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National Statement to Support Human and Civil Rights for All Immigrants And to Oppose Compromise Immigration Reform Proposals
This is a statement that numerous community, immigrant, and social justice organizations have signed on to and is presently being circulated as of late April, 2006
April, 2006
Fair and Just Immigration Reform for All
We stand together as immigrant, faith, social justice, labor, peace, human and civil rights organizations and other concerned communities to support human and civil rights for all immigrants and to oppose the immigration “reform” proposals presently in the U.S. Senate. We oppose H.R. 4437, the immigration bill passed in the House of Representatives in December, as well as all of the compromise bills presented in the Senate.
We call upon members of Congress and the Administration to stop masquerading these proposals as immigration reform. We demand nothing less than immigration policies that are fair and just, and that respect the rights and dignity of all immigrants and other members of our society.
The rush to reach a bipartisan accord on immigration legislation has led to a compromise that would create deep divisions within the immigrant community and leave millions of undocumented immigrants in the shadows of our country. We oppose the behind-the-scenes brokering currently playing out in the legislative process. These trade-offs and deals are based on election-year campaigning and demands by business lobbyists, rather than on the best interests and voices of immigrant communities. We say, “No deal!”
In a re-ignited civil rights movement, millions of immigrants, their families, neighbors and co-workers, along with faith and labor leaders, peace and justice advocates, have marched and rallied in cities across the U.S. The mobilizations have served as a wake-up call for the whole country to acknowledge the vital role of immigrants as co-workers, neighbors and members of our broad society. And, as details of the current legislative compromise have become known, the voices of immigrant communities are rejecting the proposals for a so-called legalization program, and are denouncing the further erosion of human and civil rights through the enforcement and criminalization provisions. The stakes are considerable, and affect all of us.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the 1986 legalization and employer sanctions law, and the 10th anniversary of the restrictive Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. We cannot allow the current proposals to be enacted as this generation’s flawed immigration reform legacy.
