, and it’s failing all Americans, whether you’re an immigrant or not.”

SEIU Wants ICE to Re-Focus
In the wake of a slew of reports about the misdirection of immigration enforcement, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has organized a series of vigils at the offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) around the country.  Thursday, there were vigils in Sacramento and Oakland.  Today, there are vigils in San Jose, Los Angeles, Boston, and St. Paul.  There will be more.  According to SEIU’s media advisory,

“Thursday and Friday’s vigils are an effort to illustrate the ongoing, human cost of this agency’s misguided, out-of-control immigration enforcement strategy…. ICE’s “strategy” of sowing misery in workplaces and communities not only fails to tackle the underlying issue of our broken immigration system, it also contradicts efforts to improve wages and working conditions of all U.S. workers.

A(nother) National Day of Action
Tomorrow, April 10th, tens of thousands of immigrants and their supporters are expected to rally in support of immigration reform in Seattle, Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia, El Paso, Providence, and Lakewood, New Jersey.  We look forward to the stories coming out of those events.

Immigration Politics and Demographic Change
An article in April 8th’s Los Angeles Times highlighted a new public opinion poll from the Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California in which Californians were asked their views on immigration reform.  The poll showed that Californians, by wide margins, would support “stronger enforcement at the border” coupled with “a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants who admit they broke the law, perform community service, pay fines and back taxes and learn English.”  More than two-thirds (67%) support such a proposal.  There is similar support for a proposal in which there is stronger enforcement coupled with a guest worker program.

The other option given in the poll, stronger border enforcement plus denial of public services to undocumented immigrants, is opposed by a plurality of Californians.  This opposition contrasts with support for Proposition 187 in the mid-1990s, a ballot initiative to deny public benefits to undocumented immigrants that passed by 60%.

The article discusses a phenomenon that may partially explain why organized opposition to immigration reform is becoming more anemic, while reform advocates seem to be gaining momentum.  That phenomenon is demographic change.  Not the kind of demographic change that we are always talking about, the rapidly-growing Latino and New American electorate, but something else that has been taking place at the same time.

Californians aged 18 to 29 opposed this proposal [to deny undocumented immigrants social services from the state] by more than a 20-point margin, while voters 65 and over supported it by 12 points. That’s a differential of more than 30 points between age groups ... a much larger disparity than when the results were examined by racial or ethnic category. Further, on the more basic question of whether illegal immigrants have an overall positive or negative effect on the state, voters under 45 joined Latino and Asian American respondents in answering that illegal immigrants represent a net benefit.

The difference is not explained by a greater cohort of immigrant young people.  It is true of white young people as well.  Young people are growing up with people from all over the world.  Immigrants are classmates, friends, and co-workers, not “invaders.”  As the Times notes,

”…the growth in the Latino and Asian population in the state has given young Californians a much higher comfort level than their elders with those of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. In both cases, exposure has brought familiarity, which has in turn brought tolerance.”

While young people still vote in lower percentages than their elders, they are still a growing part of the electorate, and yet another reason why immigration reform is not just good politics but good policy.

Image: Reform Immigration FOR America

Events Immigration Reform Politics Public Opinion

A Peep at the Week’s Activities

April 02, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

After the massive immigration reform march in Washington a couple of weeks ago, what is happening to continue the pressure on Congress to pass immigration reform?  Here are a few items from around the country from this week’s news.

Last weekend, the Los Angeles Times opined that immigration activists should look to the tea party for lessons on getting attention.

A small but vocal, sign-wielding minority that insists on being heard can capture the nation’s attention. It’s time for immigration activists to take a leaf from the “birthers,” “tea partyers” and “death panel” fear-mongers. Going to Washington was important, as is Saturday’s march in Los Angeles. But it’s at least as important that supporters of reform go back to their own states, cities and neighborhoods to begin a grass-roots campaign to explain to their fellow citizens the positive effects comprehensive immigration legislation will have on their lives, labor, economy and communities.

Alma Aquino Aguilar, a student from the University of Northern Colorado, came by bus from Colorado to join the 200,000 who marched in Washington on March 21, and are now taking the fight back home.  She told the Greeley (Colorado) Tribune,

“My life has changed 360 degrees. … Sharing the bus with a bunch of strangers opened my eyes about how much easier it is for me as a United States citizen. And I’m now keeping in mind that if I don’t keep working for a better America, who is? Who’s going to be that voice for them?”

San Jose Mercury News contributing columnist Byron Williams wrote a column on the grassroots action that will be required for comprehensive immigration reform to get through Congress, including action from an unexpected ally.

There is a momentum, as indicated by last week’s protest in Washington, for humane immigration policy methodically making its way to Congress. It is a coalition that is as diverse as the nation, including what one might think to be a surprising group: African American pastors.

Concrete example: On Sunday, in Charlotte, North Carolina, one African American pastor worked with immigrant rights groups to protest Mecklenburg County’s participation in ICE’s 287(g) program. 

Little Rock [AME Zion Church] pastor Dwayne Walker said the church was there to live out the creed of “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.”

Faith groups are becoming increasingly active in pushing Congress to fix our broken immigration system.  In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta and Tom Evans, executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, wrote,

As Christian clergy, we see the realities faced by many of the most marginalized in our communities; realities shaped by a broken federal immigration system and an increasing amount of local legislation, which create an adverse climate for immigrants, especially our Latino brothers and sisters.

We recognize the urgent need to educate our own congregations and the broader public about the complexities of immigration, with a view towards promoting balanced and fair immigration policy.

In St. Joseph, Missouri, there was a Holy Thursday vigil for immigration reform attended by about 40 persons, who delivered 1,400 post cards to the office of Representative Sam Graves.  This vigil followed a similar event in Kansas City at the office of Senator Claire McCaskill.

Finally for this week, another group that is getting organized around immigration reform is law enforcement.  On Tuesday, in Colorado Springs, there was a regional law enforcement conference to discuss how law enforcement should handle undocumented immigrants at the local level.  Afterwards, Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers told the Colorado Springs Gazette that officers are looking for more guidance from Washington.

“It’s not our job to deal with all the social issues and the political/philosophical aspects, but there needs to be some differentiation between criminal aliens and those who are here undocumented with no other criminal offense,” Myers said.

Happy Easter, and don’t eat too many peeps.

 

Events ICE Immigration Reform

The Health of Immigration Reform

March 25, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

 

The March 21 rally for immigration reform drew 200,000 to the National Mall in Washington.  As it turns out, this impressive show of organization took place on the same day that Congress was turning a chapter in the legislative agenda.  Sunday night, the House passed the Senate’s health care reform bill, which has since become law.  Health care reform has dominated Congressional attention for most of the past year.  It’s over.  (Well, except for campaign ads that will try to convince us that coverage of children under their parent’s (private) health insurance plan until they are 26 years old is socialism.  But I digress.)

 

There is a strong case to be made that immigration reform can now be cleared for take-off.

 

For one thing, there is a matter of numbers (in the) USA.  Immigration reform advocates are organized in unprecedented numbers and with unprecedented energy.  The rally on the Mall on Sunday was the largest event of the day, but it wasn’t the only one.  A thousand people rallied in Denver. In Omaha, a Catholic church overflowed with 600 people who came to listen to speeches supporting immigration reform.  Another hundred people gathered at a Methodist church in the same town to listen to the stories of immigrants hoping Congress will act on reform.  Another 300 people from four religious congregations marched through Grand Island in support of reform.  In Salinas, 10,000 people marched for immigration reform.  Thousands marched in Salt Lake City.  Another thousand in San Jose.  More events have taken place since Sunday.  More will be taking place in the coming weeks (like this one in Las Vegas). 

 

The problem’s not fixed.  Calls to fix it are not going to stop.  Advocates are ready to pressure whoever needs to be pressured.

 

The numbers advocating for reform are impressive—and growing—but so is the breadth of the coalition supporting reform.  Let’s just take a sample of the speaker lineup from the March for America.  Many faiths were represented—by Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of the Catholic diocese of Los Angeles; the Reverend Sam Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Reverend Derrick Harkins, senior pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, DC; Reverand Dr. Sharon Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada; Rabbi Morris Allen, spiritual leader of the Conservative Jewish Beth Jacob Congregation in St. Paul, Minnesota; and Bishop Minerva Carcaño, Bishop of the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church.

 

There were leaders from the National Urban League, the NAACP, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.  There were labor leaders from the AFL-CIO, UNITE HERE, SEIU, and UFCW.  There was Arturo Venegas, former police chief of Sacramento and current project director for the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative.  There were also leaders from the Latin American, Korean American, and Irish American communities—as well as a collection of local and regional immigrant advocacy leaders.

 

As for the political climate in Congress: it could be better.  One school of thought says that, because of the way health care was won, Republicans will refuse to support anything else on President Obama’s agenda.  For example, Senator John McCain was quoted as saying “There will be no cooperation for the rest of this year.”  (I may be getting forgetful, but remind me again when cooperation started in this Congress?)  As for the Democrats, the same school of thought says that a good number of them will balk at tackling another problem before the election.  For example, former Republican Congressman Tom Davis speculates,

 

``Republicans aren’t going to feel intimidated by this [defeat on health care]. And marginal Democrats are not going to want to take another tough vote. [President Obama’s] members will say, `We gave you this vote, but no more.’ They’ll have given him their last ounce of breath.’‘

 

But is Congress really not going to do anything more in this session because half of the Members are going to be sulking in a corner while some others tell us that before they will even consider tackling another difficult problem, we must re-elect them?

 

That’s the story a lot of the media wants to tell.  It is not that simple. 

 

As we have said so many times, immigration is not a partisan issue.  Members are going to be pressed from so many sides, that it is unlikely the immigration debate will fill the same mold as the health care debate.  Perhaps a Catholic Member will be persuaded by someone like Cardinal Mahony.  Perhaps a member representing a rural district in Wisconsin will be persuaded by his dairy farmers.  Or perhaps a decision to reach out to the fastest-growing segment of the electorate will win a vote. 

 

Let’s see what really happens once the dust storm kicked up by the health care debate settles.

Events Immigration Reform Politics

Determined to be heard

March 20, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

Since the election of President Obama, there has been a lot of attention to gatherings of what has come to be called the “tea party.”  While the motivations of tea party activists are varied, that movement came into public view in the effort to oppose Congress’ attempt to extend health care to millions of the uninsured.

Sunday, the nation will hear a very different voice—or I should say from 100,000 voices.  They will represent the millions of Americans frustrated with the lack of progress in fixing our nation’s broken immigration system and broken economy.

Organizers say many of the 100,000 expected to attend the March for America will be coming on 900 buses. One measure of the determination of these activists is the distance they are traveling on those buses from all over the country.

From the West, there is a bus on its way from San Francisco, loaded with 50 leaders of the PICO National Network, a faith-based community organizing group.  Their cross-country journey was kicked off with press conferences on March 17 in San Francisco and Oakland.  Along the way, they are holding press events in Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, and Columbus.

From the Southwest, the human rights group Puente sent a caravan from Phoenix on March 6.  That caravan stopped for events in El Paso, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, New Orleans, Montgomery, Atlanta, and Raleigh, among other places.

From the South, dozens of buses are coming from Florida and Georgia.  In Orlando, bus riders are gathering in the Citrus bowl, where they will be sent off by Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Orlando Catholic Diocese.

From the north, Voces de la Frontera sent a caravan from Milwaukee on March 17 that is making stops in Chicago, Toledo, and Cincinnati.  You can read about their trip on their blog.

These far-flung leaders will join many thousands of others on the National Mall tomorrow.  After a long journey by bus, plane, caravan, and even by foot, they will be tired but excited, and determined to be heard.

 

 

Events Immigration Reform

Game Changer?

March 15, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

As the New York Times put it on Saturday, there is “Nothing like 100,000 angry, frustrated, impatient marchers, representing millions of voters, to focus the Congressional and presidential mind….”  The immigration march, the Times says, may be the one possible game changer to break the logjam in Congress on the issue of immigration reform.

The March for America will take place in Washington on Sunday, March 21.  Tens of thousands of people are expected to participate, pressing Congress and the President to pass comprehensive immigration reform.  In anticipation of the march, there was a flurry of activity last week.

On Thursday, President Obama held a series of meetings on immigration reform.  The first was with advocates for immigration reform, who reminded the President of the heavy toll immigration raids and the enforcement of broken laws was taking on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.  The advocates were there to urge the President to honor his promise to fix America’s broken immigration system and to show more leadership on the issue.

Next, the President met with the two Senators who have been negotiating a start point for this round of the immigration debate in Congress—Senator Charles Schumer of New York and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.  The Senators shared with the President their agreed-upon framework for immigration reform legislation.  They also urged the President to show more leadership on the issue, in particular, to help gain more support in the Senate, and to help work out the differences that yet exist between business and labor.

For their part, advocates, represented by the Campaign to Reform Immigration FOR America, were pleased, saying in a statement that, based on the conversation with the President, “we are optimistic and expecting aggressive and urgent action from the White House on comprehensive immigration reform before March 21st.”

For his part, the President said in a statement that he,

“told both the Senators and the community leaders that my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort.”

On the same day, the President met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and again immigration reform (as well as other issues) was on the agenda.

With the President’s renewed attention, perhaps a little support for immigration reform can be rounded up in the Senate.  In particular, the effort needs more Republican support. 

As the Times noted in its editorial, it used to be that with immigration reform there was,

”…a lot for Republicans to like: conservative arguments that reform is good for business, reunites families, bolsters national security — and pleases Latino voters.”

Not so long ago, immigration reform had the support of several Republicans in the Senate.  Now, however, Senator Graham is the only Republican in the Senate who is willing to lead on the issue.  The rest dare not run afoul of the ideological purity police who act as a sort of Taliban for the Republican Party. As Graham recently told Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, there comes a point when “fear stops you from acting in the best interests of the country.”

If Republicans are responding to the purity police within their base, what are Democrats doing for their base?

Immigration reform is an urgent humanitarian mater for the thousands of families and hundreds of communities and faith congregations that are being torn apart as the government continues to enforce broken laws.  It is also an urgent political matter for Democrats.  Elections are approaching, the right is energized, and Democrats don’t have a lot to fire up Latinos and the first-time voters who were inspired to vote in 2008 with promises that new leadership would tackle immigration reform and a range of major challenges facing the country. 

Douglas Rivlin, at NewsJunkePost.com, reports on a study of voting in the recently-concluded New York Mayor’s race.  Just one in five voters who were first-time voters in 2008 voted in the Mayor’s race. 

If that pattern is not to be repeated in November, those voters need something to validate a belief that their vote in 2008 made a difference.  For Latinos, the validation they need is immigration reform (or at the very least, a sincere attempt to pass it).

 Photo by Flickr user Hjelle.

Events Immigration Reform Politics

Our Time to Fight for Immigration Reform is Now

February 25, 2010 - Posted by Ali Noorani

Democrats have become the party of “I can’t” while Republicans have become the party of “I won’t.” But the overwhelming majority of Americans (conservatives, independents and everyone else) is saying, “Get to work on our nation’s problems and fix the broken immigration system!”

While the pundits, naysayers, and quitters in Washington are telling everyone that nothing can get done, the Campaign to Reform Immigration FOR America is enlisting the American people in a massive effort to force the hand of the House, Senate, and President to finally fix our broken immigration system.

You can feel the rumbling in the pews, at the town halls, and at overflow auditoriums across the country.

In January the campaign organized across 40 states, more than 150 events  that could barely accommodate the overflow crowds of Americans who wanted to voice their support for immigration reform.

 

·                In Denver, CO, an overflow crowd of thousands cheered Senator Michael Bennett’s pledge to champion comprehensive reform in the U.S. Senate.

·                In Grand Rapids, MI, hundreds gathered with community faith leaders to call on elected leaders to get a comprehensive immigration bill done this year.

·                In Charlotte, NC, overflow crowds gathered at a meeting of African American and Latino community leaders to show overwhelming support for reform.

·                In Little Rock, AR, 1,000 gathered on a cold night  to urge Senators Lincoln and Pryor to support immigration reform.

·                And in Ohio, a series of events all over the state culminated in a rally of thousands in Cincinnati – that included leadership from the African American, labor and business communities

 

·                All this followed not long after more than 60,000 Americans mobilized for a single telephone call in October of 2009 with supportive leaders of reform in the U.S. Congress.

In the last month, communities of faith have exhibited courage and clarity that we wish our elected leaders would show. Religious leaders from across the theological and ideological spectrum and Members of Congress kicked off a nationwide mobilization called “Together, Not Torn: Families Can’t Wait for Immigration Reform,” that included the delivery of more than hundreds of thousands of postcards to Members of Congress from people of faith in their states and districts.

Over the course of the President’s Day recess, local leaders from churches, small businesses, labor locals, and community organizations across the country descended on district offices. Americans in Ohio, Alaska, Arkansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and other states met with their Members of Congress to ask for comprehensive immigration reform to move forward in 2010. Some district offices  received a visit every hour, on the hour, for four days straight!

This is beyond a campaign.

This is America at its very core saying loud and clear we need a functioning immigration system that stops  unscrupulous employers from exploiting American and immigrant workers, but encourages honest employers to play by the rules.

Since June 1, 2009, the campaign has organized over 700,000 calls and faxes into the White House and Congress calling for reform. This is a significant number of Americans, but the decibel is nothing compared to that of entire news channels (and multiple talk radio shows) that are primed and ready to scare Congress from endorsing an immigration solution that serves our nation.

So, while our campaign is made up of over 750 faith, labor, business, progressive, African American, civil rights and immigrant organizations working to reform our immigration system in the interests of America’s families, we need your help. Please:

·                Have your church, business, labor local, organization endorse the campaign;

·                Text “JUSTICE” to 69866 to plug in;

·                Join us on March 21st in Washington DC when tens of thousands will March For America, demanding immigration reform for New American families and economic justice for all American families.

Onwards,

Crossposted at Huffington Post

 

 

Events Immigration Reform

Can Washington Govern?

February 25, 2010 - Posted by Maurice Belanger

A question on the minds of many these days is, “Can Washington govern?”

That question has been the subject of much comment in the last week since the surprise announcement by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, thought to have excellent re-election prospects, that he would not run for re-election. 

Bayh explained his reasoning in an op-ed for the New York Times on February 20.  In his piece, Bayh lists a series of ills causing the dysfunction in Congress that led to his decision.

…strident partisanship, unyielding ideology, a corrosive system of campaign financing, gerrymandering of House districts, endless filibusters, holds on executive appointees in the Senate, dwindling social interaction between senators of opposing parties and a caucus system that promotes party unity at the expense of bipartisan consensus.

Certainly, advocates for policy reform on a range of issues that face the nation today are wondering whether our political system can respond to the challenges.  Rather than working to solve the nation’s problems, too many lawmakers now seem to be working to prevent solutions from moving forward.

Douglas Rivlin, on News Junkie Post, proposes a test for lawmakers who always seem to say (in front of the TV Cameras, at least) that they want to work with the other side.  That test is immigration reform.

Four years ago, the Senate passed an immigration reform bill with 38 Democrats and 24 Republicans.  Not all of those Senators are still in office.  Is bipartisanship still possible?

In the past year, we have seen the rise of the “teaparty” movement.  Republicans have felt obligated to curry favor with this segment of its base.  With its strong nativist streak, the tea party effect on the immigration issue has been to make Republican support more uncertain.  For example, John McCain had been not just a supporter, but a champion of immigration reform.  In the past couple of years, he has distanced himself from the issue.  As to whether he still would vote for reform, as Rivlin notes, “with a tough [re-election] challenge from immigration hawk JD Hayworth, it is hard to tell.”

As for the Democrats, all the noise coming from this small but vocal constituency seems to have made them reluctant to step out and advance solutions.  A proposed solution to a problem will inevitably become a target for political opponents.  On the other hand, the election is coming up, and I would hate to have the job of trying to motivate voters to leave their houses and vote for someone who has not made an honest effort to solve the immigration crisis (or any of a number of other problems voters expected lawmakers to work on.)

Republicans and Democrats who step up and support comprehensive immigration reform might find that they will be backed up as never before.  The Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign has been channeling the energy of faith-based organizations, business groups, labor unions, progressives, law enforcement organizations, immigrants, immigrant advocates, and ordinary citizens who see the suffering caused by our broken immigration system. 

On March 21, thousands of these citizens will be coming to Washington to ask Members of Congress: Can you still govern? 

The answer to that question may determine whether millions of people have a reason to go to a voting booth in November.

Image by Flickr user brownpau.

Immigration Reform Politics

Page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >