Legislative Link

Senate Leader Presented Policy Recommendations

2009-10-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday (October 20), a broad delegation comprised of representatives from civil liberties, human rights and immigrant rights advocacy organizations met with Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chair of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee. Several organizations including AFSC and the Rights Working Group worked to invite partners throughout the nation to join as signatories to the letter's concerns and recommendations.

The 17-member delegation delivered the letter signed by more than 300 organizations. Outlined in the letter were specific areas of concern, and the urging that future national U.S. immigration and border policy be carried out in a manner that is respectful of individuals’ constitutional rights and due process.

Senator Schumer has previously issued public comments about the need to reform and repair the present immigration system. Signatories of the letter were encouraged that Senator Schumer acknowledged that the current system is not working. Indeed, enforcement-only policies have done nothing to resolve the administrative, legal and procedural problems with the outdated and broken immigration system.

Delegates asked Senator Schumer to incorporate important principles that safeguard constitutional rights and due process of individuals who are detained. The delegation also called on the Senator to ensure that family reunification is one of the fundamental components of future policy. Key concerns discussesd during the meeting included:

* Enforceable Detention Standards
* Secure, Community-Based Alternatives to Detention
* Fair Day in Court
* Access to Counsel
* Review of Federal Enforcement of Immigration Laws
* Civil Rights
* Responsible and Accountable Border Policy

"There are serious concerns over racial profiling when state and local law enforcement agents are deputized to enforce civil immigration law. Any immigration reform bill should restrict immigration enforcement to the federal government,” said Margaret Huang, Executive Director of Rights Working Group.

"Too much is at stake for the nation. No one benefits from the bleak situation we now have before us. Families continue to be separated and detention is only a temporary escape valve that does not solve the structural flaws of the current immigration system. None of this is humane, practical or realistic. We believe that principled and sensible policy can be developed," added Esther Nieves director of American Friends Service Committee's Project Voice, a national immigrant and refugee rights initiative.

Afterwards, the delegation also met with the Senator's immigration policy staff.

The full text of the letter can be found online at: http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/content/letter-schumer
The complete list of signatories can be found at: http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/sites/default/files/LettertoSchumer_Web.pdf

# # #

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

Formed in the aftermath of 9/11, the Rights Working Group is a coalition of more than 250 community-based grassroots groups and national organizations working to restore civil liberties and human rights protections for all people living in the U.S.

Spinning Out of Control: Tangle of Local Agreements Dodge Immigration Coherence

2009-10-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

"The 287(g) program is not a fundamental solution nor does it ensure community safety. It’s not just the cost factor, but the constitutional and civil liberties factors that must be subject to general public scrutiny.” Christian Ramirez, AFSC staff

State and local enforcement agencies have increasingly come under fire for cooperation agreements with federal agencies, and specifically, agreements in which local officers act as federal immigration agents. A routine traffic stop becomes the moment when a driver is questioned and subsequently asked to show proof of permanent residency or “legal” immigration status.

Known as the “287(g)” program, the initiative is a troubling remnant of the Bush era. The program has raised legal hackles and warranted concerns about racial profiling, civil liberties and public safety. AFSC has been at the forefront of the many faith-based voices calling for an end to this controversial and ill-conceived program. Over the past years, federal officials have tossed a financial carrot by using the program to provide support to cash-strapped municipalities and states.

Named for the section of the federal provision, 287(g) allows for federal agencies (e.g., US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to train and deputize local officers who can then enforce immigration laws. The program, however, has instilled fear and tension in immigrant communities and led to ongoing concerns about public safety and overall community security.

This past summer AFSC joined more than 500 organizations in an open letter, which called on President Obama to end the program. Early last week the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus also blasted the program calling on the President to terminate the 287(g) program. According to the Caucus, “... [T]he “misuse of the 287(g) program by its current participants has rendered it ineffective and dangerous to community safety.”

Initial support for the program has waned as state leaders realize that comprehensive national policy (rather than a piecemeal approach) is needed to repair the out-of-order immigration system. Concerns have been expressed about due process, legal liabilities, cost-effectiveness and the program’s efficiency.

Indeed, Massachusetts and Florida enforcement agencies have cancelled their agreements while others are debating if to accept – or reject – their agreement with federal officials. Amy Gottlieb, an attorney and AFSC staff member concludes, “The entire immigration law needs to be revamped so that we're not stuck in this system of arresting, detaining and deporting people without giving them meaningful access to a due process or real legal status."

READ the letter to President Obama: http://nilc.org/immlawpolicy/LocalLaw/287g-Letter-2009-08-25.pdf.

ADD YOUR VOICE: Call for an end to the 287(g) program!

Contact the White House switchboard at 202-456-1414 or 202-456-1111.
Send the President an e-mail: www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
Contact members of your Congressional delegation. Call your Senator at 202-224-3121 and your Representative at 202-225-3121.

From the Heartland of America: Iowa's Immigration Reality

2009-09-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Note: AFSC's Central Regional News and Views newsletter (Fall 2009) features an insightful look at immigration in the Hawkeye State. The writer, Sandra Sanchez is AFSC's program director in Iowa. The program provides referral support, legal assistance, human rights training and other services to immigrants and their families. We are grateful for the permission granted to share her community-grounded analysis with our readers.

Iowa - Editor's Note: One of the things we notice in our peace and justice work is that many people who generally share AFSC’s views on most issues still have concerns regarding the economic impact of immigration. As part of a broader interview available at www.afsc.org/iowa, Sandra Sanchez speaks to concerns that immigrants are “taking away” from taxpayers and hurting the economy. (Photograph: Sandra Sanchez - [extreme right] and community members at AFSC "Know Your Rights training - credit: G. Camacho)

Immigrants are not receiving benefits from other taxpayers, even though they should because they are taxpayers too. I’ve heard allies and supporters say, “Yes, we support immigrant rights, but can we afford it when the economy is so bad?”

To answer this very simply, I would say that all people are consumers and producers. Immigrants are consumers and producers too. And since we are in a recession right now, you need people spending. Immigrants spend money, and they spend it now. Immigrants are also very hard working. In many cases, they’re in their most productive years. Therefore, they are mostly contributing to this economy.

Finally, typically immigrants have not been part of the formal financial system, meaning their savings were not lost. They were not investing in the stock market. They have savings to spend. Where do we want them to spend this money? Here, or somewhere else?

More importantly, in terms of production and consumption, immigrants are very active. Why get rid of them? Too many people believe the anti-immigrant rhetoric. But the fact remains that immigrants are paying taxes. There’s more than $560 billion in the Earnings Suspense File of the Social Security Administration, most of which is believed to be contributions of undocumented workers to this system alone.

Do we really want to stop that? People are afraid that if we give legal status to these undocumented workers who have been contributing to Social Security and who cannot claim one penny out of it, then immigrants will claim those benefits. But the truth is that they can’t. If they get a legal status, eventually they will be able to claim benefits, but only from the time of their legal status onward.

So immigrants represent a win-win to this country. We are winning in the sense that they have contributed already as taxpayers, they have contributed to the economy as workers, and they have contributed to the economy as consumers. Do we want to lose that? No.

I truly believe that if undocumented immigrants are given the opportunity to regularize their status, they will be able to buy homes and more cars. They will be able to send their children to institutions of higher learning. And that will definitely be a plus to the economy. It will help us turn around this recession faster than if we don’t.

Sandra Sanchez is a member of AFSC's Project Voice Network, a national grouping of AFSC staff who work in partnership with communities throughout the United States. Project Voice advocates for the fair inclusion and respect for the human rights of immigrant and refugee communities. You can contact Sandra Sanchez at SSanchez@afsc.org and Jody Mashek at JMashek@afsc.org. AFSC Iowa’s phone is 515-274- 4851.

A Place of Calm & Centeredness

2009-09-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

“You may think this doesn’t affect you. But it does. Look around you at who is present here tonight. THIS is our city, our state, our community." - AFSC organizer Lori Fernald Khamala

Unlike the joint session of Congress last week, no one shouted or waved signs at the town hall hosted by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Greensboro, North Carolina. People spoke about immigration without using dehumanizing language or accusing one another of not telling the truth.

How did it happen? Read more and find out ...

More than 300 people attended AFSC Greensboro's immigration Town Hall including, Tony Caravano, a representative from Senator Kay Hagan's (D-NC) office. Prior to the event, Khamala received a phone call threatening that two busloads of anti-immigrant protesters would be in attendance, but it did not materialize.

Mr. Caravano and other attendees heard the story of Sandra, a woman waiting to be reunited with her husband, the story of an ESL teacher who described the daily encounters and challenges faced by US citizen children like "Lucia" a young girl whose parents were dragged from their home in the night and deported, and Luis, who struggles to help fellow students stay in school. (Photo: Tony Caravano of Senator Kay Hagan's Office meets local students).

"Is it incompetence or ill will that is keeping him from us?" asked 12-year-old Fernando Hernandez, as he translated for his mother, Sandra. "How can it take six months to review a marriage license?" (Greensboro News and Record). (Photo:Sandra Hernandez and her son Fernando speak about the wait to reunite with her husband due to the immigration backlog).

The crowd also heard from a Gerald Chapman, an immigration lawyer and economist Andrew Brod, Director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNC, debunking classic myths held about immigrants.

Senator Hagan to Consider Speakers in Forming Policy

"Planners of this event have been told that Senator Hagan is still forming her opinion on immigration issues," Lori Fernald Khamala of AFSC Greensboro told the crowd. "And so we wanted to share with her - and with all of you - the stories of people affected by our broken immigration system to help better understand these issues and help form the Senator’s opinion."

"These are not isolated incidents. These are the stories immigrants are experiencing every day here in Greensboro, across our state and across the country," she said.

Mr. Caravano, received AFSC's principles for humane immigration policy, A New Path, because change cannot wait until next year or even next month. It is already overdue. This reform must protect the wages, health and safety of ALL workers in our country. This reform must prioritize keeping families together.

Mr. Caravano took a few questions, but reiterated that,"The main reason that Sen. Hagan has asked me to be here today was to listen." Reading a statement from Senator Hagan, Caravano said that the Senator would consider the speakers’ accounts in a "comprehensive immigration reform" package to be written as early as this month. (Greensboro News and Record)

“The reform should cut back on waste, duplication and needless delays by reducing backlogs and streamlining the application process,” Caravano said. “We could provide incentives for individuals and companies to follow rules by restoring common sense in the current system.” (Greensboro News and Record).

Taking Account for Immigration Policy Change

“You may think this doesn’t affect you. But it does,” said Khamala at the close of the town hall.

“Look around you at who is present here tonight. THIS is our city, our state, our community. We are called to love our neighbor, and who are your neighbors? We are different races and colors. We are different ethnicities and nationalities. We speak different languages, but we are all one community. We have an opportunity to move forward with practical solutions that represent the best of who we are...

In the spirit of community, I now invite you to greet your neighbor, ask their name and wish them a good night. But first, in the manner of Quakers, let us spend a few moments in silence, reflecting on what we have heard this evening, and collecting your Spirit to leave this gathering in a place of calm and centeredness. So, take a deep breath, give thanks for this space, and center yourself in silence.

Thank you Friends. Go in Peace."

(Photos: Above - Dr. Michael Palmer, an ESL instructor, shares stories of his students' struggles. Right - AFSC NC organizer Lori Fernald Khamala with local students; All photo credits: AFSC NC)

Slideshow: You can see photos from the event by clicking here.

AFSC NC: To learn more about or contact AFSC Greensboro visit www.afsc.org/greensboro.

Myth & Facts: Read more by downloading AFSC's brochure on separating facts from fiction about immigrants in the US. Click here to download.

Farmworkers and the California Veto

2009-09-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

It is unacceptable but it happened again. SB789, a measure sponsored by the United Farm Workers and introduced by state Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The bill was a renewed attempt to allow farm workers to join a union and to be part of a collective bargaining process. The Governor disagreed and decided that the privacy of the farmworkers was more critical than the option to join a union. Labor-laws violations in the fields have been widely studied and continue to be rampant.

The Governor’s veto comes at a time when the work conditions of those in the fields continue to suffer, and where the daily life of workers and their families are rift with tensions about work mobility, labor standards and their future in the United States.

Dependent on this labor to stock the nation with fresh fruits, leafy lettuces and colorful vegetables, this physically back-breaking work is ignored by employers, contractors and legislators. Consumers also enjoy the fruits and vegetables of this labor but opt to eat and enjoy rather than to worry about how their succulent salad made it to the table.

Without advocates, potential union representation and the monitoring of wage and labor standards, those in the field – men, women and youth – they will continue to suffer under the hot, blazing California sun and other harsh work and environmental conditions. In the past years, media coverage has pointed to some of those who have died in the sweltering sun and the terrible conditions under which farm worker families live.

In the meantime, farm workers are consistently side-stepped in the search for a genuine remedy to their awful plight and to their tenuous immigration status. Why not? They are expendable, sometimes transient and often abused. Who else would work under these harsh and inhumane conditions -- where you may be sick, but you have to work; you may be injured, but you have to work; or where your wages may be stolen (or shortchanged), but you still have to work! It is because of this uncertainty that farm workers need representation and an organized vehicle that can support their labor rights and their basic human rights, not to mention fair treatment at the hands of employers, contractors and sub-contractors.

A report issued this past week points to the egregious work violations taking place in the nation’s labor market. Titled, Confronting the Gloves-Off Economy: America's Broken Labor Standards and How to Fix Them, this comprehensive report identifies the ‘gloves-off practices,’ the workers who are affected by them, and the strategies needed for monitoring workplace standards.

In the meantime, sweatshop standards and dehumanizing labor conditions, are but two of the bitter realities many workers tolerate while we sit to enjoy delectable salads or fruits that were cultivated or picked by these same workers. And thousands of farm workers and their families continue to toil away hoping that they too can one day enjoy the fruits of their labor. Terrible flavor, isn't it?

To learn more about the work conditions of workers in the United States and AFSC’s recommendations for labor rights and protections read: A New Path: Toward Humane Immigration Policy at http://www/afsc/org.

To read Confronting the Gloves-Economy: America’s Broken Labor Standards and How to Fix Them, visit http://nelp.org

Communities Lead While Leaders Retreat

2009-09-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Recent news coverage has indicated that immigration will not be on the legislative or White House agenda for yet another year. What gives? After so much promise and the sense that change was around the corner, advocates and communities have confronted renewed delays, back-pedaling and verbal calisthenics to stall a substantive legislative discussion and policy solutions. Avoidance seems to have become the ongoing bug of choice in the nation’s capitol.

Despite the ongoing impasse, the collective spirit of the nation's immigrant communities has not diminished. Indeed, trainings, workshops, Know Your Rights and organizing sessions have continued as have vigils, public actions, letter-writing and telephone-tree efforts to reach out to legislators and policy leaders to urge their leadership in changing the current stalemate. (Photo: AFSC New England "Know Your Rights" training in Boston - 2007/photo courtesy of G. Camacho).

How many more immigrants will be attacked, killed, vilified or deported before humane policy emerges from the White House and the halls of Congress? How many more families will be separated due to their multi-immigration status in the US? Surely, our nation’s leaders can do much better to honor the founding principles, and the basic and inherent dignity of all.

Not too long ago while meeting with the Presidents of Canada and Mexico, President Obama indicated his administration’s commitment to repair the current immigration system. But like leaves flying and spinning into the wind, there's been lots of spinning and words on the issue but still, far from substantive action. In the meantime, immigrant communities and non-immigrant immigrant allies have been pressing forward, meeting, holding discussions, organizing and working with each other to change the current policy and political impasse.

AFSC has joined more than 500 organizations calling for an end to several past punitive and enforcement actions that have now been continued by the Obama administration. In addition, immigrant and non-immigrant communities have been conveying a unified message that the continued delay of immigration reform is the wrong way to proceed.

Unfortunately, punitive programs such as 287(g) – a program that enables local police to act as immigration agents – has continued to receive support and the Department of Homeland Security has in fact, expanded the program. This has taken place despite the fact that the program has fostered fear in immigrant communities, led to racial profiling and abuses.

It is imperative that Congressional leaders and the White House moved toward a process that begins to address the current and broken down immigration system. Delays, half-baked promises and stalling will do nothing to change the reality the nation confronts. Increased detentions, deportations and family separation are not long-term solutions to the existing national and global economic, social and political realities.

But the stalling tide can be changed. In fact, hearing from their constituents can move the nation's leaders to make this a 'front and center' issue. It is not lost to elected officials or the White House when community members call to urge movement forward on key policies.

Now you can join AFSC and many other faith, labor and community organizations in calling for humane immigration policy. Urge Congress not to dither. Urge President Obama to move with deliberate speed! It is time for forward-thinking and humane immigration policies.

§ Contact the White House general switchboard: 202-456-1414 or leave your message for President Obama at 202-456-1111. A quick e-mail will also help! Send to: www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

§ Contact members of your Congressional delegation and urge them to lead in efforts that repair the current immigration system.

· To contact your Senator: 202-224-3121
· To contact your Representative: 202-225-3121

Seeing the Divine in Every Life: AFSC Statement on Immigrant Detention

2009-08-08T15:45:00.001-07:00

Since 1917 the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has served as a non-governmental organization, grounded in the principles and testimonies of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The Quaker vision of justice is grounded in a core belief that “there is that of God in everyone” and the Biblical call to welcome the stranger.

Our vision, as it applies to immigration, draws on years of experience in international human rights work and with immigrant communities worldwide. Human migration is a global phenomenon driven by political, social and economic considerations that demand not just our attention, but our humanity and compassion. We are all God’s people, no matter our circumstances.

And so we react with dismay to the increasing criminalization of individuals with tenuous legal status in the United States. In particular, we see the increasing overuse and abuse of detention as a demonstrably failed policy and practice. The U.S. government’s punitive focus on arrest, detention and deportation diverts attention from more compelling human, civil and labor rights issues and from the complex causes of immigration. This punitive focus, in its harsh and capricious application, shatters families and stokes fear in communities; creates incentives for individuals and businesses to profit by the incarceration of others; and shames our highest ideals as Americans and our deepest convictions as Quakers.

We envision an immigration policy free of imprisonment, a policy that offers humane treatment to asylum seekers, refugees, and economic migrants, and that provides for legal status for undocumented immigrants. We call for the end to the misguided and profoundly unjust policy of detention in our immigration system.

Approved by the American Friends Service Committee

Board Executive Committee

2009

Time to End the "Nation of Detention" Era

2009-08-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

AFSC's immigrant and refugee rights network has consistently sought to challenge the growth of the nation's detention industrial complex, which in the last decade has grown at an unprecedented level. Board members, staff, and community members have worked to draw public attention to the abusive conditions and violations that have occurred in detention centers.

This past June AFSC's Board of Directors issued a statement which in part read, "The increased criminalization of immigrants and non-immigrants -- particularly those who have not been able to adjust their immigration status in the United States is a disturbing trend that does not bode well for a nation committed to the civil rights of every person."

The increased overuse and abuse of detention is a demonstrably failed policy and practice that has led to human rights abuses, caused millions of dollars to taxpayers, and led to the incarceration of men, women and children (e.g., Hutto Detention Center). Little reform has taken place despite several detailed reports pointing to the poor conditions of the “holding” quarters, lack of timely medical attention or humane treatment of detainees, and the deplorable physical conditions found in these detention facilities.

Yet another troubling aspect of the existing detention chaos circle, is the anguish and family hardship caused by the geographic separation of a detainee who is often sent far away from family members, thus making it difficult for them to visit or provide emotional support. Still another challenge is legal representation for someone who has been moved from one state to another.

AFSC’s immigrant and refugee rights work draws on decades of domestic and international human rights work, and the fundamental Quaker core belief that “there is that of God in everyone.” Human migration is a global phenomenon driven by political, social and economic considerations that demand not just our attention, but our humanity and compassion.

The punitive focus on arrest, detention and deportation diverts attention from more compelling human, civil and labor rights issues and from the complex causes of immigration. This punitive focus, in its harsh and capricious application, shatters families and stokes fear in communities; creates incentives for others to profit by the incarceration of others; and shames the nation’s highest ideals of justice and freedom.

AFSC envisions an immigration policy free of imprisonment, a policy that offers humane treatment to asylum seekers, refugees, and economic migrants, and that provides for legal status for undocumented immigrants. AFSC continues to call for the end to this misguided and profoundly unjust policy of detention in our immigration system.

The time is long overdue for the nation's leaders to make fundamental and structural policy changes to current immigration policies, while also doing away with the deplorable detention system, and protecting the basic universal rights and dignity of immigrants and refugees.

LEARN more about the detention issue, visit these websites or contact these organizations:

Newark Immigrant Rights Program at www.afsc.org/nymetro/ or call 973-643-1924
Read AFSC's Report, A New Path: Toward Humane Immigration Policy www.afsc.org/ImmigrantsRights (see page 10 of report for specifics on detention)
Detention Watch Network: http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/
National Immigration Law Center: http://www.nilc.org/

ACT to end detention and abuse:

1. Contact the White House and urge President Obama to support policies that ensure that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enacts enforceable and humane standards for the treatment of immigrant detainees. Call the White House general switchboard: 202-456-1414 or express your concern contact 202-456-1111 or to send an e-mail message go to: www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

2. Contact your state's Congressional leaders and urge them to support Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York bills to force DHS to implement legally enforceable rules and policies. Call the Congressional switchboard:

To contact your Senator: 202-224-3121
To contact your Representative: 202-225-3121

You're Invited to a Summer BBQ!

2009-07-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

American Friends Service Committee
New York Metropolitan Regional Office
Summer BBQ Fundraiser

Gregory's Woods
at Warinanco Park
Roselle, NJ

Sunday August 2, 2009
1-5 pm

Come out to enjoy good food and nature (yes, we will be grilling by a lake!), meet new friends, learn AFSC's work, all for a good cause!

Ticket: $25 for individual, $50 for a family (Max number is 4).

Volunteers, donations, and advance tickets, call 973-643-1924 or email: ccwang@afsc.org.

How to get to Warinanco Park, Roselle, NJ:
NJ transit bus #62 from Newark/Perth Amboy, #112 from New York. Check schedule: www.njtrans it .com
Car pool available at AFSC office at 89 Market St. Newark from 11am to 12pm.

Check out our programs: www.afsc.org/nymetro/

Biometric Data on All Workers Proposed

2009-07-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

by Lindsey Daniel, AFSC Policy Intern

In a Senate hearing last week, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), both leaders on immigration in the House and Senate, stated that an employment verification system including a biometric identifier, such as fingerprints, is a key to any broad immigration bill. "Only by creating a biometric-based federal employment verification system will both employers and employees have the peace of mind that all employment relationships are both lawful and proper," said Schumer.

Currently an electronic employment verification system called, E-Verify, is used by the government determine the eligibility of workers in America for employers who chose to voluntarily use the system. The government recently announced that it will require federal contractors to use E-Verify.

Failure to Fix E-Verify Errors Raises Concern

Senator Russ Feingold (D-IL) expressed concern for the expansion of E-Verify without trying to fix the system. He cited reports showing that roughly 600,000 workers, mostly U.S. citizens, would be deemed ineligible under mandatory electronic employment verification. "Workers must be given a simple, straightforward means to appeal any data errors," said Feingold.

You can watch the hearing webcast by visiting the hearing webpage.

Social Security Administration Testifies on E-Verify's Impact

The current E-Verify system requires the Social Security Administration (SSA) to verify that a newly hired employee's Social Security Number, name and date of birth match the SSA records. For employees claiming United States citizenship, SSA also confirms citizenship status. "The SSN card was never intended, and does not serve, as a personal identification document," said David Rust of the SSA in a House hearing on E-Verify last week.

In almost every situation, SSA must conduct a face-to-face interview if an employee contests a mismatch of their SSN or citizenship information, explained Rust. This is time SSA employees cannot use to assist applicants for a Social Security benefit, according to Rust.

To watch the hearing webcast and view witness statements, click here.

Mandatory E-Verify Affects Every Single Worker

A mandatory electronic employment verification system - and all the errors that come with it — does not just affect immigrants; it will apply to every single worker in this country — U.S. citizens and immigrants alike, emphasizes Tyler Moran of the National Immigration Law Center (Immigration Impact).

"In most cases, employers aren't likely to wait out the red tape to re-verify a worker - employers will fire first and only the most well connected workers will be able to ask questions later. This will further jeopardize economic recovery by expanding job loss, undermining employer confidence and thrusting millions of hardworking, legal families into a web of uncertainty," said Anna Burger of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Learn more

A community survey of 400 immigrant workers conducted by the American Service Committee’s (AFSC) Arizona program reveals the impacts of mandatory E-Verify in Arizona:

Download the report (PDF)

Interfaith Unity Platform on Immigration

2009-07-22T17:41:00.001-07:00

More than 500 faith-based organizations and leaders have recently signed a letter calling on the White House and the U.S. Congress to take action on humane immigration reform. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is one of the signers of the letter. A summarized version of the letter follows:

"We call for immigration reform because each day in our congregations, service programs, health-care facilities, and schools we witness the human consequences of a broken and outdated system. We see the exploitation of undocumented workers and the plight of separated families, as well as the escalation of community fear due to indiscriminate raids and local police acting as federal immigration agents. Humane immigration reform would help put an end to this suffering, which offends the dignity of all human beings. We call on the new Administration and 111th Congress to commit to:

Uphold family unity as a priority of all immigration policies - Recognizing the importance of families to the creation of healthy individuals and strong communities, we call on the new Administration and Congress to 1) expeditiously reunite immigrant families separated due to lengthy visa backlogs; 2) revise family preference categories and per-country caps to prioritize family unity; and 3) remove bars to reentry and adjustment of status for individuals seeking to reunite with their family members. Attempts to devalue the family, such as denying birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants or placing family-based and employment-based visa applicants in competition with each other on a point-based or other system, must be rejected in order to maintain and promote family unity.

Create a process for undocumented immigrants to adjust their immigration status and allow for eventual citizenship - Enact immigration reform that allows undocumented immigrants and their families to earn lawful permanent residency upon the satisfaction of reasonable criteria, with a pathway to citizenship. Communities and congregations around the country are prepared to provide legal services to those eligible, as people of faith are committed to an effective and humane system that keeps families together and values the dignity of our friends and neighbors.

Protect workers and provide efficient channels of entry for new migrant workers - We call for an expansion of legal avenues for workers who seek to migrate to the United States to work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner. Their rights must be fully protected, including the ability to bring their families with them, travel as needed, change their place of employment, and apply for lawful permanent residency and eventually citizenship.

Facilitate immigrant integration - Many immigrants desire to naturalize but lack the necessary tools. The U.S. immigration system should empower them to this end by providing financial support to state and local governments and community organizations that offer language and civics education, outreach, and naturalization application assistance. Citizenship should be made more affordable by reducing naturalization fees and making fee waivers more easily accessible.

Faith based organizations and congregations around the country will continue to assist in integration efforts by providing social services and helping immigrants learn English, find jobs, and thrive in the United States.

Restore due process protections and reform detention policies - Immigration policies should respect human rights and ensure due process for all persons. We have witnessed how indiscriminate immigration raids have caused trauma and hardship for thousands of individuals. Such raids separate families, destroy communities, and threaten the basic rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. The suffering caused by the increase and severity of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in homes and workplaces underscores the problems with current U.S. immigration policies and the urgent need for reform.

We urge the new Administration and Congress to reduce the use of detention for immigrants and improve detention conditions by enacting clear, enforceable reforms that include rigorous medical treatment standards and increased access to pastoral care, legal counsel and legal orientation programs.

Align the enforcement of immigration laws with humanitarian values - For the past 20 years, the federal government has dramatically increased fence construction, border patrol presence, and the deportation of immigrants, which have proven ineffective at decreasing undocumented immigration. During this time, we have witnessed the desecration of sacred sites and the violation of environmental and religious freedom laws, as well as the unnecessary suffering of community members whose loved ones have suffered or died seeking entry into the United States. Currently, vast resources are being used for fence construction and the mass arrests, detention, and deportation of immigrants who contribute to the U.S. economy and culture.

All immigration laws must respect the dignity of all persons, prioritize the cohesiveness of families and communities, recognize the economic contributions of immigrants, and uphold our moral obligations to provide refuge and welcome the stranger.

Immigration: A matter of human rights - As people of faith, we call attention to the moral dimensions of public policy and recommend reforms that uphold the God-given dignity and rights of every person, each of whom are made in the image of God. We are dedicated to immigration reform because we value family unity, justice, equity, compassion, love, and the humane treatment of all persons. It is our collective prayer that the new Administration and 111th Congress enact just immigration reform based on these tenets."

Join Your Voice to the thousands calling for humane action:

Join local efforts to support humane immigration reform. Visit AFSC's website for program sites, background information and materials you can share with your congregation or community. Visit: www. http://www.afsc.org/ImmigrantsRights/

Contact Pesident Obama and urge him to exert leadership on this pressing issue. Write him at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

For a complete copy of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition's letter, visit: http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/interfaith-immigration-platform-009.pdf fsc.org

Breaking Bread and Barriers

2009-07-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Take Action this Summer!

Join faith communities throughout the country for the Interfaith Immigration Coalition's Month of Action for Immigration Reform. Your faith community can choose to host a prayer vigil, plan a Neighbor to Neighbor in-district meeting, or collaborate with other congregations and host a Breaking Bread and Barriers potluck/town hall event.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently announced to the Associated Press that he expects to have an immigration bill ready introduce by Labor day this year - which makes August - September an important time to be in touch with your Members of Congress, and even invite them to an event in your community.

Congress takes a recess during the month of August, so your representatives will be away from their D.C. offices and possibly spending a lot of time in their home states. Start planning your event now, and invite your Members of Congress to participate as soon as possible.

As talks begin in the Capitol and the White House, AFSC staff across the country are working toward humane immigration policies. In a News and Record article this month, Lori Fernald Khamala of AFSC Greensboro encouraged leaders to work with President Obama to create policy that unifies families, protects workers’ rights, and sets a clear pathway to citizenship. "It is a moral issue, but a moral issue is not incompatible with good laws," she said.

Below are all the materials you need to plan any of these events – just add your creativity and determination!

View the IIC Summer Schedule

View the IIC Organizing Guide

List your event the IIC calendar

2009-07-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

An Arresting Dilemma That Doesn’t Make Sense

“The police chiefs here, having spent most of their careers in cities with large immigrant communities, said it would be impossible to send the nation’s 10 million to 15 million illegal residents home. They criticized last year’s roundups... at workplaces, and the federal 287(g) program that has given at least 63 police departments a role in deporting... immigrants.” (New York Times, 7/1/09)

It is not a message from “pro-immigrant” groups, or others pigeonholed as the “open borders” crowd. In fact, the recent message is coming from local police officials: an association that brings together the police chiefs of major urban centers. In early July the Major Cities Chiefs Association met to discuss public and community safety issues. A key discussion point was the nation's current immigration policies.

Troubled by what they believe is the wrong use of critical human and limited financial resources, the police chiefs called on legislators to take action on national immigration policy. They expressed their concern with the continued use of the federal 287(g) program, which allows local police members to question and detain anyone they suspect may be an undocumented immigrant.

This program has led to complaints of racial profiling, and compounded an already precarious relationship between local community members, immigrants ("documented" and otherwise) undocumented) and police officers. Indeed, the 287(g) initiative has disrupted the fabric of trust that communities have been trying to establish with local police departments.

At the gathering police chiefs reiterated what many already suspected: putting police officers to enforce federal immigration laws does not build dialogue between community members and police officials; in fact, this action strains financial and human resources, and does nothing to resolve the current immigration dilemma. In addition, the 287(g) program diminishes, in effect, the critical role community residents can play in creating safe, healthy and vibrant communities.

"It is troubling to see that already stretched financial resources are being used by local police departments to enforce federal immigration policy,” notes Gabriela Flora, AFSC Denver staff. “People in general, are often apprehensive about approaching police officials if they have witnessed a crime, or have been the victim of a crime. There is a better way of making sure that we have safe communities for everyone. I think this is the common denominator -- whether you are an immigrant or non-immigrant -- you want to live in a safe community. This is what is important to everyone and should be the key factor to consider," she concluded.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: ACT NOW!

Contact the Department of Homeland Security:

Operator Number: 202-282-8000 or Comment Line: 202-282-8495
Leave a Message for Secretary Napolitano urging her to:

Refocus 287(g) funds to promote greater community participation in community safety.
Target funds to support community safety efforts so that everyone – immigrants and non-immigrants can be involved in the creation of safe, vibrant and healthy neighborhoods.

North Carolina Youth Rally for Equal Education Access: Yazmin’s Story

2009-07-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

"My name is Yazmin, I am a student at Guilford College and this summer I've been working at the American Friends Service Committee. AFSC is committed to college access for immigrant students, but as a pacifist organization, AFSC is deeply concerned with the inclusion of military service in the proposed DREAM Act, and the exclusion of community service as an alternative for youth to consider. As a college student, and as a person who is interest in contributing to my community's betterment, I urge Congressional representatives to reinstate the community service provision. (Photo: Greensboro, NC youth rally for equal education access and for community service option in the DREAM Act – Courtesy of Lori Fernald Khamala).

Growing up, I knew I wanted to be "someone," I often heard from my family that if I wanted to have a better future I had to stay in school, and do my best to be able to go to college. At the age of 13, life circumstances brought me to the United States from Mexico. I thought I could accomplish everything I dreamed of because I was in the United States of America!

In high school I worked hard to adjust to the new culture, to learn the language, and get good grades. I always kept in mind what my family often said "Echándole ganas se sale Adelante.” (Put your energy into it, and you’ll go far!). However, when I started high school I stared hearing people telling me, “Why are you trying so hard? You won’t be able to go to college, you are an immigrant.” Some of my friends became discouraged; many of them dropped out of high school, others married and so on. I felt that I could not give up.

My faith helped me to continue trying and believing in myself. Finally, I met a friend who inspired me to continue with my educational journey. He was a great model and life example. I applied and was accepted at Guilford College. Getting in was not easy, staying has been even more challenging. But I know that at the end I'll be able to look back and see that all the sacrifices, worries, and stress hat come with being a Latina immigrant in college. I am gaining the skills and experience that will help me to serve and help my community.

AFSC wants every student to have the opportunity to further their education, but many will still find great financial and other barriers. While I have always supported the DREAM Act, it is important that community service be part of this proposed legislation.

As it is now written, the DREAM Act will lead many young people to think that military service is the only option that can help them secure permanent residency. However, previous versions of the DREAM Act included a community and volunteerism service component. National service is one way that we can all contribute to our communities.

I see the benefits of the DREAM Act for my friends, my community and for me. Community service means a lot to me because it is part of how we can support and help each other especially when we are far from our country, family and culture. A service component in the DREAM Act will help the development of a strong nation. I urge legislators to support the DREAM Act and to restore the volunteer and service component now. Thank you.”

_____________

To learn more about the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (The "DREAM Act") and AFSC's analysis, please contact Sara Ibrahim at sibrahim@afsc.org

Additional sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DREAM_Act

http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/DREAM/index.htm

Dream an Equal Education

2009-07-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

“Everyone has the right to education. Education should be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations...” - Article 26, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

As a non-violent, faith-based organization, AFSC reiterates grave concern with the inclusion of military service in the proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) and the exclusion of community service as viable alternative for youth to consider. AFSC has long been an active faith-based voice on issues of race, gender, disability, religion, national origin or legal status. AFSC supports equal access to educational opportunities that augment workforce skills and the nation's future viability.

Civic Engagement Benefits the Common Good

AFSC calls for the inclusion of a community service and volunteerism component to the DREAM Act. Communities throughout the nation are challenged by economic crises and other critical issues such as a shortage in teachers for classrooms, the elimination of basic services and reduced operating budgets. The DREAM Act could provide a viable opportunity for volunteerism and innovative civic engagement opportunity that helps strengthen and sustain rural and urban neighborhoods.

Recent calls by local and national leaders have encouraged young people to become engaged and active participants in community service endeavors. Indeed, the recent passage of the Serve America Act offers a remarkable opportunity to engage all youth. Re-incorporating a community service component to the DREAM Act lends itself to this reality and to participation in local or national civic service that build neighborhoods, support families, and create a strong national human infrastructure. This can be an innovative alternative which fosters goodwill, positive self-esteem and a sense that one is part of a broader community effort!

What AFSC Supports: Education is a Basic Human Right

AFSC supports the provisions in the DREAM Act that provide a path to permanent residency to undocumented immigrant students and lifts penalties on states that provide undocumented immigrant students with in-state tuition. AFSC does not support policy or legislation inviting immigrant students – or any student – to join the armed forces. AFSC vehemently rejects a military service component which serves as a de facto military draft for undocumented youth.
We believe that immigrant youth should be able to qualify for the benefits of the DREAM Act (instate tuition, a path to permanent residency, and eventual citizenship if they so desire) by performing community volunteerism that encourages community service as a career choice and volunteerism as a starting point for future and ongoing civic participation.
The 2009 Serve America Act could be an important path for immigrant youth to contribute to the nation's human infrastructure, and in turn, an opportunity for future generations to be equal participants in the betterment of the nation.

Education is a human right and yet immigrant students in the nation’s academic learning system confront systemic, structural and institutional barriers that impact their academic achievement and their ability to attend institutions of higher learning. Social, class, race, ethnicity and disability are several of these key issues and underlying inequalities. Studies have shown that for every immigrant student who attends a two or four year college, twenty will not be able to do so.

AFSC deplores the use of a poverty draft and its inclusion in all legislation that addresses the ability of immigrant youth to receive equal educational access. It is also highly probable that immigrant youth may be lured into enlisting in the US military with the notion that they only have to serve two years in the military. The DREAM Act currently specifies two years as the minimum amount of time needed to be eligible for legal permanent resident status, but the bill does not articulate that everyone who enlists in the military is obligated to serve eight years.[1]

Dream to Serve: Make Service Opportunities Available to All Youth

Given the intention of Congress to use the DREAM Act to increase military recruitment numbers, the potential for abuse and misuse of the law in order to fraudulently recruit undocumented immigrant youth is of grave concern. Recent studies show how important information is omitted, misleading information is providedand how potential recruits are deceived in order to convince them to sign the enlistment agreement.

Senator Richard (Dick) Durbin, the key sponsor of the bill, has noted, "...[T]he DREAM Act creates a strong incentive for military service. And many DREAM Act kids come from a demographic group that is already predisposed towards military service." A 2004 survey by the Rand Corporation found that 45 percent of Hispanic males and 31 percent of Hispanic females between ages 16 and 21 were very likely to serve in the Armed Forces, compared to 24 percent of White men and 10 percent of White women.”[2] Furthermore, Lt. Colonel Margaret Stock of the U.S. Army Reserve and a participant in the drafting of the bill has observed, “The DREAM Act promises to enlarge dramatically the pool of highly qualified recruits for the U.S. Armed Forces." [3]

The option of community and national service and restoring provisions for federal grant eligibility (including Pell Grants) benefit the nation while providing motivated immigrant youth a viable alternative for civic participation. This is also a way through which youth can live out their values, physical and spiritual energy, and contribute to the nation's greater good. This is especially important at a time when the nation’s executive and legislative leaders have called for public engagement by affirming and supporting the 2009 Serve America Act.

Bridging the Serve America Act with the DREAM Act is a mutually beneficial and more comprehensive way to ensure that immigrant youth can serve the nation without having to do so by serving in the armed forces.

___________

For information on the Serve America Act of 2009 go to: http://www/nationalservice.gov

[1] Armed Forces of the United States, Enlistment/Reenlistment Document, Section C.10.a. available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd0004.pdf.
[2] Senator Dick Durbin, Floor Statement: DREAM Act as an Amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill, July 13, 2007.
[3] Margaret D. Stock, “The DREAM Act: Tapping an Overlooked Pool of Homegrown Talent to Meet Military Enlistment Needs,” Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, January 15, 2006.

How Immigration Detention Harms Women

2009-06-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

by Lindsey Daniel, AFSC Policy Intern

Everyday there are more than 33,400 immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in over 500 facilities across the United States according to the Women's Refugee Commission. About 10% of these detainees are women – up 3% from last year.

On Wednesday the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights, Human Rights Watch, the Women’s Refugee Commission, and the American Civil Liberties Union in cooperation with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus hosted a briefing on the treatment of women in immigration detention facilities.

“Had I not experienced a year in immigration detention, I would never have believed that such inhumanity existed,” said Marlene Jaggernauth, a single parent who was separated from her four children.

Although there are mental and physical healthcare standards for detainees, they are hardly ever met. While the standards cover emergency medical needs, they often exclude special needs of women, including gynecological exams, assistance to victims of sexual assault, and pre- and post-natal care.

Kathleen Baldoni, a former nurse at an immigration detention center in Texas, described the healthcare system as “an afterthought for the facility and for ICE. [The] care is task-oriented, not patient-oriented.” Baldoni's employer fired her for speaking at the briefing (Nursing Link). She showed “tremendous courage in coming forward,” said Meghan Rhoad of Human Rights Watch.

Bill Seeks Accountability for Inhumane Detention Conditions

At the briefing, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Congressman Michael Honda (D-CA), and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) all publicly announced their support of a new policy for immigration detention centers. Representative Roybal-Allard described her bill to amend these flaws in ICE detention practices.

The Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act (H.R. 1215) will strengthen accountability and oversight of the immigration detention structure by regulating higher standards of care in immigration detention centers in the areas of medical treatment, sexual abuse, the use of force, access to telephones and legal materials, and procedures for detainee grievances.

AFSC is committed to promoting an improved and humane immigration policy for the United States. AFSC’s staff team in Newark, New Jersey provide Know Your Rights presentations in detention centers throughout the state, and provide legal representation and referrals to detained immigrants facing deportation. For more information on AFSC’s policy recommendations on detention click here to read A New Path Toward Humane Immigration Policy.

Confusing Immigration and National Security

2009-06-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

Note: Prepared by AFSC's Newark Immigrant Rights Program

Our shift from a welcoming posture to one that equates immigrants with crime and terrorism stems from a place of fear and uncertainty. This tension and the impression that we need to protect ourselves from immigrants has been the placement of all immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Within this context, myths abound. The focus has been one of building fences and jails, increasing the number of people who are detained and now form part of the profitable 'human warehousing industrial complex.' Too often, facts are ignored, and feeding the fear frenzy has become a disturbing national pastime. Defining factors such as the reasons for migration are also ignored. Survival, political oppression and the search for freedom, economic hardship, family love and reunification are some of the factors that are altogether side stepped.

Locked up, Locked out: The Detention Industrial Complex - The US has dramatically increased the jailing of immigrants to fight global terrorism. This poorly thought out strategy has seen a rise in the detention of immigrants with an Arab or South Asian background or surname. Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), argues, "[T]he detention of thousands of Middle Eastern and South Asian nationals after September 11 risked ‘alienating’ the very people on whom law enforcement depends for leads.” (12/19/02, The Nation). Indeed, immigrants -- whether they have adjusted their status or remain in an undocumented situation -- will be less likely to report crimes that occured in their communities if they cannot trust law enforcement agencies.

The Border Gets Militarized - Border security accounts for most parts of “national security;” this new action has also led to the militarization of the nation's southern border. The increased presence of the Border Patrol, expanded fences, lights and high-end integrated technology by now dot the southern border at an enormous cost to taxpayers. In addition, the militarization process has also disrupted the region's enviornment and the quality of life of border communities.

Code Language that Separates - Code words such as 'alien,' 'illegal,' and others are used to dehumanize the other. In the current political lexicon, an 'alien' is seen as the other -- is not entitled to receive any public assistance outside of emergency relief. Increasingly, we see the efforts to deny access to housing, social services, health care and other components of the nation's social safety net. Indeed, some wish to change the Constitution's 14th Amendment (citizenship to those born on US soil). Stripping a person of their basic human dignity and of their respect is at the core of language that feeds on stereotypes, misguided policies and ignorance.

It's Not Just the Economy - In fact, studies show that undocumented immigrants contribute more to the economy than they actually take back, through paying various taxes (property, sales, and often income). Most undocumented immigrants are unwilling to accept any form of public assistance as they fear it will impact their ability to obtain lawful residence status later and expose them to the authorities. Many would rather go without service than to threaten the future possibility of adjusting their immigration status and that of their spouse or children. Even if (and when) long-time permanent residents qualify for some benefits, studies have shown that they often underutilize public benefits and assistance. (For specific benefit or statistics, check out information from the Center for Budget and Policy Priority or Urban Institute websites listed below).

Did You Know?

“… the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the [social security] system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.” (April 5 2005, New York Times)

“..the Social Security Administration reports that it holds $420 billion from the earning of immigrants who are not in a position to claim benefits.” (Fact sheet from National Council of La Raza in 2006)

“The 1996 welfare bill eliminated food stamp eligibility for most legal immigrant noncitizens (other than refugees). … According to USDA more than 4 million Latinos who are eligible for food stamps are missing out on benefits. Only half of Latinos who are eligible for food stamps participate in the program, and among eligible non-citizens the share that participate is even smaller (42 percent).” (Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 2007)

“… illegal immigrants are in the same situation as millions of Americans who have no health insurance, although undocumented people tend to be more reluctant to use public health services than uninsured Americans.” (Julia Preston, May 2007, NY Times)

____________

Learn the FACTS on immigrants, social security and public benefits, visit:

AFSC - http://www.afsc.org/ImmigrantsRights/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/72496

AFSC - Newark, NJ Immigrant Rights Program - 973-643-1924 http://www.afsc.org/nymetro/ht/d/sp/i/68515/pid/68515

Budget and Policy Priority - http://www.cbpp.org/

Urban Institute - http://www.urbaninstitute.org/

National Immigration Law Center - http://www.nilc.org/

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, - http://energyofanation.org/

Humane Action Prevails: Temporary Parole Reunites Minors with Parents

2009-06-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

“No matter where you stand on the immigration debate in this country, children should be free to go to school without the fear of being deported. We are pleased with the decision of the federal government to allow these three students to come back home - it is a step in the right direction.”
AFSC San Diego press release

Nearly a month ago the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a controversial immigration raid in San Diego’s Old Town Trolley stations. The mid-May operation was led by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The “trolley raid” led to the apprehension of 21 persons, including three teenagers who were on their way to school.

Local response included a swift and united condemnation of the "trolley raids" and calls for DHS to be held publicly accountable for these actions. The strong outcry included the voices of educators, parents, community advocacy organizations, faith and other local leaders. Early this week, DHS officials announced that the 3 high school students who were apprehended in the raid were granted humanitarian visas and expected to reunite with their families. The three will appear before an immigration judge at a later date.

In the meantime, AFSC and other community partners are urging law enforcement officials to ensure the protection and the human rights of minors. Indeed, this case is an opportunity for immigration authorities to review and improve the policies dictating how children and teen-agers should be treated and questioned for immigration purposes.

According to Pedro Rios, director of AFSC’s San Diego office, “The humanitarian parole offered to the three minors detained in a DHS operation is a positive step forward in acknowledging that egregious missteps took place in their initial detention on May 20. This is an opportunity for both the US and Mexican governments to re-evaluate the regulations dictating how minors should be treated, and to ensure that physical and mental integrity remain a priority in any contact minors have with federal immigration agents.”

AFSC's San Diego office and program sites throughout the nation will continue to work with families and advocates to improve policies addressing the detention of minors. For further information, please contact AFSC’s San Diego staff at 619-233-4114 or visit http://www.afsc.org/ImmigrantsRights/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/74624 to read A New Path Toward Humane Immigration Policy.

A Flicker of Fairness

2009-06-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced a two-year, temporary policy freeze that impacts the widows and widowers of U.S citizens. The interpretation of the existing federal immigration directive has meant that spouses of deceased U.S.-born citizens have been routinely denied the opportunity to stay in their new country; most of them face deportation.

This recent reprieve allows for the opportunity to pursue permanent residency even if the primary petitioner has passed away. According to DHS Secretary Napolitano, “Granting deferred action to the widows and widowers of U.S. citizens who otherwise would have been denied the right to remain in the United States allows these individuals and their children an opportunity to stay in the country that has become their home while their legal status is resolved."

This temporary shift helps alleviate some of the fear and uncertainty faced by widows or widowers who formed families, remained in the U.S., and created a new life but continue to be trapped by their uncertain future. While a hopeful first step, this latest action remains a limited solution that should be abandoned when Congress develops substantive and humane changes to the existing immigration system.

For now, this needed policy change portends a better tomorrow for those who have already lost too much in the process of making the U.S. their new home.

For more information visit: www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1244578412501.shtm

AFSC Supports Uniting American Families

2009-06-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

"No American should have to choose between country and loved ones," said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) at a hearing this week on the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). Senator Leahy introduced UAFA earlier this year, which would allow same-sex permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents. The bill would also penalize immigration fraud in connection with permanent partnerships.

Progress of Immigration Laws

The bill "would assist about 36,000 same-sex couples nationwide," according to the New York Times. Testimony by Christopher Nugent of the American Bar Association stated that as many as 19 other nations extend this right to bi-national, same-sex couples. Senator Leahy noted that government policy should encourage these relationships instead of trying to hold onto antiquated policy.

The majority of the Senators at the hearing, including Senators Leahy, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Arlen Specter (D-PA) spoke in favor of UAFA. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) opposed the bill, stating that allowing same-sex couples to have the same immigration legal rights as traditional man/woman couples creates a new definition of marriage.

AFSC Joins Other Voices in Support of UAFA

The American Friends Service Committee submitted hearing testimony to Congress in support of UAFA. "We add our voice with many others in support of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) which will improve current immigration policies that protect equally the basic human rights of every immigrant person and immigrant families," said AFSC. The bill is "a critical piece and compelling change to existing policy is the elimination of discrimination in immigration law against same-sex, permanent partners," AFSC stated.

As the debate on immigration policy unfolds, AFSC and its partners will work to ensure that legislative and policy actions are constructive, humane and respect the basic dignity of every person. Finally, supporting families so that they remain intact, decreasing a 5.8 million family immigration backlog and reducing the years of waiting can be the beginning of a process that repairs the gaps in the nation’s immigration system. UAFA is a pivotal step in this direction.

Two More Days to Call - Act Now

2009-05-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

HAITI ACTION ALERT - Humanity for Haiti

Only 2 more days to urge President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the U.S.

Call the White House Comment Line Today:
1-800-906-5989

If you haven’t done so already, please ACT NOW!

Please be patient and wait to speak to an operator. Call after 9:00 a.m. (EST) and as early as possible after that to ensure that you are able to speak directly to a White House operator.

Please share this alert with friends, colleagues and other groups that can join AFSC in this essential effort.

Our goal is 1000+ calls and we are now at 500 calls that have been answered by a White House operator.

Here’s why this is important and why your call is critical:

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is the most immediate form of humanitarian assistance the United States government can provide.

The U.S. government has granted TPS to nationals from other countries that face significant hardship and suffering. Storms and hurricanes in Haiti have left scores of people dead, an estimated one million families and children homeless, and destroyed local crops needed for food.

Presently 70% of the Haitian people are unemployed, while still others wait for relief and assistance. Deporting Haitians in the United States by not granting TPS aggravates the island's political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis.

Read More: NY Daily News Mentions AFSC's Call to Action

With deepest appreciation,

American Friends Service Committee and
Cosponsors: Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Haitian Women of Miami, Inc., Latin American and Caribbean Community Center.

Human Rights Activist Never Gave Up on Justice for Borderland Region

2009-05-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

“The Creator’s finger touched him, and he slept.”
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Roberto Martinez (72), a lifelong civil and human rights advocate and past director of AFSC’s San Diego-based, US-Mexico Border Program passed away this past Wednesday surrounded by his immediate family and friends. A fifth-generation Chicano, Roberto worked to end the blatant discrimination and racial intolerance he witnessed and that he also challenged. His grandfather was a farm worker who settled in Carlsbad, California in 1915 after leaving Texas.

He became an advocate for immigrant communities and dedicated his life to challenge law enforcement abuse, racial profiling and violations committed against border residents and communities. He also experienced harassment, was apprehended various times in the 50s, and was once scheduled to be deported until U.S. border officers realized that he had difficulties speaking Spanish.

From 1983 until 2001, when he retired, Roberto served as director of the US-Mexico Border Program. During his tenure he developed methods for documenting human rights violations and reached out to churches, local residents and community partners to challenge the abuses taking place along the border.

Roberto was creative in his use of the media to bring attention to increased anti-immigrant actions, vigilantism and shootings occurring at the border. He became part of groups that challenged Operation Gatekeeper, a federal program that tightened the rim of security in the border area but also led to more deaths as undocumented workers sought to seek other ways of crossing the border.

Active in highlighting the plight of border residents, he also sought opportunities to bring together communities throughout California, to mentor young people, and to engage them in human rights work. He found time to support or help start groups such as the Ecumenical Migrant Outreach Project, an effort founded after several Latino men were beaten by high school students in the North County’s Rancho Penasquitos community.

“Roberto was a model leader, who often risked his personal safety and never lost his sense of integrity and hope. He had a quiet dignity that belied his willingness to confront hatred and to challenge abuses that occurred in the border communities,” observed Christian Ramirez, AFSC’s national base building coordinator for Project Voice, AFSC's immigrant and refugee rights initiative.

An organizer and passionate thinker at heart, Roberto participated in countless national and international forums and panel presentations. He also appeared before the U.S. Congress and spoke on Border Patrol violence and the ongoing militarization of the region. His modesty, low-key but firm approach, and his humble spirit revealed his approach to conflict. Indeed, upon learning of his passing, a former adversary commented that, "Roberto was always a gentleman. He will be missed."

Never one to seek recognition for his work, his efforts however, were recognized by other institutions and he humbly accepted these awards on behalf of his community and his work partners. Among these awards were the International Human Rights Monitor by Human Rights Watch for his pioneering human rights border advocacy; the Ohtli Award presented by the Mexican government (this award is the highest honor granted to a non-Mexican national for their service to Mexicans abroad); and the Quetzalcoatl Award presented by the Mexican National Commission for Human Rights.

Before closing his eyes one final time Roberto requested that those attending his mass and service wear white (his favorite color), to remember immigrants who have died crossing the border, and the historic marches throughout the country urging justice for immigrants.

Roberto is survived by his wife (Yolanda), nine children, 23 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. To make a contribution or to send your sympathy wishes to the family please direct your correspondence to: Ms. Y. Martinez c/o AFSC - PO Box 126147, San Diego CA 92112.

For additional reading on Roberto Martinez visit:

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/05/20/news/sandiego/z6299709752ffe640882575bc0069db82.txt

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/21/1m21martinez234319-roberto-martinez/

Action on Haiti - Call-in Extended!

2009-05-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Grant Haitians Temporary Protected Status

A Month of Solidarity: Humanity for Haiti

CALL PERIOD EXTENDED!

Tuesday, May 5 — Friday, May 29, 2009

1-800-906-5989

Urge President Obama to grant TPS for Haitians

Your five minutes of solidarity with Haiti can make the difference! Please call President Obama and urge him to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians in the United States.

Given the devastating and overwhelming conditions in Haiti, TPS is the most immediate form of humanitarian assistance the United States government can provide. The U.S. government has granted TPS to nationals from other countries that face significant hardship and suffering.

Storms and hurricanes in Haiti have left scores of people dead, an estimated one million families and children homeless, and destroyed local crops needed for food. Presently 70% of the Haitian people are unemployed, while still others wait for relief and assistance. Deporting Haitians in the United States by not granting TPS aggravates the island's political, economic, social and
humanitarian crisis. Please call today!

Step 1: Call 1-800-906-5989 to connect to the White House Comment Line. (Call time: Monday — Friday 9 am to 5 pm ET)
Step 2: Speak to the operator and ask that your message be conveyed to the President. Urge President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status to our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Or take a few seconds to send an e-mail to the president.

Whether you e-mail or call, we urge you to personalize your message to President Obama.

Cosponsors: American Friends Service Committee, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Haitian Women of Miami. Inc (FANM), Latin American and Caribbean Community Center.

Hope, Food and Family

2009-05-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

“I don’t live in fear.

I live with hope that this country can show some humanity.

I want to pass on what I learned from my grandparents...
and that is to be grateful for what I have.”

“Robert”[1] is thirty years of age and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is originally from San Mateo Ozolco, a small village of roughly 3,000 people located in the southeastern state of Puebla, Mexico.

At one time the village numbered an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people. However, throughout the past decade, an estimated half of the population has left to neighboring cities or to the United States in search of jobs and to eke out a living. For example, years ago, Robert’s cousins and other male family members left the village in search of jobs. Women stay behind with their children, tending the land and cultivating what they can. There is a common sadness in the departure of loved ones from those they love. And there is a common sense of loss when children and spouses see family members depart to go elsewhere.

Robert is part of an indigenous community that has lived in the region for more than 500 years. Even today, community members speak Spanish and Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs). The land has been used to grow various crops such as corn, beans and various fruits. Robert started working at the age of seven, earning 50 pesos (5 cents) for a day of work in the cornfields.

Robert recounts the difficult decision to leave San Mateo Ozolco. First, he left to the neighboring city of Puebla and then traveled to Mexico City. In Mexico City he worked as a laborer in a fast-paced restaurant. For two weeks of employment he earned the equivalent of $60 USD (in Mexican pesos). He was disheartened by the experience, the pace of life and the marginalized way in which he, as an indigenous person was treated. After several weeks, he returned to San Mateo. By then, he had nearly run out of money, with barely $20 remaining from his two weeks of work.

While in San Mateo Ozolco he again made efforts to find full-time employment but was able only to find odd jobs here and there. After several months of little success, he decided to risk the treacherous journey to the United States. He did not see any other option, and did not want to leave his community, but Robert eventually crossed the southern border. He arrived in the United States in the summer of 1999 and made his way to Philadelphia, where several family members had found jobs.

Since then Robert has worked as a laborer at a local restaurant. He shares:

“It is difficult to live in a place that is not your home. I left without really wanting to leave and I left behind my family and my community. I knew there were going to be obstacles. For example, there is a daily effort to strip away a person’s spirit or to humiliate you because you may speak or look different.”

Just getting here was painful and difficult. Life here is full of so many unknowns. I work hard, I am a good human being and I hope that some change can take place. Everyday I long to return home but now I have some dreams I want to fulfill."

Robert works, has learned to speak English and is part of an Aztec dance troupe. Most week nights he can be found at a local community center, teaching Nahuatl to young children or involved in some activity.

1] Robert - pseudonym.

What YOU can do:

1. Read AFSC's report A New Path, which contains recommendations on humane immigration policy for the nation's future, go to http://www.afsc.org/.

2. Contact the White House and urge President Obama to support humane immigration policy that keep families together, protect all workers and ensure a fair, affordable and timely process for the status adjustment of undocumented immigrants.

White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111

White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Send President Obama a fax: 202-456-2461 urging his leadership on this critical issue.

Days of Solidarity: Humanity for Haiti

2009-05-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 5 – Tuesday, May 12, 2009
1-800-906-5989
Urge President Obama to grant TPS for Haitians

Your five minutes of solidarity with Haiti can make the difference! Please call President Obama and urge him to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians in the United States.

Given the devastating and overwhelming conditions in Haiti, TPS is the most immediate form of humanitarian assistance the United States government can provide. The U.S. government has granted TPS to nationals from other countries that face significant hardship and suffering.

Storms and hurricanes in Haiti have left scores of people dead, an estimated one million families and children homeless, and destroyed local crops needed for food. Presently 70% of the Haitian people are unemployed, while still others wait for relief and assistance.

Deporting Haitians in the United States by not granting TPS aggravates the island’s political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis. Please call today!

Step 1: Call 1-800-906-5989 to connect to the White House Comment Line. (Call time: Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm EST)

Step 2: Speak to the operator and ask that your message be conveyed to the President. Urge President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status to our Haitian brothers and sisters. For sample comments see below.

Sample Comments:

Hello. My name is ____________ and I am from (city and state).

I urge President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians in the United States.

I also urge the President to stop the deportation of Haitians. Deportations separate families and aggravate Haiti’s humanitarian crisis. It is time for the President to take action, and I look forward to his leadership. Thank you.

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
http://www.afsc.org/immigrantsrights

************************************************************************************

May Day: A Call for the Economic Rights of All Workers

2009-05-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker-based human rights organization joined with thousands of the nation’s workers, immigrant and refugee families in celebrations that started on May 1st. Additional activities were scheduled to take place during the coming week.

May Day, a day started by workers in the United States, which called for a shorter workday and the right to organize, has taken on greater meaning as the global economic crisis impacts workers in every country and across borders.

“Local communities are an essential part of the nation and the global economic engine. Workers are reeling from plant closures, layoffs and an uncertain future. All workers -- immigrant and non-immigrant --deserve a decent livable wage, health benefits and the ability to take care of their families. The precarious reality of immigrant families is that they are being torn apart, raids continue and the detention industrial complex has grown. Without inherent changes in current immigration policy, every worker will suffer,” commented Gabriel Camacho, AFSC staff in the Greater Boston area.

Families and community allies throughout the nation highlighted the need for humane immigration policy and the protection of worker rights. Immigrant and non-immigrant workers, faith-based organizations, community organizations and others held vigils, marches, rallies and meetings to call attention to a system that is out of synch with the country’s economic, demographic, social and political realities.

In Morristown (NJ), AFSC participated in a community hearing that focused on 287(g), an agreement that encourages collusion and cooperation between federal immigration agencies and the local police. Amy Gottlieb, director of AFSC's Newark-based immigrant rights program served on the panel and observed, "Actions such as 287(g) do nothing but increase fear and jeopardize the public safety of every community. We need to move toward sensible and humane immigration policy, not reactive and punitive measures."

Earlier this year the Service Committee released A New Path, a report with specific recommendations to President Obama and the 111th Congress. A copy of the report is available at http://www.afsc.org/

May Day 2009
AFSC supported or co-sponsored the following events:

NATION’S CAPITOL - WASHINGTON, DC: “March for Justice: Keep Families Together”
Friday, May 1 at 3:00pm – March to the White House - For information contact http://www.ncicmetro.org/

ARIZONA, TUCSON: March for Immigrant and Worker Rights
Friday, May 1st March and Rally at Southgate Shopping Center, march to Armory Park
For more information: http://www.tucsonmay1st.org/

CALIFORNIA, San Diego: “Workers Rights are Human Rights”
Friday, May 1st – March and rally organized by the May 1st Coalition, supported by AFSC

CALIFORNIA, Oakland: “Stop the Raids and Deportations”
Friday, May 1st – rally and march to City Hall

CONNETICUT, New Haven - “Workers of the World Unite”
Friday, May 1st - Gathering followed by evening march for immigrant rights (AFSC co-sponsor). For information contact: gcamacho@afsc.org

COLORADO, Greeley - “Reconstructing our Communities Unity March”
Saturday, May 2nd - Organized by Al Frente de la Lucha, endorsed by AFSC
For more information contact: alfrentedelucha@gmail.com

FLORIDA, Miami – “End the Raids and Deportations”
Friday, May 1st – Solidarity March and Rally
For more information: http://www.blogger.com/www.floridaimmigrant.org

MASSACHUSETTS, Boston - Respect the Dignity of Immigrant Workers!
Community march and rally organized by the “Chelsea Coalition” of East Boston, Chelsea and Everett, co-sponsored by AFSC - For information call Chelsea Collaborative at (617) 889-6080

NEW JERSEY, Morristown – “A Community Conversation the 287(g)
Saturday, May 2nd – Sponsored by Wind of the Spirit and cosponsored by AFSC Newark Immigrant Rights Program

OREGON, Portland - “March for Immigrant and Workers’ Rights”
Friday, May 1st – Community celebration, rally and march
For more information: http://www.maydayoutreach@gmail.com/

RHODE ISLAND, Providence - May Day Rally
Friday, May 1 – Community Presence and Gathering at ICE Headquarters
Contact Person: myager@afsc.org

TEXAS, Austin: - “March for Just and Humane Immigration Policy”
Friday, May 1st – Rally at Texas Capitol
Sponsors: Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition, American Friends Service Committee, NICA, Grassroots Leadership and others - For further information contact: caroline@austinirc.org

Black Immigration Network Lifts Voice for Human Rights

2009-04-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

"Our refugee brothers and sisters are experiencing the same fear and harassment from law enforcement that we live with each day in the black community. The black community, immigrant and non-immigrant are beginning to act together...with an eye on migration policy that lifts up both the nation and the black community.”
Rev. Cheryl Green, African Methodist Episcopalian (AME) Church

A recent gathering reiterated the broad concern and commitment to human rights for immigrant and refugees in the United States. The historic meeting was attended by more than 50 representatives and advocates from the nation’s African-American communities, people of African descent who live in the United States, and allies from other communities of color, immigrant and refugees, and U.S. born Latinos and Arab-Americans.

The gathering concluded with the formation of the Black Immigration Network (BIN) and a celebratory group closing exercise from Kenya.

Organizations serving as primary conveners included the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI); Which Way Forward: African-Americans, Immigration and Race; and, the American Friends Service Committee’s Third World Coalition and Project Voice. “This was an important step toward a united dialogue. The issues of economic justice, human rights, and worker rights are concerns that stretch across every community. AFSC is ready to support this critical exchange of ideas and just solutions,” observed Esther Nieves, director of AFSC’s Project Voice initiative and an invited gathering participant.

BIN’s national agenda focuses on racial equity issues and immigration policy concerns that impact African Americans and immigrants of African descent. In the coming weeks, BIN will endeavor to met with policy leaders, bring attention to the urgent need for Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Haitian, Liberian, Somali and Sudanese communities, and engage in efforts that bridge worker justice issues and future immigration policy.

For more information visit:

American Friends Service Commitee: http://www.afsc.org/
Black Alliance for Just Immigration: http://www.blackalliance.org/main/
Which Way Forward: Africans, Immigration and Race: http://www/newcomm.org/whichwayforward

We Are Families

2009-04-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

"I need to find a job, but who will take care of our daughter?

I don't want her to grow up without her father.

Who can I call?"

AFSC's national immigrant and refugee rights network has responded to the widespread sense of increased fear and tension brought about by raids, detentions and deportations. From the east coast to the west coast, multi-status immigrant families face daily tasks that were once simple and daily rituals. Now, however, life has become a daily obstacle course. A recent call to AFSC's Philadelphia office is a case in point.

The first call was a voice mail message in which the caller sought assistance with an immigration matter. Hours before, her husband had telephoned from Florence, Arizona. He had been detained by Immigration Control and Enforcement and was now in a jail cell, waiting to appear before an immigration judge. AFSC staff returned her call and held a lengthy conversation with the caller.

The caller expressed concern for her husband's health. "He has high blood pressure and I'm worried that he doesn't have his medicine. I live in Utah and we have a four month old daughter. What am I going to do?" As a legal permanent resident of the United States, she had filed for citizenship and was waiting to be called for an interview. "I need to find a job but who will take care of our daughter? I don't want her to grow up without her father. Please, who can I call?" she cried. AFSC staff gathered information from the caller and proceeded to contact the Florence detention center.

Over the past year AFSC has experienced a steady increase in telephone calls and walk-ins from community members for information, resources, legal referral or assistance. AFSC has provided trainings on basic rights, worked with community delegations to visit legislators, and urged for ICE to show restraint and case-by-case humanitarian discretion. Additional partnerships have been forged with non-immigrant allies, and faith-based organizations while jointly held public actions urge for an end to raids, detentions and the persecution of undocumented immigrants.

There are approximately 12 million undocumented people residing in the United States. Of that number, eight to ten million are workers laboring in a variety of industries and services vital to the U.S. economy and to the survival of families both in the United States and in their countries of origin. AFSC's report on humane immigration policy calls on President Obama and members of the 111th Congress to develop a clear path to permanent residence and constructive rather than punitive policy solutions.

To join AFSC in its effort for fair and humane immigration policy, or to read specific recommendations visit http://www.afsc.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/id/76697.

Immigration System Overdue for Overhaul

2009-04-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

Recent news coverage and public comments indicate that the Obama Administration is ready to jumpstart the immigration policy discourse. AFSC supports a bipartisan solution to an outdated immigration system that is unfair and long overdue for an overhaul. This newest of efforts is a critical step that needs to be grounded in the facts and not in misguided policies, fears or scapegoating.

Undocumented immigrants and multi-status families* have been forced to live a marginal existence. Many families have been torn apart, while an estimated 5,000 persons have perished in an increasingly militarized southern border.

Our nation would do better if we removed the vulnerable status of undocumented immigrants, which would raise wages and labor standards for everybody.

In the meantime, as many wait for new immigration policies that resolve their tenuous existence and immigration status, far-reaching contributions continue to be made to the nation. For example, in 2005, immigrant households and businesses paid approximately $300 billion in federal, state and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay nearly $1.5 billion into Medicare and $7 billion into the Social Security system every year, yet are ineligible for public benefits.

Economic vibrancy is only one way that immigrant and undocumented households contribute to the nation. Participation in school activities, in neighborhood watch clubs, involvement in civic and community-building efforts, and the arts and cultural enrichment are some examples of these rich contributions.

Humane and sensible immigration policy should be the focus of the Obama administration and the nation's legislative leaders.

The President can begin this effort by promoting policies that unite families, ensure the labor rights of every worker, and brings the current immigration structure in line with global political, demographic and social realities.

To learn more on how you can support humane immigration policy, visit http://www.afsc.org/newpath.
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*Multi-status families Include those in which one member might be a United States permanent resident or United States citizen, a child(ren) born in the United States and a parent or sibling who is an undocumented immigrant.

Vigil to Support Immigrants' Right to Travel

2009-04-09T13:33:00.001-07:00

Immigrant rights groups recognize that arrests and detentions of immigrants resulting from Amtrak and Greyhound’s cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security leads to devastation of families and communities.

April 9, 2009 – Immigrant rights groups will lead a Good Friday vigil at Newark’s Pennsylvania Station to raise awareness of the impact of immigration raids on Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses. They will call upon the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the raids.

Immigration raids are conducted on Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses within 100 miles of the U.S. border. People traveling through upstate New York to visit family or friends have been taken off of public transportation, arrested, and detained at county jails far from their loved ones or any access to attorneys.

Amtrak and Greyhound have failed to inform passengers that if they do not carry immigration documents they run the risk of arrest and detention, while DHS uses racial profiling to target immigrants. These arrests have led to separation and hardship for the family members and communities of the individuals arrested and have frightened other passengers on the trains and buses who witness the arrests.

This event, organized by The Interfaith Coalition for the Rights of Immigration Detainees and their Families, will include participation from sponsoring organizations including the American Friends Service Committee Immigrant Rights Program and concerned citizens. The program will include interfaith prayers, testimonies of affected individuals and comments from lawyers of the American Civil Liberty Union of New Jersey and American Friends Service Committee.

Vigil to Support Immigrants’ Right to Travel
Good Friday, April 10th 2009, 1pm to 3pm
Newark Penn Station, NJ
[Corner of Raymond Plaza West & Market Street]
Contact: Amy Gottlieb, Director, Immigrant Rights Program, AGottlieb@afsc.org, 973 - 854-0260

Film Festival to Feature Efforts to Help Immigrant Families

2009-04-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Washington DC International Film Festival will feature a screening of "The Least of These," a documentary featuring the Women's Refugee Commission's efforts to improve and eliminate the detention of immigrant parents and their children.

Date & Time: April 20, 2009, 6:30 pm
Location: Landmark’s E St. Cinema 555 11th st NW, DC
For ticket information click here.

The Directors of the film and Michelle Brané, Director of the Women’s Refugee Commission Detention and Asylum Program will be available after the film for a brief Q & A. By telling the poignant and powerful stories of detained families and their American advocates, the film draws attention to family detention one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. immigration policy.

Victory!

2009-04-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Asylum granted in three cases

It took years – literally.

But on Monday, March 30, AFSC’s Newark, New Jersey, office received good news: several of the program’s immigrant clients received asylum.

A man from Guinea had been waiting since 2005. For a Guatemalan woman and her daughter, the decision took two years. In addition, just a few days earlier pro bono attorneys from Schulte Roth and Zabel, working with AFSC, won asylum for a Tibetan man detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center. The attorneys are now helping the man petition for his wife and children.

“Of course,” said Elissa Steiglich, “these wins are in addition to the daily victories that we often fail to recognize – the dozen plus new residents ushered in last month, the unemployed Cubans who now have the work permit to give them a hope of a job, the kids who have an advocate at their side, and the dozens of clients calmed by Myrna’s smile and good will.”

Steglich is managing attorney for the New York metropolitan region’s Immigrants’ Rights program.

What You Can Do: Economic Crisis

2009-04-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your calls to the Senate to help pass President Obama’s budget!

AFSC activists made hundreds of calls, contributing to the effort to successfully pass a Senate budget resolution that invests in human needs.

This is a strong and fair budget that funds human needs programs that have long been starved for cash, but are needed now more than ever. It will:

Create jobs,
Fight poverty,
Create a path towards universal health care, and
Invest in priorities like education and low-income housing.

AFSC and hundreds of other organizations in the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now called on Congress to pass President Obama’s budget outline for the coming fiscal year. This is the first step in a process to begin using our tax dollars, to reinvest our nation’s resources in health, education, housing and other programs that lift up the common good. Under President Bush, federal funding for dozens of vital programs that benefit children, youth, elders, and our communities were severely cut.

Now, in a time of global economic crisis, our nation must ensure that people are able to meet their basic needs and move forward. President Obama’s budget increases funding for vital U.S. social programs, foreign aid, and diplomacy. While we are disappointed that the budget does not cut military spending, AFSC will work to build on the President’s priorities as outlined in this budget, and to seek ways to decrease military spending.

What’s next:
The House and Senate each passed their own budget resolutions. In a couple of weeks, they will meet in a conference to work out the differences. Then, in mid-April, they’ll vote once again on a final budget resolution.

Watch the AFSC Economic Justice page for more details!

A Story of Family Unity

2009-03-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

From: http://itsourcommunity.blogspot.com/
by Alexandra W. Douglas, Friends Committee on National Legislation

Fighting for Family Unity: An Immigration Story from Denver

This story was shared with me by a Friend from Mountainview Friends Meeting in Colorado. The story told below is a moving individual account of a situation in which thousands of families in the United States find themselves.

The Friend has consented to the story being posted on the blog, but all names have been changed to protect their identity.

**********

Guillermo Rodriguez is my daughter’s husband and father of my grandson. We discovered that he is ineligible to receive a visa under the current Immigration and Nationality Act. He was told that since he had unlawfully crossed the border more than once that he would have to wait 10 years outside the before applying for a waiver. The waiver is needed because he was unlawfully present in the United States. After 10 years, the Attorney General has the discretion to grant a waiver if Guillermo's spouse or son can show extreme hardship. If he had unlawfully crossed the border only once, he could have received a waiver.

Guillermo first entered the United States from Mexico in 1995, when he was 18 years old, to work in Oregon agriculture. Since he missed his parents and little brother, he went home for Christmas in 1997. He was intercepted at the border upon his return in 1998 and voluntarily departed. He then reentered and returned to work in Oregon. Shortly after coming to the Denver area in 1999, he met my daughter Elizabeth at work. They married and had a son. They applied for a change in status for Guillermo shortly after getting married. He was hoping to receive a visa, green card and social security number to better provide for his American family.

Guillermo and I traveled to Mexico to receive his visa at the American Consulate. We thought he would have to be gone 30 or 40 days in order to receive a visa. But we were shocked to learn that under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996,* Guillermo is now classified inadmissible along with Nazi war criminals, terrorist and those who have committed serious criminal offenses such as murder, drug smuggling and child abduction. For going home for Christmas and returning to his job of helping to provide food for the American table, our family must now be torn apart. He is permanently barred from the United States, unless after 10 years someone is very sick or dying. Then maybe a waiver would be granted.

Many US lawmakers talk about family values, but do not apply these values to our real world. Guillermo is a devoted and loving father. The family is inseparable. Guillermo is devoted to his Mexican family of origin and his American family. He was looking forward to taking his family to his parents’ home for Christmas and legally returning to the United States. As the grandfather to Guillermo’s son, I am heartbroken. My daughter and grandson have to move to Mexico in order to preserve family unity. I was so looking forward to being with my grandson as he was growing up. My other daughter, Rebecca, was hoping that her baby son would have a cousin and good friend. Both sets of great-grandparents are having a hard time coping with this. We are all suffering the pain of separation caused by this Draconian law.

Everyone that hears this story cannot believe that such an anti-family law could be written in this country. This is cruel and unusual punishment not open to court review. The punishment is not for Guillermo alone. This punishment is for the whole family.

An American Consulate Officer told me that there are thousands of families in this situation. Please repeal Section 212 (a) (6) and related sections from the list of inadmissible aliens ineligible to receive visas. These sections refer to illegal entrants and immigration violators. Should they not receive visas if they otherwise meet all of the other qualifications for a visa? Unlawfully crossing the border more than once is just not in the same category as terrorism and serious criminal activity. Guillermo never misrepresented his status to an US official and admitted to his history. The law was made harsher in 1996. Elizabeth and Guillermo are young and knew nothing of this law change.

Please also allow applicants, who were previously found ineligible to receive a visa under these sections, the right to have their previous application for change in status reinstated with the American Consul with whom the application was filled. This repeal must have retroactive effect to help families caught in this unjust law.

**********

*References

Section 212(a)(9)(B)(II) of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that immigrants who have crossed the border undocumented only one time and have stayed for more than a year are subject to a 10 year bar of reentry from the date of the immigrant's removal from the United States. After 10 years, an immigrant under this section is eligible to apply for a visa as the spouse, son or daughter or child of a US citizen or Legal Permanent Resident.

Whereas, Section 212 (a)(9)(C)(I) states that immigrants who cross the border undocumented more than one time and have been present in the United States for an aggregate period of one year or more are barred from reentry for a period of ten years. After 10 years the immigrant may appeal to the Attorney General to issue a waiver of ineligibility IF the immigrant can prove that their citizen or permanent resident spouse or child is suffering from extreme hardship.

Immigration: It's Our Community Blog

2009-03-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

This year AFSC's partner, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) launched Immigration: It’s our Community, a project to help shape and develop an equitable and just conversation on immigration.

Check out the latest post here.

For more information about It's Our Community click here.

The Least of These

2009-03-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

"The Least of These, which premieres at the South by Southwest Film Festival this month, explores one of the most controversial aspects of American immigration policy: family detention.

As part of the Bush administration policy to end what they termed the "catch and release" of undocumented immigrants, the U.S. government opened the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in May 2006 as a prototype family detention facility. The facility is a former medium-security prison in central Texas operated by CCA, the largest private prison operator in the country.

The facility houses immigrant children and their parents from all over the world who are awaiting asylum hearings or deportation proceedings. The facility was initially activated with little media attention or public knowledge...

The film leads viewers to consider how core American rights and values - due process, presumption of innocence, upholding the family structure as the basic unit of civil society, and America as a refuge of last resort - should apply to immigrants, particularly children. Written by Marcy Garriott." (The Least of These).

Watch the trailer: http://theleastofthese-film.com/

To take action visit: http://tdonhutto.blogspot.com/

Time to End Miscarriage of Justice

2009-03-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Yet another public humiliation of individuals detained in Maricopa County's prison has provoked community members and various organizations to urge for an investigation of the actions taken by County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In a February 4th display of media marketing and self-promotion, Arpaio had chained immigrant detainees march through the streets of Phoenix, Arizona to a prison tent.

AFSC’s Tucson-based program has written a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. expressing concern for the rights of all detainees and urging the Attorney General to conduct an investigation in this egregious travesty of justice. The letter in part reads:

We are writing to you today regarding our long-standing concerns about the conduct of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Across the nation, people have been shocked by his latest publicity stunt: a forced march of detained immigrants through the streets of Phoenix. This action has very rightly sparked an outcry among immigrant and civil rights advocates.

Behind the headlines, there is a long and disturbing history of well-documented incidents of prisoner abuse in Maricopa County Jails. These issues first came to light in 1995 with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into reports of abuse in the jails. The allegations included:

· Physical abuse of inmates by staff
· Staff and administrative failure to address allegations of physical abuse
· Failure to discipline staff found to have abused detainees and inmates
· False reporting regarding use of force and allegations of abuse
· Denial of access to counsel
· Inadequate medical care

A year later, the Sheriff’s office was rocked by reports of a horrific death in the Madison Street Jail. Scott Norberg died of positional asphyxia after being strapped in a restraint chair by five officers with a towel over his face. Authorities initially denied but later acknowledged that the officers used taser guns, which carry 50,000 volts of electricity, on Norberg repeatedly during the incident... Arizona Daily Star reported that the medical examiner found twenty-one marks from the taser on Norberg’s body.

In 1997, the Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded its two-year investigation...[I]t concluded that unconstitutional conditions existed in the jails... DOJ’s findings were reported in a strongly worded sixteen-page letter...which recounted a litany of disturbing findings of abuse and neglect. The letter reported that “jail inmates are subject to use of excessive force and use of excessive and improper mechanical restraints by jail employees and Defendants fail to protect jail inmates from such actions...

Assistant Attorney General Patrick Deval found that jail staff was applying force without justification, including “use of a stun gun simply to see its effect.” Deval reported...that it was particularly shocking to find that some staff continued to use force against prisoners who were completely immobilized in restraints...conduct included “use of a stun gun on a prisoner’s testicles while in a restraint chair."

Unfortunately, these interventions did not eliminate the incidents of abuse and neglect in the jails. In 2001, another man, Charles Agster, was killed in the Madison Street Jail’s restraint chair. He was developmentally disabled and was high on methamphetamine at the time. During the struggle to secure him in the chair, a group of guards put a hood over his head and forced his body forward while his arms were handcuffed behind his back. At this point, he stopped breathing...

In August of 2006, after the department paid $17.25 million in response to two lawsuits filed by the families of prisoners who had died in the chair, MCSO announced it would discontinue using the device. It has been replaced with a “safe bed” to which inmates can be restrained while lying flat...

This conduct undermines public safety rather than preserving it. We...call for an immediate...investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Such an intervention is long overdue.

JOIN AFSC'S CALL FOR JUSTICE:

ACT NOW – GET INVOLVED! Join efforts that support due process and put an end to racial profiling; contact AFSC’s Tucson office at 520-623-9141 or cissacs@afsc.org

CALL, E-MAIL OR WRITE - U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and urge him to investigate the actions taken by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and to act swiftly to ensure that the civil liberties and human rights of all detainees are duly protected.

Call: 202-353-1555 or E-mail: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.

OR write a letter:
Eric H. Holder, Jr.,
U.S. Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Families Bring Stories of Detention and Deportation to Congress

2009-02-27T11:28:00.001-08:00

Immigrant Rights Groups and Families Advocate for Child Citizen Protection Act

On Tuesday, March 3, 2009, over 40 family members directly affected by immigration detention and deportation and a coalition of immigrant rights organizations from New York and New Jersey will convene in Washington D.C. to press Congress for passage of the Child Citizen Protection Act (CCPA).

The bill, reintroduced in 2009 by Congressman Jose E. Serrano (D-NY), would immigration judges’ discretion to consider the best interest of a U.S. citizen child before deciding whether to deport his or her parent.

"If the Child Citizen Protection Act becomes a law, my children who are citizens of this country will not grow up without a mother, drop out of school or be forced to go to a country that they hardly know," said Pauline N., one of the delegation members from New Jersey.

The families and organizations including the American Friends Service Committee, Families for Freedom, and the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, will meet with Congressional offices such as Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to tell their stories of family separation and hardship to lawmakers,

"Given the drastic shift in immigration law in 1996, there has been an unprecedented expansion of the grounds for deportation leading to an exponential increase in the number of cases where individuals are not eligible for any viable form of relief from deportation. The CCPA would ensure family unity and the right of a child to be with his or her parents," said Betsy DeWitt of Families for Freedom.

Homies Unidos, a California-based group, will bring affected community members to visit their members of Congress locally in solidarity with groups traveling to Washington DC.

Press Contacts:

Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights: Sandy Plácido (NY & DC), 347-601-0089
AFSC Newark: Chia-Chia Wang (NJ & DC)), 646-509-3860
Homies Unidos: Luis Guzman (CA), 323-273-5564

Act now Bellingham raid raises immigration stakes

2009-02-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Workers arrested. Led away in handcuffs.

It's time for a humane immigration policy!

On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided a factory in Bellingham, Washington. ICE agents arrived in force, surrounded the company's perimeter, and led immigrants away in handcuffs. At least 28 workers were arrested. Many were skilled employees who will be difficult to replace.

Is this the United States we want?

We believe

These raids create undue trauma and damage our country's human rights record
The existing immigration system is unworkable and out of date
The administration's primary policy goal should be to fix the nation's broken immigration system, not continue of federal immigration raids.

Call the White House today at (202) 456-1414 and leave a message for President Obama, or send him an e-mail.

Ask him to

Support Secretary Napolitano's call for oversight of the Bellingham raid
Urge the Administration to stop the raids and pass humane immigration policy with Congress

No one in the United States should have to live in fear.

Call or e-mail the president today. Urge him to work with Congress toward a policy that treats every one with the respect they deserve.

Peace,
Esther Nieves,
Project Voice director,
American Friends Service Committee

Federal Program Erodes Community Trust, Report Finds

2009-02-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

A federal program which allows local law enforcement to identify and deport undocumented immigrants has "created a climate of racial profiling" in communities across North Carolina, according to a recent report by the University of North Carolina (UNC) Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic and the ACLU in North Carolina Legal Foundation (News Observer).

"We found serious erosion of community trust, as well as legal concerns," said Professor Deborah Weissman of UNC law school.

AFSC’s North Carolina office is supporting the creation of Immigrant Solidarity Committees in three cities across the state and 287(g) has emerged as one of the key concerns of both immigrants and non-immigrant allies involved in the committees.

"Our office gets regular phone calls from individuals whose family members have been detained for minor offenses like broken taillights. 287(g) was sold as a program to get violent offenders off the streets, but instead we see families ripped apart for traffic violations. This report will hopefully help bring to the public’s attention the grave moral and legal problems within 287(g)," said Lori Fernald Khamala of AFSC’s Project Voice program in Greensboro, NC.

The reports and executive summary can be found at:

To learn more about AFSC’s work in North Carolina visit http://www.afsc.org/greensboro/.

AFSC hails economic recovery plan

2009-02-17T07:11:00.001-08:00

The American Friends Service Committee applauds the passage by Congress of President Obama's economic recovery package and celebrates this collaborative achievement for the common good. We are deeply appreciative of the tens of thousands of people who made their voices heard in this process.

As an organization that works in communities across the United States and the world, we are keenly aware of the millions of people struggling, even before this recession, with job loss, housing and food insecurity, and lack of access to affordable health care. This legislation is an important first step in addressing the needs of those in our nation who feel this economic crisis most.

We welcome the spirit and substance of this recovery plan and President Obama's leadership in bringing it forward. We urge Congress and the Administration to take further steps to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and introduce reforms the put dignity and justice at the heart of the global economy.

Learn more

VICTORY: Stimulus deal strengthens safety net and drops E-Verify and nuclear weapons funding!

2009-02-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

Call your senators and representative today!

Congress and the White House have reached an agreement on a $789 billion stimulus package, clearing the way for final votes in both chambers by this weekend and President Obama’s signature by Monday.

Thank you! Your calls made a difference! An outpouring of grassroots calls helped create a package AFSC supports.

The bill INCREASES:

· Aid to states to help them continue to fund vital services.

· Federal funding for food and unemployment benefits.

· Funds for affordable housing and emergency shelter.

The bill DROPS:

· Anti-worker E-Verify program for entities receiving recovery funds.

· $1 billion funding for nuclear weapons-related activities.

Let’s ensure the recovery package is quickly passed!

Call your U.S. senators and representative toll-free* today at 1-800-473-6711.

Thank them if they supported the economic recovery package and urge them to vote “yes” on its final passage.

Click here to find your senators and representative and their direct phone number if the toll-free line is busy. Thank you if you called before. Please call again now to see this through to final passage.

Click here for a summary of what’s in the recovery bill and other resources on the crisis.

*This toll-free number is provided by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization which works for social and economic justice and peace (http://www.afsc.org/). AFSC welcomes groups to use the number in support of non-partisan work and without linking it to a website that solicits donations or actions, which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.

AFSC Calls for New Immigration Policy

2009-02-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) issued A New Path: Toward Humane Immigration Policy, a report outlining recommendations for a new approach toward immigration in the U.S. The report also includes personal testimonies from immigrant communities. Policy recommendations are presented in the areas of:

Civil and human rights of undocumented workers and immigrant families
Economic policies and trade agreements
Labor and employment rights
Border communities and their quality of life
Family reunification, permanent residency and refugee protection
Access to public services and basic human resources

The report highlights the need to protect the rights for all workers, in the U.S. and worldwide. In producing this report, AFSC continues its work to put immigrant voices front and center in a debate often dominated by stereotypes.

The report will be submitted to the Obama administration, members of Congress, local and state officials and AFSC community partners. AFSC calls on national and state leaders to strongly consider these policy recommendations during the next round of dialogue on immigration policy and laws.

To read the entire document visit www.afsc.org/newpath.

Report Details Troubling Impact of Arizona Employer Sanctions Law

2009-02-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

The real impact of the “Legal Arizona Workers Act” stretches beyond attempts to curtail the employment of undocumented immigrant workers and has hurt the state’s social, cultural and economic viability. Entire families have left the state, children have not returned to their classrooms, and workers have reported labor abuses, threats and harassment.

A report by AFSC's Tucson-based program, Sanctioning Arizona: The Hidden Impacts of Arizona’s Employer Sanctions Law, relies on a grassroots community survey of almost 400 immigrant workers to shed light on the multiple, layered negative impacts of the law. Key findings reveal how the quality of life of families (including US-born children) has been disrupted with the enactment of the legislation:

There is substantial and widespread confusion about the specific provisions in the law, leaving workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. 46% of respondents were unclear as to whether current employees are subject to verification using the E-Verify federal database. This makes it very easy for employers to misuse the program.

Employers have misapplied the law, both intentionally and unintentionally. Almost 30% of respondents were asked by their current employer to provide documents, in some cases before the law even went into effect.

Nearly 20% (1 in 5 workers) of respondents were asked to provide documents by prospective employers, before they were hired.

The law, or fear of it, has had a harmful impact on the quality of life of immigrant workers, families and the community at large. Almost 40% of respondents report that they do not go out as much, due to fear of being stopped and questioned by local police, border patrol agents or Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers.

The law has had a disastrous impact on children: Almost 10% of respondents reported that they are caring for someone else’s children due to the parents leaving the state, being detained, or deported. 16% say they have taken their child(ren) out of school.

The report asserts that confusion on the part of employers is leading to a variety of abuses that are not allowed under either the new law or existing labor law. Moreover, the new law is being applied incorrectly, either because employers attempted to enforce it before it was officially law, or are applying it retroactively to workers who already work for the company.

In addition, US-born and naturalized immigrants are being laid off. Even more disturbing are reports that a few unscrupulous employers are using the law as an excuse to cheat workers out of wages they rightly earned, knowing that they do not dare complain.

AFSC’s report calls for an immediate suspension of the law, so that the abuses detailed in the report can be more fully investigated. According to Caroline Issacs, director of the Tucson program, “We are confident that our findings and conclusions can be substantiated and call for a permanent repeal of this law. Our interviews with immigrant families and workers show that the law is poorly understood, has led to labor and workplace abuses that have been ignored or gone unnoticed. This is not in the best interest of our state, and not in the interest of any worker. We urge our state lawmakers to correct this situation.”

To read the report visit www.afsc.org/tucson or contact AFSC at 520-623-9141.

The Wisdom of an Inclusive Economic Stimulus Plan

2009-02-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

The Senate's recent green light on a sweeping economic recovery package is far-reaching action that responds to the urgent and bleak reality of workers, small and large businesses. From brick-and-mortar projects to jobs, to increased human services, government support will try to temper domestic economic worries and help states and workers facing tough economic situations.

However, Senator Grassley (R-IA) has proposed an amendment that expands the E-verify program and targets undocumented workers for increased hardship. E-verify, a national employment verification system has been found consistently to contain inaccurate information and gross inefficiencies.

The proposed Grassley Amendment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) will condition the receiving of funds and benefits upon the use of the e-verify system. The broadness of that amendment could require faith organizations, social service agencies, municipalities and states, health centers, large businesses and small companies to use the e-verify system. This measure would require all entities receiving recovery funds to enroll in the flawed E-Verify program for all new hires, currently meant to be voluntary. Congressional hearings and independent researchers have identified many flaws with E-Verify.

AFSC opposes any effort to hinge our nation’s economic recovery on mandatory implementation of a system proved to contain inaccuracies and cause workplace discrimination. That contradicts the legislation’s purpose and sends the wrong message at a time when Congress should focus on measures to protect all workers.

Call your U.S. Senator at 1-800-473-6711 and tell them:

To vote for the economic recovery bill and to oppose efforts to include a flawed anti-immigrant measure called "E-Verify."
De-link national immigration policy from the proposed economic recovery plan. This is a historic opportunity for the new administration and Congressional leaders to work in a bipartisan and united manner and pass an economic stimulus package that helps struggling workers, their families and businesses.
Urge your Senator to support a process that addresses future immigration policy in a transparent and bipartisan rather than hinging the nation’s economic stimulus recovery on immigration enforcement

*This toll-free number is provided by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization which works for social and economic justice and peace . AFSC welcomes groups to use the number in support of non-partisan work and without linking it to a website that solicits donations or actions, which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.

Your Voice Counts for Kids: Support SCHIP Now!

2009-01-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

Call your Congressional leaders now: Dial 1-202-225-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative and Senators' offices. Urge them to take action in support of the State's Children's Health Insurance Program Act (SCHIP): no exclusions

Background

- Children could be the beneficiaries of one of the first 2009 legislative actions in Congress. Since 1997 Congressional bipartisan cooperation and leadership has been critical for over 7 million uninsured children who have benefited from the passage of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program Act (SCHIP). The new action stands to benefit an additional 4 million children.

- SCHIP has been a successful federal-state program that offers health insurance to children whose parents’ income may exclude them from Medicaid but not enough to have health coverage. Poor and working class families have benefited from SCHIP. A positive and new provision to the Act is the availability of critically needed dental and mental health services.

- One provision that has not changed is the exclusion of “legal” immigrant children and pregnant women. Under the current SCHIP law, they must wait five years before they become eligible for federally funded Medicaid and SCHIP. This action continues to be a roadblock that undermines the possibility of vulnerable immigrant children and pregnant women from participation in the program.

- Several senators continue to support this position while a growing number of senators have called for the removal of the waiting period; this would occur with the inclusion of the Legal Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) to the bill. The House has already passed SCHIP. Now their Senate colleagues must take action and support SCHIP’s reauthorization through 2013.

Your Voice Counts for Every Child: Please contact your Senator to urge support for the State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program and to include the Legal Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act. Let’s not allow children to be part of partisan policies.

Dreaming the Beloved Community

2009-01-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

"... Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered outsider anywhere within its bounds."

Rev. Dr. M.L. King, Jr.

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" - 4/16/63

January has been a memorable month of celebration. From the nation's seat of power to small towns, the life, work and struggle of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been honored with numerous activities of remembrance. His message of justice and equality has taken on renewed meaning as the country is witness to the inauguration of President Barack H. Obama, and his administration's message of hope and change.

The American Friends Service Committee's work in partnership with leaders of the civil rights movement included actions in support of voting rights, desegregation and nonviolence education and training. While incarcerated for a nonviolent demonstration against segregation Dr. King wrote a letter in response to the criticism of some religious leaders. The "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," was his spiritual reflection on the nation’s freedoms and principles, and the clarity he felt about the actions taken to support Birmingham's schoolchildren and their families.

Central to this message was a deeply held belief that everyone must be treated with dignity and embraced as an equal member of society. His Beloved Community was one of inclusion, equality and justice. This vision and dream of the future acknowledged the totality and the “solidarity of the human family.’

It is difficult to predict what Dr. King might say or write in 2009.

Surely his prophetic voice would speak to the global and national conditions we face. His remarks would call for an end to war, an economic bailout for the poor, working families, the unemployed, those without health coverage, and a compassionate solution to the plight of undocumented immigrant workers. Nearly fifty years later, his words still beckon our nation to realize a common unity that stretches beyond imposed or fictional barriers: "..injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Our nation now enters a period of new leadership and hopeful policy shifts. This is an extraordinary opportunity for national and local leaders to affirm Dr. King’s message of hope and promise. This driving spirit undergirds AFSC’s national human rights network as it works for humane immigration policy and the equal treatment of all.

When historians revisit this period they will declare that the Beloved Community of the 21st century emerged from Dr. King's groundwork and the nobility of his message. Moreover, they will acknowledge that children, teen-agers and young adults formed this community's cornerstone. Having rejected injustice and exclusion, they will embue the future with their spirit of dignity, honor and justice.

To request a copy of Dr. King’s letter visit http://www.afsc.org/

The Driving Solution

2009-01-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

The Garden State may lead the way. That is, New Jersey might consider a pragmatic solution to the issue of undocumented persons taking to the state's roads and highways.

Opinion on the issue has ebbed and flowed not just in New Jersey but in other states as well. Some have suggested that undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to drive. Others believe that mixing the issue of public safety with a person's immigration status in the U.S. is poor public policy and ignores the daily reality of the undocumented population. What is certain is that undocumented immigrants are like everyone else. They use their cars to drive to work, to go to church, to shop for food, to run daily errands, to get to family activities.

Amy Gottlieb, program director of AFSC's Newark-based Immigrant Rights Program and Deborah Jacobs, executive director of New Jersey's American Civil Liberties Union recently shared their opinion on this issue in New Jersey's The Record newspaper. To read their comments visit http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/37321119.

Agricultural Workers Face January (In) Justice

2009-01-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

In less than two weeks the White House will have new residents, and Congressional hallways will buzz with increased action. Public hearings will be held, appointments will be made and it is likely that policies -- on a number of issues -- will be reviewed.

This is an ideal moment for the incoming administration to consider a forward-looking shift in immigration policy and repair an obsolete system that no longer responds to global economic, demographic or social shifts.

One basic starting point for the new administration should be the announcement of an executive order that immediately stops worksite and community raids. From coast to coast, and with a clear disregard for basic human rights, raids have destroyed entire immigrant communities and torn apart families. The towns of Postville, Iowa and New Bedford, Massachusetts, and other cities and towns have provided a disturbing sense of how communities have unraveled and the humanitarian crisis that has always followed.

Another immediate action for Washington's new leadership is for a revision of last-minute regulations that target temporary agricultural workers. On January 18th farm and agricultural workers (hired through the Department of Labor’s H2-A temporary agricultural worker program) will face new regulations that raise concerns about wages and labor protections. The H2-A program has historically allowed agricultural sector employers to hire immigrant workers for temporary employment.

AFSC has consistently pressed for a substantive alternative to temporary employment programs so that seasonal farmworkers have the opportunity to adjust their immigration status and be full participants in the nation's social fabric and labor force. Seasonal agricultural workers have limited labor rights, and often live a transitional and marginal existence. The enactment of the regulations will continue this abysmal reality and diminish the few labor protections agricultural guest workers can sometimes rely on while, also, scaling down their wages. More troubling is that these last minute policies continue to set the tone for chipping away at the hard-earned rights of workers in general.

In commenting on the regulations, U.S. Representative Howard L. Berman (D-CA) observed, "Given today's economic crisis, it is stunning that on their way out the door, the Bush Administration would take this eleventh-hour swipe at farm workers who are already paid some of the lowest wages in the United States."

Take Action Now:

Visit http://www.change.gov/ and urge that the nation's work standards and labor regulations protect any worker in an equal and sensible manner.

2009 - A Year for Justice - Take Action

2008-12-31T12:22:00.000-08:00

Change is in the air.

Our president-elect rode its wave to the White House. In January, we'll welcome a new Congress and a new president who seems to share our values and priorities.

President-elect Obama has expressed a commitment to bring a new energy and spirit that imbues bipartisan collaboration; encourages ideas and policy solutions; addresses the needs of vulnerable members of our society while also helping working and middle-class families improve their economic standing. He has also promised an administration that will listen and promote transparency and the involvement of civic society.

We invite you to take a few minutes to write to President-elect Obama in your own words about the need for humane immigration policy.

Invite President-elect Obama to lead a bipartisan process for humane immigration policy and affirm the value of all family unions. Encourage him to support the quality of life for border dwellers by increasing job opportunities; investing in schools, roads, and other infrastructure; and working for a clean, healthy environment that benefits everyone.

By working together, we can bring about the change we need in immigration policy and the future vitality and viability of immigrant, non-immigrant, and refugee communities.

Thank you for joining AFSC in this call for justice and human rights.

Jingle Bells of Justice for Some Children

2008-12-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

After some weather delays and a re-routing of his sleigh , Santa Claus stopped in to visit children at a Texas detention site. Children detained with their families at T. Don Hutto Detention Center in South Texas received presents collected in a toy drive organized by community members, New America Media reports.

Unfortunately, the injustice of detention almost stole Christmas from the children. "We only got to deliver these toys as a result of lots of litigation and many protests" said Luissana Santibanez, an immigrant rights advocate with Grassroots Leadership and one of the toy drive organizers (New America Media). She explained that the toy delivery was allowed because of the community outcry about the horrific conditions in privately-run immigration detention centers for children and families including lack of medical treatment, food with cockroaches, and deaths.

“The fact that we’re able to bring these toys to children is a huge victory.” said Santibanez. "We can’t let them be so cruel to kids; we can’t let them hide this,” she said.

Learn more: Visit http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/ to learn how you can take action.

Haiti a Case for Temporary Protected Status

2008-11-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

Nature has not been good to the Caribbean island of Haiti. The summer and early fall storms and tropical hurricanes have left an estimated one million homeless; this includes 300,000 children who have been displaced and nearly 1,000 people who have died or are still missing. In a recent statement before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) observed, "...It is now more imperative than ever that the United States grant Haitian immigrants Temporary Protective Status (TPS). TPS is the least expensive, most immediate form of humanitarian assistance we can provide Haiti."

Towns have disappeared, family members search for their loved ones, and contact with those who have family members in other parts of the world – including the United States – has been difficult. The island’s most recent devastation comes at a time when Haiti continued abject poverty and a decimated social infrastructure, the ebb and flow of political unrest, and a feeble economic situation.

In the face of this reality, Haitian communities and their allies have moved forward with a call for granting Temporary Protective Status (TPS) to those who have fled the island to the U.S. and are undocumented immigrants or workers.

On October 9th a meeting took place at AFSC’s Miami office to discuss the Caribbean nation’s current conditions and future strategies. A grassroots coalition was formed to share information on how to protect and prevent raids; provide a voice to share Haiti’s current conditions; organize a plan of action; and respond to the concerns to protect the human and civil rights of the nation’s Haitian community.

Paul-Andre Mondesir, AFSC Haitian Community Advocate shares, “AFSC is part of a community coalition and meetings to map out a plan of action, and to help address the urgent needs of community members.” The renewal of TPS for nationals from several Central American and African nations torn apart by strife, war and natural disasters provides an added context for U.S. leaders to consider TPS as a humane response to Haiti’s most recent emergency. While there seems to be a temporary let-up in the detention and deportation of Haitians, there is significant concern that this will not last.

AFSC has had a long-term engagement with the people of Haiti, both in assistance with community empowerment, and development in Haitian communities, and in support of the Haitian Diaspora. This work is grounded in an institutional commitment to reconciliation and justice rooted in Quaker values and practices.

American Friends Immigrant Services (AFIS) Program in Miami will continue its work to support a humane response and to advocate for the designation of temporary protected status for Haitians presently in the United States.

For further information on how you can add your voice to the call for temporary protected status or to support the AFIS partnership with the Haitian community, contact Lucio Perez-Reynoso, director of the AFIS Miami office at LPerez-Reynoso@afsc.org or Paul-Andre Mondesir at pmondesir@afsc.org or at 305-252-6441.

 As a first step: Contact your Congressional leader and urge support for the TPS status for Haitians, The Haitian Protection Act of 2007, H. R. 522. The bill will be reintroduced in the 111th Congress (Since the House has adjourned, this bill will need to be reintroduced in the next session which begins in January). The cosponsors of the bill are Representatives Hastings, Meek and Corrine Brown.

A Taxing Time for Chicago Cab Drivers

2008-11-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

Cabdrivers Have Human Rights Too!

“Cabdrivers deserve a fair fare increase...”
Chicago Sun-Times Headline Commentary – 10/3/08

For months now Chicago's United Taxidrivers Community Council (UTCC) has worked to draw attention to the grim work and labor conditions of its members. AFSC’s Chicago office serves as a community ally of UTCC and provides technical assistance and support to this cab-driver led, grassroots organization. Chicago's increased cost of living, the national economic downturn and the daily and weekly expenses of driving a taxi in the city and its surrounding suburbs, have increased the financial hardship faced by the 10,000 taxi workforce.

This past April as fuel costs increased the City Council imposed a $1 gas surcharge. However, the gas surcharge was conditional, only provided temporary relief and was then passed on to passengers and customers. UTCC has noted that the gas surcharge bears no relation to a revision of current fare rates which would provide substantive economic relief. The gas surcharge was recently reduced and gradually eliminated altogether.

In early October the City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Way indicated its unwillingness to consider a fare increase for at least another year. UTCC has taken various steps to address this situation including sending a letter to the City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Way, urging for their support of a public hearing on the revision of the current fare rates.

Moreover, public opinion and increased media coverage point to support for a fare hike and solidarity with the city's taxidrivers. In a November 2008 letter to Mayor Richard M. Daley, Fayez Khozindar (UTCC board chair)wrote:

“...We have completed and we will be submitting over 1,300 signatures calling for a permanent 16% fare increase, and biennial review of the rates of fare thereafter. According to our statistics, cabdrivers are driving an average shift of 12 hours and 20 minutes, and earning a mere $5.77 an hour. Please consider that in the city of Chicago, birthplace of the 8-hour-day, many cabdrivers are working 14 hours a day.

We will do what it takes to catalyze the reforms that we need, but we wish to keep the city running smoothly. We are ready to strike, if our request for productive dialogue is not reciprocated -- but we hope that we will be offered a seat at the table, instead of being excluded from decision-making in matters that affect us, as in the past.”

UTCC also seeks a moratorium on the issuance of new city medallions, and an ongoing dialogue with the Department of Consumer Services and city officials to improve the industry’s labor conditions.

For further information on the AFSC and UTCC partnership contact Prateek Sampat at psampat@afsc.org or at 312-427-2533.

Friendship Park Featured in NYT

2008-10-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

A recent New York Times article focuses on the new fencing plans to divide Friendship Park in California. Representative Bob Filner (D-CA) has urged the Department of Homeland Security not to build the fencing in the park, the Times reports. "It’s harmful to the kind of family culture we have at the border," said Rep. Filner.

"We have a friendly country at the border. We have family ties across the border. It is one place, certainly in San Diego, where we talk about friendship at the border,” Filner said.

Please join us in reaffirming the park's mission and calling for a more sensible and humane immigration policy. Contact your Congressperson today. Urge them to "Save Friendship Park."

Thank you for your adding your voice of support for the public park and the basic rights and dignity of all.

Bringing Peace Home

2008-10-17T07:06:00.001-07:00

When AFSC staff members in Dayton, Ohio found that their next door neighbors needed help they responded immediately. Who were their neighbors? A family originally from Burundi forced to flee their home due to conflict. This month's issue of Quaker Action focuses on AFSC's work to advocate for the rights of African refugees and bring a community together in difficult times.

Photo Credit: Kinyanjui Migwe (Community Festival for refugee families on World Refugee Day)

AFSC responds to a refugee resettlement crisis in Dayton, Ohio

by Karen Light

This past January, rumors were circulating that the boarded-up house adjacent to the AFSC-Dayton office was being occupied by immigrants. Staff, however, saw no signs of life until the beginning of spring when Migwe Kimemia, the Peace & Immigration Program Director, spotted children playing outside.

Migwe spoke with them in Swahili and learned that the rumors were true: a family of African refugees, including nine children, was, in fact, living there. The stove was broken and there was a gas leak. They were in this dangerous situation because they felt powerless and didn’t know their rights.

“It was shocking for me to discover that a government-funded refugee resettlement program can debase human rights and dignity before my own eyes!” Migwe says.

Grim circumstances

As Migwe learned more, he came to realize that this was a widespread problem. Prior to being resettled, many of these African refugees, originally from Burundi, had been raising families and growing up in Tanzanian refugee camps since 1972 where they had no access to basic education. They were then moved to Dayton where they were supposed to secure work and enroll their children in English-speaking schools upon arrival. Hundreds of other refugees from Liberia, Rwanda, and Sudan had already been resettled in Dayton by the same U.S. resettlement program.

Under the U.S. refugee resettlement policy, refugees have a mere eight months to become self-sufficient, after which all aid is withdrawn. With no skills and little guidance on how to navigate the system, these refugees find themselves dropping out of school, in homeless shelters, or under the grip of slum landlords, jobless, destitute, scared, and isolated.

AFSC-Dayton is working to change this by connecting the refugees with one another and helping them create a community.

> Read the full article in Quaker Action.

What Financial Crisis? Not at the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Unit

2008-10-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

FY ’09 budget showers more funds to support an antiquated system

No deals, austerity, belt-tightening and accountability have been some of the words heard in the Congressional corridors and the White House as national leaders hear from their frustrated constituents. In the case of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit, public spending doesn't appear to be a concern.

In fact, this past Tuesday Congress passed a Continuing Resolution which while keeping other government agencies in operation -- at least through March 6th -- provides the Department of Homeland Security a $39.98 billion budget for the 2009 fiscal year.

A cursory review of the Department's budget shows expenditures that continue the White House's relentless campaign of sweeping raids, detentions and deportations. The slowdown in the nation’s construction industry has had no impact on DHS. Indeed, DHS will continue its southern border buildup by constructing fences, adding personnel and the ongoing makeover of the Mexico-U.S. border into a militarized and hostile spread of land.

Moreover, in an attempt to respond to news reports, media coverage and a public outcry about the treatment and deaths of detainees while held in ICE custody, a small sliver of the bill places contractors squarely responsible if they fail to comply with the Department’s "detention standards." In this case, contractors may have their contracts canceled. Monitoring of the medical care of detainees will also be done by independent experts.

Detain and deport, a band-aid solution that won’t work

Yet, there is little – if any – interest in the promotion of fundamental policy shifts or in addressing the geopolitical and economic realities that propel a steady stream of immigration to the United States. A summary review of the DHS FY ’09 budget indicates:

4,361 new hires at Customs and Border Protection
$775 million for border fencing
An increase in the ICE budget to nearly $5 billion (this is an increase of $254 million)
An additional 1400 detention beds

"This budget does not address the existing backlog of applicants, efforts to integrate immigrants or defend the labor rights of exploited and abused immigrant workers, instead it further criminalizes workers," concludes Gabriel Camacho, AFSC regional organizer in Boston. He has been working with communities throughout Massachusetts to train community members in what to do in case of a raid, and how to protect their constitutional and human rights.

Amy Gottlieb, director of AFSC’s Immigrant Rights Program (Newark, NJ) comments, “This windfall for the Department of Homeland Security allows ICE to send fugitive teams into immigrant neighborhoods and worksites, creating havoc in entire communities that are already living on the edge, feel the daily tension and where residents are fearful of even walking out their front door. These are communities in which children ask their parents, ‘Are we next?’ What can a parent say to a child? We don't need increased force and might."

Funds also will be used to support enforcement-only programs. Specifically, states will be provided funds for the implementation of the Real ID Act ($50 million), and the participation of local and state police in the 287(g) program ($5.4 million). Public dollars to the tune of $2.4 billion will go to the Office of Detention and Removal and the short-term approval of $100 million for the E-verify program. The E-verify program targets employers and requires them to ‘verify’ the employment documentation of their workers.

However, research has shown that the E-verify system is terribly flawed and inaccurate, and has also led to other problems, including the racial profiling of workers and other reported abuses. "Warehousing people in detention centers may be profitable for private industries but it also separates family members, disrupts the quality of life of entire communities, and the social fabric that imbues economic vitality. An outdated system requires fair and humane policy remedies, and taking corrective measures to address what is now obviously not working," concurs Gottlieb.

Spirit of Hope prevails despite spending spree and election year dance

Once again the opportunity to move toward substantive and humane immigration polices has been thwarted. It will take forceful public pressure for legislators to continue the public policy discussion, and to engage in a bipartisan effort that brings the present immigration system into the 21st century.

In spite of this climate, community-based organizations, nonprofits, non-governmental organizations, faith institutions, labor, neighborhood clubs and mutual aid societies, and grassroots leaders continue their work of supporting and training immigrant and refugee communities on constitutional rights, due process and civil liberties. Actions range from visits, calls and letters to legislators, to support and emergency assistance to families who have been impacted by raids, detention or the deportation of loved ones. In addition, several national organizations have undertaken public education campaigns to increase public awareness and challenge the anti-immigrant climate, and to mobilize for long-term, constructive and fair immigration policies.

Alice Perry, AFSC staff member in Portland, Oregon opines, “Our communities are not going to give up. Many of these men and women have sacrificed their lives to be here, to work here, to rear their children here, and to contribute what they can in their new country, now their new home. They are parents, neighbors, homeowners, taxpayers, and more. Their deep-rooted sense of justice and relentless hope continues to prevail over the hatred and disparagement they have experienced. AFSC's role is to affirm this spirit, promote dialogue, support family members and encourage humane changes to obsolete laws that no longer make sense and are impractical."

Extension of Benefits a Temporary Lifeline for Refugees

2008-10-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

After years of public advocacy and testimonies, letter writing campaigns, and visits to elected officials, "refugees and other humanitarian immigrants" will now be able to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for at least two additional years.

The SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act is effective October 1, 2008 and impacts humanitarian immigrants, refugees and others whose SSI was cut off or who were denied SSI due to the expiration of the allotted time period. Moreover, the law provides for a third year of benefits for humanitarian immigrants who have a naturalization application pending at the end of the two-year extension.

Humanitarian refugees include refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deportation or removal, Cuban and Haitian Entrants, Amerasians, and victims of trafficking in persons; they are one of the few groups eligible to receive SSI.

Ruben Chandrasekar, AFSC's Project Voice regional organizer in Baltimore shares, "I am particularly happy for the refugee families we have been supporting for the past years who had their SSI terminated but who never stopped struggling for a fair change and process.

One family member was also part of a class action that secured some relief for a group of humanitarian immigrants who were cut off from SSI while waiting for their citizenship applications to be processed. He was affected by the 7-year time limit but last year testified in DC – along with other AFSC Project Voice constituents. I had the good fortune of speaking with the family today.

They are quite happy that they will be able to avail themselves of SSI benefits which will help improve their quality of life as they settle into their new country. They are ready to continue advocacy efforts so that time limits for receiving SSI for humanitarian immigrants and refugees are eliminated."

Under a sunset provision in the new law the extensions of SSI eligibility expire in 2011. SSI is often the primary source of income for poor and low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. Congress placed time limits as an incentive to encourage humanitarian immigrants to move quickly and seek naturalization; however, the naturalization application process has experienced troubling delays and lengthy waits (years) for lawful permanent residency -- the prerequisite for the submission of a naturalization/citizenship application.

Still, advocacy groups continue to press for flexibility and consideration of extenuating factors. In a recent commentary, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) noted, "While the new law will help many very vulnerable immigrants, advocates will continue to seek legislation that repeals the time limits altogether. Naturalization is unattainable for persons who cannot pass the citizenship test because of their age, disability or other factors. The United States has invited refugees to come, and has offered safe haven to other humanitarian immigrants. Our laws do not force indigent seniors or persons with disabilities who are citizens into destitution at the end of an arbitrary time period."

Individuals who have lost their SSI benefits due to the imposed time limits should contact the Social Security Administration beginning October 10, 2008 as they are still establishing policy guidelines for implementing the new law. Requests to extend SSI benefits can be facilitated by visiting the local SSA office or by calling 1-800-772-1213.

> Click here for a fact sheet on the SSI Extension (NILC).

AFSC will continue to work with partners in the nation's refugee community and urge legislators to rescind the current time limits and to keep in mind age, disability, the mental health and environmental factors that have impacted refugees in their journey for a safe haven and a new home.

Local Victory in Florida

2008-09-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

By Lucio Perez-Reynozo
AFSC – Miami, Florida

In times of difficulty, in times of persecution of millions of undocumented individuals and families, a sign of relief for a few day labor workers is in place.

The City of Lake Worth (Palm Beach County, Florida) has approved a Resource Center for daily workers in spite of opposition. Read more on the city’s decision in this Palm Beach Post article.

The City of Lake Worth is a small city with a significant Maya population that has embraced the City as its own. Maya people began to settle in Lake Worth during the middle of the 1980s at the time when thousands of people fled Guatemala because of mass killings and genocide.

The people bring with them a culture that has been in existence for thousands of years, including different languages. Most of those who have settled in the city speak Kanjobal and Mam.

Hopefully, the Resource Center will be an educational center for everyone who wants to learn, including those who opposed its development.

Link: AFSC-Miami

AFSC Among Top Immigrants' Rights Blogs

2008-09-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

The American Friend Service Committee's blog on immigrants' rights ranks #6 in About.Com's Top 10 Blogs on Immigrants Rights.

"Like the Quaker tradition as a whole, it speaks with a conviction that transcends all ephemeral partisanship with a dignified honesty that can never become irrelevant," writes Tom Head of About.com.

> Read About.Com's Top 10 Immigrants' Rights Blogs list here.

Welcome to the New Link

2008-09-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your readership of AFSC's blog on immigrants rights and your patience during the website construction. Please update your bookmarks with the new link:

afscimmigration.blogspot.com

PBS Video on Border Fence

2008-08-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

The PBS program NOW focuses on the border fence in this new video. . NOW traveled to Texas to meet families on the U.S.-Mexico border who fear losing their property, their safety, and their way of life. You can take action by sending a letter to your member of Congress to call for a more sensible, effective and humane immigration policy.

Calls for Community Understanding after Beating and Death of Local Resident

2008-08-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

July 12 started out as a 'normal' day in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. By the end of the day, however, Luis Ramirez (25), father of two and an undocumented immigrant had been brutally beaten and sustained head and body injuries that two days later led to his death. Ramirez worked in a local factory and also picked crops.

Shenandoah, a small hamlet of an estimated 5,600 residents is located 105 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Shenandoah was once a thriving mining town.Today, however, it is a shadow of what it once was, as the mines closed and the population decreased.

Shenandoah's residents still reflect the earlier patterns of migration to the town; Greeks, Irish, Italians and Lithuanians are visible participants in the town's cultural, political and social fabric. Over the last two decades Latinos have also settled in the town.

The death of Luis Ramirez has brought to the surface some of the fear and unspoken tensions in a once-thriving town now grappling with limited economic opportunities, changing demographics, and little communication between its diverse communities.(New York Times).

Local officials have filed charges against four teenagers that include homicide, ethnic intimidation, aggravated assault and several other offenses. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that they will also conduct investigations into this matter.

In the meantime, several actions have been taken to begin the healing process in Shenandoah. Recent actions included a press conference and a peaceful candlelight vigil. City leaders including the mayor attended the vigil as did many of Shenandoah's non-Latino and Latino residents. A service for healing and connecting community was held at the First United Methodist Church on August 10th. Additional actions to promote dialogue and community are also being considered.

Help Save Friendship Park

2008-08-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Updated August 14, 2008

As I write, a public park that represents the international friendship between the U.S. and Mexico is being divided and walled off by the Department of Homeland Security. Please join us in reaffirming the park's mission and calling for a more sensible and humane immigration policy.

For generations, friends and families from San Diego and Tijuana have gathered peacefully in Friendship Park at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Now Border Patrol agents threaten this tradition by questioning and detaining people who visit this special public space.

The struggle to save the park is a troubling symbol of the failures in the U.S. immigration policy. The U.S. doesn't need more fences built or immigrants rounded up, detained and often summarily deported. Those punitive measures don't 'solve' our immigration concerns. Instead, what we need is a workable system that provides a fair path to permanent residency and keeps families together.

The park is not just being damaged symbolically. The extra fences being installed disrupt the quality of life of border communities and damage the delicate coastal ecosystem.

Please join us in contacting your Congressperson today. Urge them to "Save Friendship Park."

Thank you for your adding your voice of support for the public park and the basic rights and dignity of all.

AFSC Human Rights Advocate Released

2008-08-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

At 10:00 pm on August 5th 2008 the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol) released AFSC staff member, Christian Ramirez after nearly 6 hours of unjustified detention and without any charges against him. He was told of the many people who called from throughout the country urging that Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station officials to release him. The American Friends Service Committee thanks all who supported and ensured the release of Christian Ramirez and takes this opportunity to share his letter with you:

"Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am truly moved by the outpouring of support. Thank you so much for the many emails and calls. I am also grateful for the outstanding effort of my friends and colleagues in San Diego; without their coordination, I will still be detained.

There are many things I want to say, I was detained and then arrested for visiting a park where north meets south and the Pacific crashes against the land, a park that I have visited all of my life. I was detained and arrested for bearing witness to the ongoing destruction of that park, for a triple fence will bypass the last place where families can still come together, and see each other through the wall of death that separates our families and communities.

I was able to capture on video most of the incident. My camera, video, and cell phone were all returned. I was detained for two hours at the park and for four (under arrest) at a Border Patrol Station. I spent the four hours in a cell of about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long. I was released as a result of all of your calls.

Just last Sunday, communities from Tijuana and San Diego came together at the park for an ecumenical gathering. Hundreds of people attended on both sides of the border, including my family. On the Tijuana side, my grandmother sat on a lawn chair flanked by my aunts, uncles laughed, we smiled, we sang together and for that moment the 10 foot wall between us disappeared.

After the event ended, we said our goodbyes; I stretched my fingers through the fence and touched my grandmother's fingers, the only parts of our bodies' small enough to cross through. It was only at that moment the wall reappeared with its entire monstrosity.

This special space has been known as Friendship Park. In my mind and the mind of many here in the San Diego-Tijuana border region, a high wall or other barriers will never take our friendship away, and most certainly not our dignity.

Join us as we endeavor to ensure that Friendship Park can be a space for friendship, family gatherings and the peaceful co-existence of two communities. Greetings and again my deepest thanks to the many colleagues friends, family and faith voices who took action for my release.

Desde la herida abierta - la frontera (From the open wound - the border)

Su humilde servidor, Christian Ramirez"

Reflections on My Trip to Postville

2008-08-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

Guest post by Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman of Madison, Wisconsin

I was standing next to a long table full of neatly arranged trays of cookies when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a woman with white hair smiling kindly at me. Noticing my kippah she offered, "The kosher cookies are over here." After finishing our march through the tiny town of Postville, Iowa, the hospitality committee of St. Bridget's Catholic Church was waiting for us, eager to show their appreciation that we had come. (Photo Credits: Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman)

Interfaith March Joins Over 1,000 People

It was an extraordinary experience to march through Postville, a town of 2,200 people. The afternoon began with an interfaith service with hundreds of people packed into the tiny church. We read liturgy of courage, hope, and love together both in English and Spanish, and we sang a beautiful rendition of Hinei mah tov in unison - indeed, how great it was that we were all sitting there together.

We were quite a diverse group of over 1,000 people. The march, organized by Jewish Community Action of Minneapolis, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs of Chicago, and our host, St. Bridget's Catholic Church, drew a fascinating crowd. As we walked through the neighborhoods, Postville residents sat on porch stoops or lawn chairs watching us as we marched by. They seemed to be fascinated by us - after all, such a march had never happened in this town.

When we arrived at Agriprocessors, a rabbi, speaking through the loud-speaker, explained a piece of Talmud which prohibits employers from oppressing their workers. We passed a park where we heard more speeches and a poem by children. We then walked into the center of town where we were confronted by a small, angry group of counter-protestors who did not seem to be from Postville. One sign read, "Pack their sack and send them back." A line of police officers separated us.

Community Reflects on "Disaster" of Raids

I walked for some time with an older couple who lived ten miles outside of Postville. They kept repeating the word disaster - the raid was a disaster, the working conditions at the plant were a disaster, the plight of the children separated from their parents was a disaster, the deportations were a disaster. They were members of St. Bridget's. I asked what people in the church thought of all of this. They answered, "The church just doesn't like to see families separated. It's just not right."

Iowan Hospitality

A downpour interrupted the last of the speeches outside of St. Bridget's. We all piled into the church - with a spread of cookies waiting for us. Throughout the day I had wondered what the folks at St. Bridget's thought of so many Jews converging on their town. Did they understand that we also shared so many things in common? The kosher cookies seemed to say it all. I thanked one of the women on the hospitality committee. She responded, "We are so happy to have you." "But serving 1,000 people cookies?" I asked. "We're Iowans. This is what we do."

***************************************************************************

For information on the May 12 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Postville and AFSC's involvement, click here and find out how you can help.

To read "Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: A Personal Account," by Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D., click here (PDF, 104Kb).
To read an article by Sandra Sanchez of AFSC Des Moines about the ICE raid on immigrant workers in Postville, click here.

A Divided Friendship

2008-07-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Department of Homeland Security plans to erect a triple fence across Friendship Park in San Diego, California where the international boundary meets the Pacific Ocean. Friends and families from San Diego and Tijuana have gathered for generations at this historic meeting place.

In 1971 former first lady Pat Nixon, dedicated a monument to friendship in the park, which sits on the border between the US and Mexico. The first fence constructed in the park now cuts the monument in half.

Construction inside the Park begins the first week in August.

Faith Communities to Hold Gathering to Save Friendship Park

To express opposition to the proposed construction, and the increased fencing along the U.S. border overriding environmental laws, local residents will gather at Friendship Park on this coming Sunday, August 3 at 2 p.m.

All faith traditions are welcome at the interfaith gathering. Participants are invited to share in friendship, meditation, prayer and communion. For more information contact Christian Ramirez, AFSC San Diego, cramirez@afsc.org. or the AFSC San Diego office at 619-233-4114.

The University of California San Diego Department of Communications has produced a timely video overview of the threat to Border Field State Park. To watch the video click here.

REST IN PEACE: Farm Workers Die in Scorching Heat

2008-07-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

State Monitoring an Urgent Need

"Last week I talked to a farm worker picking nectarines. I asked him what precautions his employer was taking, and he said that other than being told to drink water and seek shade -- if it got too hot -- there was nothing else.

There have not been employee meetings to keep reminding people of the deadly potential. Also, employees are intimidated, thinking that if they take time off to cool down they will be fired, and that's not something to look forward to..." - Graciela Martinez -AFSC area staff (Visalia, California)

For California's farm workers, keeping track of the weather conditions and the blazing heat is increasingly a matter of daily survival. The physically grueling and backbreaking work that exposes farm workers to the unbearable heat is increasingly a matter of life -- or death.

While some media attention has been drawn to the tragedies in California, farm workers in vineyards and agricultural fields throughout the nation also face similar weather conditions.

Sadly, California is a disturbing reminder of what can happen when basic labor and worker rights are not vigorously monitored or implemented.

Since mid-May four persons have succumbed to the incessant heat and unrelenting weather conditions. In each instance s/he indicated not feeling well. In several of these deaths, body temperatures exceeded 105 degrees:

May 13: Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez (17), pregnant, died while laboring in Stockton area grapevines. Her core temperature was 108.

June 20: Jose Macarena Hernandez (64), died while harvesting butternut squash in Santa Maria. He died during one of the state's record-breaking heat days.

July 8: Abdon Felix Garcia (42), father of three, died after a day of labor in Arvin-based vineyards.

July 9: Ramiro Carrillo Rodriguez (48), died after a day of work in Reedley. He leaves behind two teen-agers, ages (13) and (16).

According to Graciela Martinez, "These tragic deaths can be avoided with proper information and vigilance, by working with the employers, or with the farm labor contractors to make sure rest time and water is provided at all times, especially during the hottest parts of the year."

YOU CAN TAKE ACTION TO CHANGE THIS TRAGIC SITUATION: LET GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER HEAR YOUR VOICE FOR LABOR RIGHTS!

Send the Governor an e-mail: http://www.gov.ca.gov/interact#contact OR

Call the Governor's office: 916-445-2841 OR

Send the Governor a fax: 916-558-3160 OR

1. Request that he act now to prevent any future deaths or tragedies.

2. Urge him to add real "muscle" to the state's heat regulations (which he signed in 2006), and make sure that there are sufficient state inspectors to monitor compliance by agricultural employers and farm labor contractors.

3. Let him know that you will continue to monitor this situation until visible improvements are made and farm worker labor rights are fully protected.

2008-07-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

Maryland Raid Dampens Spirit of Celebration and Freedom

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" - Eleanor Roosevelt

The past week included parades, fireworks and picnics celebrating the values of freedom, and national pride. Families and friends held backyard cookouts, picnics, concerts, reunions and swimming pool parties. Many enjoyed the food, fireworks, laughter and mirth as they celebrated the nation's 222nd year of independence.

For some families, however, the week was riddled with fear, worry and uncertainty. On Monday, June 30, approximately 46 workers were detained in Annapolis, Maryland through a joint enforcement effort between the Anne Arundel County Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Detainees included 10 women.

Since the raid's occurrence AFSC's Baltimore Project Voice staff has participated in efforts undertaken with local partners such as the Maryland Raid Response Network. The Network has collected information regarding the raid and taken steps to provide support to families affected by this crisis. This effort also has included the participation of advocates, community groups and attorneys. In several cases the detained immigrant is the primary family wage earner. This means that family members (including children), will now need financial assistance or social services support to pay their rent, purchase food or secure legal representation for their loved one who has been detained.

According to Ruben Chandrasekar, AFSC's Project Voice regional organizer, "We are planning to meet with affected families...to collect more information, offer support and connect them to lneeded resources and assistance." AFSC staff also has supported several public actions drawing attention to the raid and its impact. Local efforts have included the establishment of a hotline for affected family members and witnesses to the raid, and a July 1st press conference denouncing the raid was also held.

For more information or to support the work undertaken by AFSC's Maryland-based immigrant rights program, please contact Ruben Chandrasekar at 410-323-7262 or at rchandrasekar@afsc.org.

Read On: Postville, Iowa Raid Sows Fear and Uncertainty

On May 12, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), together with the U.S. Iowa Northern District Attorney, carried out the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history. The raid at Agriprocessors, Inc., in Postville, Iowa, resulted in the detention of 389 women, men, and minors.

AFSC and partner groups responded quickly to help detainees and their families, but fear and uncertainty continue to grip immigrants in the area. Visit the AFSC website for more information on the Iowa raid and how you can support Postville's immigrant and non-immigrant communities as they jointly respond to the raid's aftermath. Learn more about the Postville situation, visit http://www/afsc/org/central/ia/PostvilleRaid.html.

Europe's New Immigration Plan Troubles World Leaders

2008-07-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

Brianna Almaguer Sandoval
Human Migration and Mobility/Project Voice Policy Graduate Intern

The United States has a checkered history of immigration policies which has tried to deter and subsequently led to the deportation and separation of undocumented immigrant families or workers. European countries are now beginning to experience high levels of undocumented or "irregular" immigrants and as a result have undertaken efforts to establish a European immigration system. These new policies have troubled human rights advocates and disturbed world leaders - including Latin American leaders - who have expressed their opposition, and pledge to take action if the new policies are enacted.

European Pact on Immigration and Asylum

On July 1st, French President Nicolas Sarkozy became president of the European Union (EU). President Sarkozy has made immigration one of his top priorities stating that he does not want "a closed Europe...but nor do we want a Europe that stands by powerless before the unchecked waves of immigration." The "European Pact on Immigration and Asylum" has developed principles to help the 27-nation bloc EU manage migration, fight undocumented immigration and help development in developing nations, or those from which people are leaving or traveling through to get to Europe (Agence Franc-Presse). European Union ministers met in Cannes, France on July 7 to reach an agreement on the creation of an EU-wide immigration system. President Sarkozy hopes to have a plan formally adopted in October. Most of the EU member nations have accepted the proposed pact's broad outline.

The European Commission estimates that there are between 6 and 8 million undocumented immigrants within the EU (Times of Malta). While many European countries wish to increase border security, this must be balanced with their need for skilled immigrant and seasonal workers as their populations decline, and as their aging populations leave the workforce (Gulf Times). One of the main components of the pact is that legal immigration will be organized based on a state's needs and ability to welcome people (Gulf Times). While member countries of the European Union enjoy free movement between countries in the Schengen passport-free zone, the current discussion calls for increased security on the EU's borders to the outside world. Also, refugees will increasingly be required to apply for asylum status from outside the European Union. In addition, authorities will be allowed to detain undocumented immigrants for up to 18 months and ban them from reentry for up to five years (Times of Malta).

MERCOSUR Condemns Proposed EU Immigration Pact: Latin American Presidents Speak out

On July 1, during a two-day summit in the Argentinean city of Tucuman, Presidents of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) condemned the immigration pact of the European Union. Mercosur passed a resolution condemning the EU, "We can't be silent about this, we need to take a stand..." said Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. Chavez also threatened to stop selling oil to European countries if they apply the law. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said that the measure "takes us back to times of xenophobia that we thought were long behind us." Chile's President Michelle Bachelet stated, "We were very generous with the Europeans who arrived in our land in the last century, and the truth is that it is not fair for our people to get a denigrating treatment." The Mercosur condemnation is seen as a particularly bold public step due to the EU's role as the primary Mercosur funder.

Immigration Pact Seen As Inhumane

CIMADE and the Carnegie Council are two groups voicing concern over the new law. While the EU's motto is "unity in diversity" critics say that "Fortress Europe" is more appropriate. The new refugee law is of particular concern. Human rights advocates have argued that the new pact is focused on security and immigration management, rather than based on the protection of human rights and the principle of refugee protection (Carnegie Council). The Carnegie Council asserts that the asylum laws are shifting responsibility for asylum protection beyond EU borders; the results are disputes over responsibilities, the risk of refoulement, unfair procedures and the erosion of the rights of those seeking refuge.

AFSC Promotes Just and Humane Policies

"We work with all people, the poor and the materially comfortable, the disenfranchised and the powerful in pursuit of justice. We encourage collaboration in social transformation towards a society that recognizes the dignity of each person. We believe that the Spirit can move among all these groups, making great change possible. " - AFSC Mission and Values Statement -

Since its 1917 founding, AFSC has supported domestic and international immigration policies, which respect the human rights of immigrants and refugees. Indeed, AFSC's raison d'etre is in part due to the dire situation many World War I survivors and refugees found after the war.

AFSC stands in strong opposition to policies and actions which disrupt the safe migration of individuals and families who seek to live in peace, and who have universal rights to work, live, and thrive whether in their country of origin or those who have to flee elsewhere due to repression, persecution, or social, political, economic or cultural factors.

Anti-Immigrant Group Opts for Troubling "Legal" Strategy

2008-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

By Brianna Almaguer Sandoval
Human Migration and Mobility/Project Voice Policy Graduate Intern

"This is the worst it's been. There is a lot of unfriendliness and disrespect against immigrants, and a lot has been happening quiet...We need big help in this town."- Flor Gonzalez, director of Latin American Coalition (Plainfield, NJ)(New York Daily News)

Located just south of Newark, New Jersey, Plainfield is a city of an estimated 50,000 persons. Some disconcerting signs have recently surfaced in this mid-size town. It would appear that a quiet but palpable tension has been brewing in Plainfield; the tension has been focused on the town's undocumented immigrants.

This month a federal lawsuit challenging a homeowner's right to rent to undocumented immigrants was filed. This should sound familiar; similar lawsuits or municipal ordinances have also been filed in several of towns such as Hazelton (PA), Riverside (NJ), and Escondido, (CA). In Hazleton, a federal judge overturned the town's actions. So what's the twist? This time an anti-immigration legal group has used specific legislation to pursue their actions against immigrants.

The suit was brought by the Federation for American Immigration Reform's Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). The latter is the legal arm of FAIR, an organization that has opposed substantive and humane immigration reform. The suit alleges that Connolly Properties, a property-management company with rental complexes in Northern New Jersey and Allentown, (Pennsylvania), has rented its units to undocumented tenants, which constitutes unlawful harboring. IRLI cites this as a criminal enterprise that encouraged immigration. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

The suit was brought on behalf of a former employee and two tenants. According to Mike Hethmon, a lawyer for IRLI the tenants claim that the buildings they were steered into renting were occupied by undocumented immigrants who were too afraid about their immigration status to complain about the poor housing conditions. Furthermore, Hethmon said that the group decided to take on the case as part of its "attrition through enforcement" strategy or the pushing of undocumented immigrants to leave the country by making it more difficult to live in the U.S.

A Troubling Tactic to Target Undocumented Immigrants

The Immigration Reform Law Institute has opted to use the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to target undocumented immigrants. Originally, the law was designed to prosecute organized crime and alleged criminal syndicates. RICO was expanded in 1996 to include immigration related provisions; under RICO the violation of certain provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) meets the definition of racketeering activity.

Anti-Immigration's Golden Tool

Plainfield City Council President Harold Gibson said "I think that the people in Plainfield, in terms of the City Council and the general population...frown on illegal immigration...However, my position is that I don't think we should set ourselves up as an immigration authority in terms of people who come from other countries and work here to better themselves and help their families." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

The suit comes at a time where Plainfield's immigrant community members have suffered from a recent rise in beatings and robberies, police ticketing of day laborers, and raids by federal immigration officials.

Now lawyers who are using RICO in immigration cases argue that RICO should be more broadly interpreted to include those who hire or rent to undocumented immigrants. Donald W. Benson, a lawyer with Little Mendelson has been following the use of RICO in immigration cases states that, "Congress couldn't reach a consensus to reform the immigration laws, states are trying to fill the ga...and local groups are trying to work through local ordinances, so it's just part of a much bigger picture of immigration struggles in the U.S." (North New Jersey News)

AFSC Supports Justice and Dialogue in Plainfield

Backed by a 90-year history working for peace, justice and reconciliation in troubled areas of the world, American Friends Service Committee is a faith-based organization grounded in Quaker beliefs respecting the dignity and worth of every person regardless of their immigration status. AFSC's Project Voice initiative presses for comprehensive immigration reform that does not diminish the civil and human rights of immigrants, refugees or asylees and calls on Plainfield leaders, faith institutions and community residents to enter into a process of dialogue which would lead to a deeper understanding of both immigrant and non-immigrant residents and how both can work to promote harmony, positive growth, and a united future for the all the people of Plainfield..

Related Article: Escondido Housing Ban Threatens Human Rights

E-Verify Hits Home

2008-06-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Fellow

Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) expressed concerns about E-Verify: "I question all of these systems," said Representative Waters. "I question whether or not we really know whether or not there is a 0.5 percent error or a 4 percent error in the E-Verify system."

On June 10, the House Judiciary Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee held a hearing on the Electronic Employment Verification System, also known as "E-Verify." The system uses information in databases maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to check an individual's employment eligibility.

Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chair of the Immigration Subcommittee, expressed concerns about the system's faulty database and the potential effects of making E-Verify mandatory for all employers. The SSA's Office of the Inspector General reports that 4.1 percent of its records contain discrepancies related to name, date of birth, or citizenship status, with 12. 7 million of those records pertaining to individuals born in the United States.

Rep. Lofgren highlighted Traci Hong's story. Hong serves as Rep. Lofgren's Legislative Counsel. When a government agency used E-verity to check Hong's work eligibility, Hong made "six separate trips" to the personnel office and to SSA to prove that she was a naturalized U.S. citizen. Navigating the system proved difficult for Hong, an immigration lawyer. "Others might have given up," said Rep. Lofgren (USA Today).

Half a Percent Goes a Long Way

Although Representative Heath Shuler (D-NC) argued that the error rate in E-Verify is "only 0.5 percent", House members pointed out that a 4.1 percent error rate in the SSA database translates to 17.8 million errors that could affect an employee's work eligibility. Subcommittee members raised questions about Representative Shuler's legislation, the Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE Act, H.R. 4088), which would mandate the use of E-Verify by all employers.

Proponents of Employment Verification at Odds

Representatives Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), cosponsors of the New Employee Verification Act (NEVA, H.R. 5515) were also amongst the list of witnesses questioned by House Immigration Subcommittee members. NEVA mandates the creation of a new Secure Electronic Employment Verification System (SEEVS) that would use the SSA database to verify employment eligibility for U.S. citizens or nationals, and DHS information to verify employment eligibility for non-U.S. citizens.

According to Representative Giffords, "In Arizona, E-Verify is carrying into virtually all other aspects of life. Media outlets report instances of racial profiling and discrimination on the part of employers." Arizona became the first state to mandate the use of E-Verify for all its employers.

However, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) expressed concerns that NEVA still mandates the use of the faulty SSA database. "I question all of these systems," said Representative Maxine Waters. "I question whether or not we really know whether or not there is a 0.5 percent error rate, or a 4 percent error rate," Rep. Waters said.

House Members Apprehensive About Potential Discrimination

Representative John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, expressed concerns that "for many employers, it will be easier to just not hire employees with 'unusual' names or who appear foreign."

Members of the Immigration Subcommittee are also wary about the potential effects of E-Verify on employer discrimination. A September 2007 evaluation on E-Verify conducted by Westat, a research agency for the U.S. government, revealed that "31 percent of employers reported using E-Verify to verify employment eligibility before the employee's first day of paid work." E-Verify prohibits registered employers from using the program for pre-employment screening of job applications.

Despite Growing Concerns, Administration Moves Ahead with E-Verify

Despite discussions in Congress about the dangers of making E-Verify mandatory for all employers, on June 9 President George Bush amended Executive Order 12989 to mandate the use of the electronic employment verification system for all federal contractors. DHS has designated E-Verify as the electronic employment eligibility verification system that all federal contractors must use to comply with Executive Order 12989.

AFSC is troubled with this development and encourages the public to call for the laying down of E-verify. This proposed 'will have a negative impact on the rights of workers, and civil the liberties and labor rights of immigrants and non-immigrants alike. E-verify do not resolve the realities of a broken immigration system which has not kept pace with global changes, economic shifts or the root causes of migration.

World Refugee Day: A Global Urgency

2008-06-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Today the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commemorates the eighth annual World Refugee Day. This year's events focus on four major refugee situations: Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur and Myanmar. According to a survey released by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a half million Iraqis fled their country in 2007 (Associated Press).

Support Iraqi Refugees on World Refugee Day

AFSC joins the global community in calling for a humane and united response to the dire situations in these countries and in other regional pockets of the world. Join AFSC in bringing attention to the approximately 5 million Iraqis who fled the violence spurred on by war and occupation.

Please write a letter to the editors of your local newspapers drawing attention to this crisis. Below is a sample letter with tips and links on how to send that letter to the editor of your local paper.

> Is Your Newspaper Covering the Iraqi Refugee Crisis?

> Write a Letter to the Editor

To Learn More

> Volunteer to Help Refugees

> More About AFSC's Work with Iraqi Refugees

> AFSC's Living Beyond Borders Blog

World Refugee Day Events

To find a World Refugee Day event near you visit one of the following the links:

Philadelphia (Nationalities Service Center/AFSC)
San Francisco (UNHCR).
Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlottesville, Oakland, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Tucson (International Rescue Committee).
Minneapolis (Twin Cities World Refugee Day).

(Photo Credit: AFSC - Iraqi family)

Guestworkers' Dream of a Better Tomorrow Becomes Exploitation Nightmare

2008-06-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

In 2006 Vijay Kumar and Sony Suleka travelled from India to Mississippi with a promise of gainful employment and a better life by labor recruiters in return for $20,000 (Associated Press). The advertisement for welders and pipe fitters to rebuild oil rigs destroyed by Hurricane Katrina read "permanent lifetime settlement in the USA for self and family" (Washington Post). "These workers came to help rebuild the Gulf, and on arrival their nightmare began," said Representative Dennis J. Kucinich (D - OH) this week at a rally in front of the Department of Justice.

According to the facts found in the civil class action lawsuit, filed on behalf of over 500 Indian workers, Signal International, LLC, abused the H-2B visa program in a fraudulent, coercive, and threatening recruitment process that resulted in the grave mistreatment and severe exploitation of the Indian workers.

"When we complained we were told we could be deported," said Shivan Raghavan (Washington Post).

Workers Risk Safety to Bring Traffickers to Justice

In March 2008 the workers escaped from the work camps and reported themselves as survivors of human trafficking to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The workers bravely requested that DOJ investigate the actions that led to their being held in servitude. In addition, they have agreed to cooperate with a federal criminal investigation of Signal International, LLC in order to ensure that their suffering is not repeated.

"We could have disappeared, but we chose to come forward and report the company to the Department of Justice. We sacrificed our ability to work and be with our families for the sake of bringing Signal and its recruiters to justice," the workers said in a collective statement read by Sabulal Vijayan. At the rally, the workers suspended a 29-day hunger strike as they await action from the Department of Justice.

Members of Congress Request DOJ Action

Twenty members of Congress wrote a letter to DOJ requesting a grant of "continued presence" status as trafficking victims under the Trafficking Victims Projection Act (TVPA). This would allow the workers to remain safely in the U.S. without the threat of deportation while the federal government conducts a criminal trafficking investigation.

Congressional members included Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Representatives Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Robert Brady (D-PA), John Conyers (D-MI), Gene Green (D-TX), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mike Honda (D-CA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Doris Matusi, James Moran (D-VA), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Fortney Stark (D-CA) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). (Photo credits: Sara Ibrahim).

AFSC Joins in Call for Workers' Justice

AFSC stands in solidarity with those who suffer the injustice of being stripped of their fundamental rights of liberty, family, livelihood, and fairness.

To Learn More

Visit the New Orlean's Center for Racial Justice website and blog.

Detainee Deaths Push Congress to Act

2008-06-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

Today the House Judiciary Committee Immigration Subcommittee will question the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a hearing about problems with immigrant detainee medical care. "The Department of Homeland Security's denial and delay is leading to death and disability," House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers (D-MI) said. "It is time for answers, not excuses," said Conyers (Washington Post).

The hearing follows a series of news reports by the New York Times, Washington Post, 60 Minutes and PBS about immigration detention. Boubacar Bah, a 52-year old tailor from Guinea, detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center, lay unconscious for three days without any official informing his family. His story, reported in the New York Times, brought light to serious concerns about treatment in detention.

From January 2004-November 2007, 66 people died in immigration custody, according to a list obtained by the Times through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Detainee Basic Medical Care Act Introduced

This month House Immigration Subcommittee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act (HR 5950) to require reporting of detainee deaths to the DHS and Congress and mandate standards of care. "The legislation will help guarantee that minimal standards of care are put in place," said Representative Lofgren. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a Senate companion version of the bill (S. 3005).

"Many of those in immigration custody are there for minor violations, many for administrative and paperwork related mistakes. Their detention should not be a death sentence," Lofgren said.

AFSC and Faith-Based Partners Take Action

"Our misguided national fervor to build more jails and incarcerate more individuals, even on the basis of immigration status alone, can only lead to more tragic deaths. We are in grave danger of a nationwide lack of recognition that every individual deserves to be treated with respect. We must reverse this trend before it is too late," wrote Amy Gottlieb, program director, AFSC Immigrant Rights Program in Newark in a letter to the New York Times.

Through its provision of legal services to detainees in New Jersey, leadership development, and support for families of people in detention, AFSC's Newark office has monitored the impact of immigration detention on communities. Members of those communities are bringing their stories to legislators, increasing awareness of the physical, psychological, and social costs of unjust detention.

AFSC has signed onto a national interfaith letter urging members of Congress to support the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act. The letter states, "The faith community is concerned about the government's increasing use of immigration detention and its harmful impact upon children, families and our communities...Our diverse faith backgrounds teach us that every human being must be treated with dignity and respect."

Lost in Translation: Due Process and Constitutional Rights

2008-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

"There must be amidst all the confusions of the hour a tried and undisturbed remnant of persons who will not become purveyors of coercion and violence, who are ready to stand alone...for the way of peace and love..." - Rufus Jones - (Quaker historian and theologian)

It has now been more than two weeks since the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Postville, Iowa. The massive ICE operation led to the arrest and detention of 390 undocumented immigrants who were employed at a local meatpacking processing plant. But the raid's impact has been felt by both Postville's immigrant and non-immigrant communities.

National media and public attention has heightened concerns about the timing and scope of the raid; concerns about the hasty hearings that took place; the lack of access to legal counsel and due process for those who were detained; the inability of detainees to communicate with their loved ones; and other questionable and troubling ICE actions. The raid, coupled with allegations of labor law violations by the meatpacking plant created a state of chaos and confusion for Postville's immigrant workers and their families.

Aurelio Zamol, brother of one of the detainees shared, "I am willing to pay for my sister's return to Guatemala. We ask pardon to this country's highest authorities. We did not know one needed permission to come here. "

Sandra Sanchez, director of AFSC's immigrant rights program in Des Moines, Iowa asserts, "Aurelio Zamol's situation is similar to that of many detainees. They are Guatemala's indigenous Mayan communities and have limited understanding of the laws in their own country; much less of the layers of this nation's federal and state laws, and that each person has constitutional rights and fair treatment under the nation's judicial system." (Photo Credit: Sign outside of St. Bridget Church Postville, Iowa - courtesy of Sandra Sanchez).

AFSC joins its voice to the many faith-based organizations who continue to urge the White House, designated agencies and officials to immediately:

End the odious practice of worksite raids and the subsequent separation of families;

Adhere to policies that ensure fair treatment and respect for the constitutional rights of all detainees, this includes immediate access to legal counsel;

Attend to and release those who may have a medical condition or humanitarian needs;

Ensure that all detainees to stay in close proximity to their loved ones; and,

Work with Congressional leaders to find a fair and bipartisan solution which places the nation's founding principles at the core of future immigration policies and legislation.

Bill Tries to Roll Visa Backlog Forward

2008-05-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Over 22,000 family-based visas went unused last year (Orange County Register). "The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have consistently failed to use the allotted number of immigrant visas ("green cards") authorized by Congress," according to Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

Bill to "Recapture" Unused Visas

To address the issue of wasted visas, Rep. Lofgren introduced H.R. 5882, which allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State (DOS) to "recapture" green cards unused in prior years due to processing backlogs. In addition, the bill allows DHS and DOS to take unused green cards from one fiscal year and "roll them over" to the next year.

Why Do Visas Go Unissued? - Hearing Emphasizes Thousands of Unused Visas

According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and DOS officials who testified at a Congressional hearing last month, concerns of exceeding the legal limit of visas lead to visas going unused each year. While DOS processes visas for individuals overseas, USCIS processes visas for individuals already in the United States. Visas issued by DOS and green cards granted by USCIS draw down from the "same pool of limited numbers," according to Michael Aytes, USCIS Associate Director for Domestic Operations.

Testimony given at the hearing indicated that lack of updated technology continues to hinder efficiency. Aytes said that USCIS is "dealing with very basic systems that give us inventory control and the ability to manage the processing cases at a very basic level."

Action Needed: Recommendations

Addressing the current processing backlog requires focus, institutional coordination and cooperation by DOS and USCIS. AFSC supports both measures to reduce backlogs that delay immigrants' ability to become U.S. permanent residents and the removal of quotas and other barriers that impede or prolong the normalization of immigration status.

AFSC Submits Comments on "No Match" Rule

2008-04-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last week the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) submitted comments on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) republished No-Match rule. AFSC strongly opposes DHS' reissuance of the Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter believing that relying on outdated information and a flawed database is a disaster for the nation's workforce.

>Read the National Immigration Law Center's summary of the supplemental proposed rule here.

The use of a flawed database to verify employment serves no one, least of all employers or workers - whether native born or born elsewhere. Indeed, errors and discrepancies have already fostered apprehension and fear among workers, and could lead to racial profiling, worksite or labor rights abuse, summary dismissals and other actions that impinge on the basic civil and labor rights of all workers - regardless of their status in the United States.

>Read more of AFSC's response here.

AFSC Portland and Coloradans for Immigrant Rights Share Local Community Concerns

The daily and ongoing work with community partners, faith-based and, grassroots organizations enables AFSC to continue to learn and more deeply understand the pressing immigration policy issues which generate tension and apprehension in immigrant and refugee communities throughout the nation. For example, the proposed "No Match" ruling has already had grave consequences in several of these communities, including job loss and the ensuing worry of how to make ends meet in an already dismal setting in which undocumented immigrant workers are targeted. Yet, legislative and policy solutions to address this situation have been repeatedly stalled.

AFSC Portland Area Program Office and Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, a partner project of AFSC recently submitted comments providing regional perspectives on the detrimental impact of the proposed rule.

Since the issuance of the proposed rule, AFSC Portland and CFIR have received an increasing number of calls from community members reporting increased fear and confusion as employees and employers struggle to understand the policy.

According to AFSC Portland Office Immigration Specialist, Alice Perry, "Due to the current anti-immigrant climate, many citizens of Latino descent in Oregon have reported racial profiling across a number of areas. Reissuing this rule can only make it worse," she wrote in the public comment submitted to DHS.

AFSC strongly urges DHS to pursue worksite policies, which enable employers to help their workers adjust their immigration status, even as those workers continue to contribute to the nation's economic vitality. Rather than re-craft a failed approach to our nation's immigration issues, AFSC urges the administration to pursue realistic and effective policies which provide a due and fair process for the immigration adjustment of immigrant workers who work and who contribute to the nation's economic and social vitality.

AFSC Responds to Proposed H-2A Visa Program Changes

2008-04-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

On April 14, AFSC submitted public commentary on proposed changes to the H-2 A agricultural guestworker program requirements. "With more than four decades engaged in direct community work and partnerships with farm workers and their families, and other leading faith organizations, AFSC is troubled that proposed changes to the H-2A Visa program lack a coherent process for the integration of workers," AFSC stated in the comment to the Department of Labor. AFSC joined hundreds of organizations including Farmworker Justice to issue comments in opposition to the Administration's plan to overhaul the H-2A agricultural guestworker program. Photo Credit: Echando Raices/Taking Root.

> Read more of AFSC's response here.

Changes Reduce Wages and Labor Protections

In February, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new regulations to change the H-2A guestworker program, which they claim will make it easier for farmers to obtain a much-needed workforce through legal channels. However, the proposed regulations significantly reduce the wages of agricultural guest-workers and weaken the already modest labor protections.

The proposed regulations mandate the use of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) database in order to calculate the wages of the workers. According to advocacy organizations Farmworker Justice and United Farm Workers (UFW), the use of the flawed BLS surveys significantly reduce workers' wages.

Congressional Leaders Urge Withdrawal of Proposed Regulations

Last month five senior members of the House of Representatives, including Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao urging the DOL to withdraw the proposed H-2A regulations.

The proposed regulations "fly in the face of the very purpose" of the DOL, wrote the House members, which is to promote and foster the welfare of the wage earners in the U.S. and improve their working conditions.

Needed Reforms Must Not Compromise Worker Rights

AFSC emphasizes that much-needed reform to the H-2A program must not compromise worker rights and also ensure that all workers are protected and treated in compliance with national labor standards. Furthermore, any changes to the H-2A program should involve the oversight and leadership of appropriate Congressional leaders and committees charged with safeguarding worker rights and labor protections.

AFSC will monitor the unfolding discussion and work with faith and other organizations including community organizations and unions to ensure that the nation's workers are protected. We will remain attentive and continue to speak in support of policy proposals and humane measures, which strengthen the rights of all workers and remain true to the nation's founding principles of due process and justice.

Congress' Deadline for Fence Falls Short of Border Reality

2008-04-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

Legal Hurdle Side-stepped For Now

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Developments in lawsuits between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Texas landowners indicate that the Congressional timeline for border fence construction fails to account for residents' rights. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found "difficulties in acquiring rights to border lands" as a factor in problems meeting deadlines for the border fence.

DHS Announces Waiver of Environmental Laws to Build Fence

Furthermore, DHS has announced that it will waive federal environmental laws to move forward in the building of the 670 miles of border fence. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said the waiver "represents an extreme abuse of authority" (Washington Post). During yesterday's DHS oversight hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the fence "seemed to be a mean-spirited and costly effort" especially to landowners.

DHS sued 50 Texas landowners who oppose government requests to grant survey access to their private property. Over 25 landowners testified at a federal hearing that the government made no attempt to negotiate a price for accessing their land before the lawsuit began (Houston Chronicle).

University Reaches Agreement with DHS for Access to Campus

In a landmark move, DHS dismissed its lawsuit against the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB-TSC) last month after the parties reached an agreement hours before a scheduled court appearance. Judge Hanen hopes that the agreement will serve as a model for similar cases. However, the DHS lawsuits with other landowners remain unresolved.

Enforcement-Only Bills Fail to Heed Lessons from Texas

Despite opposition to the border fence from South Texas residents, members of Congress continue to push for an enforcement-only approach that fails to offer constructive solutions for immigration reform. This month, ten Senators introduced a package of enforcement-only bills.

The package includes the Complete the Fence Act (S. 2712) introduced by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC). The bill would require DHS to complete at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border by December 31, 2010.

Senators Disagree: Call Enforcement-Only Bills "Unworkable" and "Unbalanced"

The enforcement-only bill package received criticism from Senators who played critical roles in previous immigration debates. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), said his colleagues are offering "unworkable solutions to complex immigration issues that only make the problem worse." Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said while "mainstream America knows full well that the immigration system is broken, they also recognize that "an unbalanced, narrow approach won't fix it."

AFSC Calls for Upholding the Rights and Dignity of Border Residents

The American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) decades of work with allies and communities along the southern border include programs in California, Texas and Arizona. AFSC's on-the-ground-work with communities most directly impacted by DHS physical changes to the terrain and to the community ignores the voices and quality of life of border residents, many who have lived in the area for decades.

AFSC reiterates its call for constructive and humane solutions to immigration issues including policies that are rooted in support the human rights of, the environment including the natural habitat of local wildlife endangered animals, and the quality of life of communities and families that have lived along the U.S. border for decades.

A Face for Change: Luissana Santibanez

2008-03-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Meet Luissana Santibanez (24), an immigrant rights advocate in Austin, Texas. The Open Society Institute recently named her one of the 2008 Soros Justice Fellows among 18 criminal justice advocates. Santibanez plans to build a Texas-based network of former immigrant detainees and raise support for policies to protect their rights (Austin American-Statesman).

"Our goal is providing support and amplifying the voices of former detainees and their families in the broader immigration debate," said Santibanez. "We believe there hasn't been enough attention given to immigration detention."

"Luissana always brings a fresh opinion to our program and we work closely with her on local issues dealing with immigration including the Hutto Detention Center," said AFSC Austin Program Coordinator Josefina Castillo. Santibanez became an AFSC partner through the Texas-based human rights organization Colectivo Flatlander and joined the AFSC Area Program Committee last year.

Photo: Luissana Santibanez (left) works with colleagues during a Colectivo Flatlander "Life with Dignity Workshop" (Taller Vida Digna) (photo courtesy of Josefina Castillo).

An Advocate's Personal Story

Santibanez's commitment draws from her personal experience. She cares for three siblings, all U.S. citizens, while studying at the University of Texas. Her mother, Sergia Santibanez was deported last year. "I am forced to raise my siblings without the love and guidance of the one person we need most in our lives," she said.

"Luissana's case is the perfect example of the harsh impacts of the 1996 immigration law," explained Paromita Shah, associate director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. "It never gave her mother her day in court," said Shah. >To learn more about her case click here.

Support Luissana's Work for Immigrant Rights

To learn how you can support Luissana's work for immigrants' rights in Austin please contact AFSC Austin Program Director Josefina Castillo at jcastillo@afsc.org.

Photo: Luissana brought presents and holiday cheer to children detained in the Hutto Detention Center last December.

Take Action to Stop the Detention of Children and Families

Luissana's future work will draw attention to the difficult reality of immigrants who have been detained. Despite the attention drawn to the increased number of raids and deportations, the most recent Congressional proposal is a disturbing repeat of failed policies.

The SAVE Act (H.R. 4088), also known as the Schuler-Tancredo bill, now under consideration in Congress increases the imprisonment of children and families. The bill would create a family detention space modeled after the infamous Hutto Detention Center in Texas.

This facility houses 400 detainees. Half of these are children who are part of refugee families seeking political asylum after fleeing persecution in their home countries.

Meanwhile the bill fails to address concerns about the treatment of those who are already in detention. On March 11, members of Congress filed a "discharge petition," which would force the House to vote on this flawed bill without review by a committee.

Call your Representative today; contact the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-2141.

Ask your Representative's office to:

Oppose the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088) discharge petition. Please do not let our taxpayer dollars fund the imprisonment of children and their families.

We need evenhanded and humane solutions, not impractical and unreasonable policies.

Immigration and Community Values

2008-03-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Alternative media is reaching out to engage youth and the rest of the nation in voicing their support for values, which respect the individual, honor the principles of inclusion and promote unity. The Movement Vision Lab Video Contest is just one of these recent efforts.

The Movement Vision Lab is holding a national contest to engage the public in voicing their thoughts about immigration and promoting dialogue between immigrants and non-immigrant communities.

Cast Your Vote

Watch the finalists' videos by clicking here. Post a comment stating which video you like most and why. The comment period lasts two weeks. Vote for the video that you think best tells America that, immigrants and citizens alike, we're all in it together!

Preview a Video on Raids

The finalist featured below focuses on the reality of raids. The video includes media coverage of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raid in Van Nuys, California last month.

"Undocumented Irish Are Not So Lucky"

2008-03-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

"Today's undocumented Irish are not so lucky," Emmy Award-winning actress Fionnula Flanagan said at this year's St. Patrick's event honoring the Top 100 Irish Americans. Flanagan knows how easily a person can fall out of status from her experience as an undocumented immigrant in the United States. (Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform). Flanagan called on Irish Americans to contact their legislators and support immigration reform.

Irish Share Struggle with Recent Immigrants

Flanagan recognized the shared struggle for fair immigration policies. "Over the years, when asked, I have lent my name and whatever support I could to a variety of organizations in southern California which have championed sanctuary and the rights of immigrants who come largely from Central America. Their struggle is not easy and the bias against them is horrendous," she said.

"We must not turn our backs on people because it is not fashionable to support them. We must not forget those who are less fortunate than ourselves," said Flanagan.

"Newcomers should be welcomed and embraced by our community, not pushed to the fringes. Ask the Irish about that one," wrote Sister Susan Lena Deevy, Executive Director of the Irish Immigration Center in the Boston Herald.

Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform Meets with White House

According to the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, there are an estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in the United States. Representatives of the group recently met with top-level White House advisors to press for action on immigration policies.

Will You Join the March for Fair Laws?

2008-03-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

by Sara Ibrahim and Daniela Martinez Moreno,
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

A Call to Put Faith before Fear

This Palm Sunday neighbors and clergy members began an annual week-long Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace in North Carolina in Representative Heath Schuler's (D-NC) home district. These residents believe that Representative Schuler's bill, the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088), fails to represent their faith values.

The SAVE Act "would force all workers, including citizens, to prove they have a right to earn a living - bad idea compounded by the notoriously bad state of federal government records," according to the New York Times. This week's march calls on Schuler and other North Carolina leaders to take an alternative approach, which welcomes immigrants, changes immigration policies and respects family unity.

House Members Try to Force Vote on Bad Bill

The timing of the Pilgrimage coincides with a move by members of Congress to march forward on this bad bill. On March 11, House members led by Representative Thelma Drake (R-VA) began circulating a discharge petition that would force the SAVE Act out of committee and onto the House floor for a vote if signed by 218 members.

How You Can March in Solidarity

You can take the lead of our friends in North Carolina by taking action. "The Pilgrimage is an annual tradition here in North Carolina during Holy Week as a way to 'live out our faith' and express solidarity with immigrant families," said Antonio Vasquez of AFSC Charlotte.

Take a Minute to Stop H.R. 4088

Call your Representative's office today at (202) 225 - 3141 (Capitol Switchboard). Ask your Representative to oppose the SAVE Act discharge petition. > Click here for the Action Alert.

Please take a minute to log your call by visiting the AFSC webpage and entering your zip code.

Support the Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace

For more information on the Pilgrimage for Justice and Peace in North Carolina led by the Carolina Interfaith Taskforce on Central America and supported by AFSC contact Antonio Vasquez at (704) 568 - 3602 or avasquez@afsc.org. > Click here for the Pilgrimage schedule.

"SAVE" Immigration Bill Repeat of Past Disappointments

2008-03-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which advocates for constructive and humane immigration policies, considers the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE) another disappointment because it is grounded in political posturing and rehashes ill-conceived, punitive positions from previous Congressional debates.

"The SAVE Act puts our civil liberties and the privacy of all workers at risk," says Esther Nieves, director of Project Voice, AFSC's national immigrants' rights program. "Political expediency and partisan tactics seem to be the order of the day. It is critical that the public contact legislators and advocate for more evenhanded and sensible policies."

The Service Committee monitors Congressional discussions and finds the SAVE Act to be unworkable, specifically because it steps up the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, enacts an impractical national employment verification program, and blurs the line between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. It is particularly unfortunate that this bill has support in Congress given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of this election year.

AFSC has issued a national action alert and regional AFSC offices have taken local actions urging the public to press for a bipartisan dialogue leading to achievable immigration legislation. The Service Committee continues to call for feasible solutions that include a path to lawful permanent residency, fair labor laws and policies that keep families together.

The American Friends Service Committee supports the rights and dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status. Project Voice, the AFSC immigrants' rights initiative, works to uplift migrant voices and strengthen efforts of migrant-led organizations to set an agenda for fair and humane national public policies. AFSC has 90 years experience working with immigrants and refugees and presently works with immigrants in 18 communities in fourteen states and in 22 countries around the world.

>Take Action

Disturbing Pattern of ICE Raids Questioned by Leaders

2008-03-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

On February 25, a labor-union commission held its first hearing to review the raids that ICE conducted on December 12, 2006 in six Swift meat-processing plants throughout the country. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) formed the commission to examine the policies and practices used by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) during work-site enforcement operations. According to the Washington Post, the ICE raids at the Swift plants raised due process and constitutional rights concerns.

The commission will draft a report based on hearings that it will hold throughout the country and distribute the report's findings to elected leaders and the public. The report will also include policy action recommendations.

Swift Plant Employee Testifies at Congressional Hearing

The UFCW-held meeting mirrors a February 13th House Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law Subcommittee hearing that raised serious concerns regarding the detention and deportation of individuals who are arbitrarily swept up in ICE worksite and home raids. Michael Graves, member of the UFCW International Union and a Swift plant employee in Marshalltown (Iowa) was one of the seven witnesses at the hearing.

Mr. Graves gave a chilling account of his experience the day ICE raided Marshalltown's Swift plant. He recounted how he and hundreds of his co-workers were detained for 8 hours without food or water. In addition, they were not given the opportunity to contact their families, union representatives or lawyers.

According to Mr. Graves, "No one in this country, regardless of their status, should be treated the way we were treated at the Marshalltown Swift plant or any of the Swift plants. Working is not a crime, and workers do not leave their constitutional rights at the plant gate."

Witnesses Reveal Harsh Reality Behind Raids, Detentions and Deportations

Other witnesses at the February 13th hearing represented a broad spectrum of organizations, including some involved in lawsuits regarding the deportation of U.S. citizens. Their statements shed light on how U.S. citizens, such as Mr. Graves, are apprehended in worksite raids and sometimes even deported.

Mistakes have increased as state and local prisons with limited or little experience in complex immigration matters screen individuals apprehended in ICE raids, according to Rachel E. Rosenbloom, a Human Rights Fellow at the Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice. "[W]ith increasing cooperation between local and state law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the review of an individual's immigration status is now frequently made by law enforcement officers with minimal training in immigration law," she said.

Congressional Leaders Raise Serious Concerns Regarding Racial Profiling

Throughout the hearing, there were significant discrepancies between the testimony of Gary Mead, Deputy Director at ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations, and the remarks made by both members of Congress and other key witnesses. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) countered Mr. Mead's assertion that the agency does not target individuals based on nationality.

Representative Gutierrez noted the raid of a public mall in Chicago's Little Village community area. According to Congressman Gutierrez, the ICE official who oversaw the raid "went with the U.S. attorney standing next to her and said, 'We were determined to walk into this mall and detain every Hispanic male between the ages of 18 and 45.'" Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) also raised concerns that Latinos have been a principal target of ICE raids over the last twelve months.

Organizations and Congress Members Insist on Answers

In order to ensure that due process, and the civil rights of immigrant and non-immigrant workers are duly protected, the UFCW, civil rights groups and Congressional leaders have pledged to continue to challenge ICE and pressure for institutional accountability and transparency. This includes making sure that the wrongful deportation of a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident does not occur.

Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), chair of the House Immigration Subcommittee, explained that on June 26, 2007, she forwarded a letter to ICE for answers on the case of Pedro Guzman, a U.S. citizen from Los Angeles who was deported to Mexico in May 2007. According to Representative Lofgren, she received a "perfunctory response more than a month later with no answers, and at best an apathetic attitude towards protecting U.S. citizens from deportation."

Action Alert: STOP the SAVE Act Today

2008-02-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

After last year's heated immigration debate that failed to produce new immigration laws, many in Congress are trying to pass enforcement-only measures that will make life worse for immigrant families and all U.S. workers.

The latest is the so-called SAVE (Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement) Act, currently being considered in the House of Representatives.

Please call your Representative today to stop the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088) a deportation-only immigration proposal.

Find your representative's number, find talking points for your call, and tell us about your call on our web site or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Ask to be connected to your representative's office and tell them:

Please say NO to H.R. 4088! I oppose the SAVE Act. I want humane immigration reform that protects our rights. The SAVE Act (H.R. 4088):

Hurts every U.S. worker by using a faulty verification system for all workers, without safeguarding their labor rights and privacy.

Increases imprisonment of children by expanding family detention space without addressing concern about the way the government treats those who are already detained, including children and their families.
Wastes taxpayer dollars by putting resources toward ineffective border fencing without addressing the root causes of migration.

At a time when our nation's economy is frail and weakened, we urge you to support immigration policies which that stop the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, produce humane and sensible solutions, and keep immigrant families together.

Please share this alert with friends, colleagues, and your community networks. Have them call today.

In the past year, we have produced thousands of calls and emails promoting a more humane and fair immigration policy. Thank you all for your ongoing support.

Stepping Forward for Children's Health

2008-02-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

March Celebrates Rule to Protect Schools from Pesticides

Martin Cuevas of AFSC's Farm Labor Program, Proyecto Campesino, (pictured above) participates in a historic quarter mile march in Plainview, CA on February 20th. Photo Credit: John Tipton, Noticiero Semanal.

The march commemorated a new regulation enacted this year in Tulare County. The rule prohibits aerial spraying of pesticides within a quarter mile of residential areas, occupied labor camps, or schools in session within 24 hours of the pesticide application (Fresno Bee). Participants included local residents and advocacy organizations including AFSC, the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment and Californians for Pesticide Reform (The Portville Recorder).

"Pesticide exposure affects learning," said AFSC Proyecto Campesino Program Coordinator Graciela Martinez. Pesticide drift caused over one-third of pesticide-related illnesses at California schools between 1996 to 2005, according to an Associated Press report. The report found 590 pesticide-related illnesses at schools within those years.

Participants in the march walked a quarter mile to demonstrate how far the spraying should occur from schools. No federal law exists to ban pesticide spraying near schools. Advocacy organizations in California are lobbying for state-wide laws.

Organizers March Onward to Safeguard Children

"There is still a lot of work to be done," said Martinez. "One of the next steps is to attempt to keep schools from being built in ag-surrounded areas," she said.

AFSC Proyecto Campesino and its allies in the San Joaquin Valley area plan to work next on ground application of pesticides. State law still allows ground-based spraying of pesticides in residential areas and around schools (Fresno Bee).

To learn more about AFSC Proyecto Campesino click here.

Mount Rainier Strives to Find Voice in Immigration Debate

2008-02-21T09:56:00.000-08:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Mount Rainier, a city of 9,000 in Prince George's County, Maryland, did not pass Ordinance 2-2008 during a scheduled vote on February 19 after council members Alta Morton, Bryan Knedler and Mayor Malinda Miles voted to table the ordinance indefinitely. Council member Jimmy Tarlau, who supports the ordinance, explains that "after receiving a good many e-mails and listening to the public comment, I believe our community is divided on this issue so there is in fact no mandate on how to vote."

The ordinance, proposed by Mount Rainier City Council Member Pedro Briones, reaffirms the city's tradition of respecting the human rights and dignity of all residents and establishes city policy regarding federal immigration laws. The legislation would also prohibit "any agent officer, employee, contractor or subcontractor of the City" from assisting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Bureau of Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE) in "any investigation or arrest of any persons based solely on their immigration status."

Ordinance Draws Support During Public Hearing

Ordinance 2-2008 received sound support from community members during a February 12 public hearing at Mount Rainier City Hall. One community member said he was "proud of Mount Rainier for considering adopting this ordinance." Another resident affirmed that "this ordinance is in standing with who we are at Mount Rainier."

The hearing also drew the attention of a number of elected officials, state groups and individuals from outside the area. Maryland State Delegate Victor Ramirez (D-Prince George's County) and Prince George Councilman Will Campos encouraged Mount Rainier officials to approve the ordinance and to take a stance against the anti-immigrant rhetoric. American University law professor Jayesh Rathod suggested that, from a legal perspective, Mount Rainier should pass the ordinance because it could protect documented immigrants as well as undocumented immigrants.

Absence of Federal Legislation a Persistent Community Concern

At the same time, a number of community members opposed the idea of the Mt. Rainier City Council tackling the issue of immigration. One community member argued during the hearing that the City Council should not address an issue that she considers strictly federal. Another resident said that "it is not the right time to pass this resolution" and suggested the need for an on-going dialogue between the community members before such an ordinance is considered.

Community Hopes to Reflect on Valuable Lessons and Move Forward

Despite the Council's decision to table Ordinance 2-2008, Councilman Tarlau found the experience educational. Though he recognizes that the community is divided on the issue and that immigration laws are a federal issue, he believes that "how we deal with diversity in our community is definitely a local issue."

"I firmly believe that passing an ordinance that states that we will not ask questions about people's immigration status puts us on record that we think the immigration laws in this country are broken and that we are a community that welcomes immigrants into a community," said Councilman Tarlau. "At the end of the day we all want to work together to improve our City and I will continue to work hard to do that."

You can join the many voices that support Mount Rainier's effort to uphold the inherent value and dignity of every member of its community:

Contact Council members Pedro Briones and Jimmy Tarlau and thank them for supporting the human rights and dignity of all Mount Rainier residents regardless of their immigration status:

- Pedro Briones: 301-277-1833
- Jimmy Tarlau: 301-335-6099

Changes to Border Fence Language Debated As Property Owners Oppose Intrusion

2008-02-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R-TX) amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) signed into law last month caused a flurry of action in the House of Representatives. Provisions in Hutchison's amendment:

- Require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, States, local government, Indian tribes, and property owners in the United States to minimize the impact on the environment, culture, commerce, and quality of life for the communities and residents located near the sites" of fence construction;

- Mandate the construction of 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, out of which 370 miles must be completed by the end of 2008; and,

- Provide the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion to determine whether or not the placement of fencing along an international border of the United States is "the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location".

According to the Senator, her amendment takes a positive step towards construction of the border fence by requiring consultation with landowners and local elected officials, many of whom feel ignored by the federal government as it continues to plan the building of 130 miles of fencing in Texas (Houston Chronicle).

In addition, the Senator claims that all eight Senators representing the four border states - Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) - are co-sponsors of the amendment's border-fence language.

A number of border fence proponents in Congress criticized Hutchison's amendment for changing the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which mandates the construction of 700 miles of double-layered, reinforced border fencing. However, Senator Hutchison asserts that her amendment is not about whether or not the fence will be constructed, but when and how it will be constructed.

House Members Target Hutchison Amendment

In response to Senator Hutchison's amendment, three members of the House of Representatives introduced border-enforcement bills that modify or repeal certain sections of the amendment.

On January 15, Representative Jim Marshall (D-GA) introduced the Immigration Law Corrections Act of 2008 (H.R. 4960). This bill strikes a paragraph in the Hutchison amendment, which gives the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion regarding border fence placement.

The following day, Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Peter King (R-NY), the original sponsor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, introduced the "Fence by Date Certain Act" (H.R. 4987). Representative Jones argued that Hutchison's amendment weakens the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (H.R. 6061) by stripping its requirement that the fencing be double-layered at specific areas of the border, and completed by certain dates. His bill requires 700 miles of double-layered fencing to be constructed by June 30, 2009.

On January 23, Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), author of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 fencing provisions, introduced the "Reinstatement of the Secure Fence Act of 2008" (H.R. 5124). Representative Hunter's bill strips the provision in Senator Hutchison's amendment that requires the Department of Homeland Security to consult with the local government, Indian tribes, and U.S. property owners. In addition, the proposed legislation mandates the construction of at least 700 miles of double-layered border fencing in locations determined by the Secretary of DHS within 6 months of the bill's enactment.

Representative Hunter inaccurately claims that "consultation" language could open fence construction to many challenges. The language in the Hutchison amendment does not require that DHS abide by decisions of the consultation.

Hutchison Amendment Does Little for Locals Protesting Border Fence

Regardless of Hutchison's amendment, the failure of a recent lawsuit involving DHS fence construction indicates that local community efforts to stop construction of the fence face an uphill struggle. On January 30, the Justice Department sued six Texas property owners in Cameron County who refused to grant DHS access to their land for border fence surveying (Houston Chronicle). Their collective action came in defiance of Brownsville Federal District Court Judge Andrew Hanen's rule on January 29 requiring that the property owners allow DHS officials access to their land.

Border town community members and local officials alike continue to be frustrated by DHS attempts to disrupt their way of life by imposing the construction of a fence. Whether double-layered or not, building a fence at the border has never proven to be a long-term, practical solution to the immigration dilemma. Once again, local property owners and border communities are receiving the brunt end of the deal as their quality of life is disturbed and altered.

The State of the Union: Seven Years of Unfilled Promises on Immigration Reform

2008-01-30T15:13:00.000-08:00

Did this year's State of the Union address sound all too familiar?

Since 2004, President Bush mentioned immigration reform in every State of the Union address. However, those remarks and not a change to the nation's broken immigration system may remain his only legacy on immigration, according to commentators (Washington Post).

A Walk down Memory Lane: Immigration in the State of the Union Address

Over the past four years, the President spoke consistently about an immigration system that reflects the nation's values, a temporary worker program, and border enforcement measures. "America's immigration system is also outdated - unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country," the President stated in his 2005 address.

Last year, President Bush pressed Congress to reach an agreement on immigration policy. "Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration. Let us have a serious, civil, and conclusive debate, so that you can pass, and I can sign, comprehensive immigration reform into law," he said.

This year, the President failed to press Congress to address immigration, and side-stepped the issue expressing that it is, "complicated, but can be resolved." This tacit observation by the outgoing President is surely a message for the next administration since it will have to lead the policy discourse on this critical domestic concern, a perspective shared with some members of Congress.

As he also pointedly remarked during his address, "Yet, history will record that amid our differences, we acted with purpose." Unfortunately, the White House and Congressional leaders did not hammer out clear, rationale or long-term solutions. Instead, an increasing number of punitive and enforcement-focused measures were at the core of the Bush Administration's immigration principles.

Looking Ahead: A "Sensible and Humane" Approach Long Overdue

Four years ago, when the President sought the public's support for immigration reform, he specified that a temporary worker program would include "a path to citizenship for those that respect the law." However, since then he has never mentioned a path to citizenship in his subsequent State of the Union addresses to the nation.

This year, and for the first time, the President specified support for a "sensible and humane" way to address the situation of immigrants living and working in the U.S. without employment authorization. Looking ahead, Congressional leaders will need to arrive at the bipartisan negotiating table with clarity and vision that helps bring the immigration discourse to a fruitful conclusion and which ultimately leads to sensible policies and humane legislation.

Outgoing President Bush has failed to press Congress for a resolution this year. This current situation, however, has not deterred immigrant and refugee communities in their continued efforts to advocate for tangible results which end the broken record of promises, fix the nation's outdated immigration system, keeps families together and leads to an economically vibrant and inclusive nation for all.

Speaking Truth against Immigrant Bashing

2008-01-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

"This is the most mean-spirited piece of legislation I have seen in my 30 years down here," said Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) about an English-only bill introduced this month in the Virginia Senate. The bill (SB 339), introduced by Virginia State Senator Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax), allows employers to fire employees for "inability" to speak English at the workplace and deny them unemployment benefits.

"I am appalled that my state senator ... has proposed legislation that would create a climate of fear..." wrote Dick Lessard of Centreville, Virginia. The bill targets immigrants authorized to work in the U.S. since undocumented employees are already ineligible for unemployment benefits. "If a job requires command of English, then an employer should assess applicants' language skills before making a job offer, not after," Lessard wrote.

Senator Cuccinelli said that he drafted the bill after one employer complained that his unemployment taxes increased because he fired an employee who did not learn English. However, when questioned, Cuccinelli could not recall the employer's name (Washington Post).

An editorial in yesterday's Washington Post describes the bill as based on blame-shifting, overzealousness and xenophobia. "Mr. Cuccinelli's bill rates poor English as an offense on a par with substance abuse, lying about past criminal convictions, missing work and committing infractions that cost an employer his business license - all of them equal grounds for denying unemployment benefits to a fired worker. That's absurd on its face," writes the Post.

"This odious immigrant bashing rhetoric ignores the daily contribution of hard working immigrants to the Virginia economy," said Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana, Area Director of AFSC's DC Peace and Economic Justice Program. "I wonder if at the end of the day, the legislators drafting anti-immigrant bills ask whether the food they enjoy in a restaurant, the beautiful houses they live in, and the clean floors of their offices are the work of English speaking-only Americans," he said.

A Minute of your Time: Speak Out!

Write a letter to the editor thanking the Washington Post for the editorial entitled "Second Class Citizens." Let them know that you are one more voice speaking out against xenophobia and the immigrant-bashing legislation recently introduced in Virginia.

E-mail your letter to us so that we can include it in our immigrant rights e-newsletter and share it with other advocates and communities. E-mail sibrahim@afsc.org.

Hurry to Wait: The Naturalization Bureaucracy Wall

2008-01-25T06:37:00.000-08:00

"Were we caught off guard by the volume? Let's just say it was anticipated it would increase. It was not anticipated it would increase by that much," said Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- (Associated Press - November 2007)

Complete your application forms and have the required fees, photographs and fingerprints in hand and wait your turn. If only the U.S. naturalization process was as simple as it was supposed to be! Now, thousands of applicants - after rushing to apply before a major fee increase was imposed - are now expected to wait for months on end due to the significant backlog in the processing and review of naturalization applications.

Several days ago, the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and Immigration Law held a hearing on the delays and problems in the naturalization application process. According to Subcommittee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), "This should not have been a surprise. It was totally predictable," the Baltimore Sun reports.

Unfortunately, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) now estimate an 18-month backlog in the processing of the naturalization applications that have already been received. A significant number of current permanent residents filed their naturalization application hoping to vote in the upcoming November election - their first opportunity to exercise their voting rights as newly minted voters. Little did they realize they would be facing yet another barrier in this process.

The public outcry, delays and waiting period has drawn the attention of Congressional leaders who are troubled with this situation.

Action Needed: Recommendations

Addressing the current naturalization backlog requires focus, institutional coordination and cooperation. This is possible if the USCIS is truly committed to resolving this bureaucratic impasse. These steps include:

Monitor USCIS to ensure that an expeditious and efficient process is implemented in the review and approval process.
The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and Immigration Law should hold quarterly hearings or receive written reports from USCIS officials to ensure that progress has been made, and to address any ongoing gaps that limit the expeditious processing of naturalization applications.
The public should contact Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and urge her leadership and encourage the Committee to request monthly reports in which information is provided on the number of applications reviewed and processed, and the number of individuals who have taken the oath of citizenship.

REAL ID Regulations Anything but "Final"

2008-01-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

On January 11, nearly three years after enactment of the REAL ID Act of 2005, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released final regulations establishing minimum standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards. These regulations received a mixed reception including criticism from several members of Congress.

The final rule requires all individuals under the age of 50 to carry REAL-ID compliant driver's licenses and identification cards by the year 2014 in order for those documents to be accepted for federal purposes. Individuals over the age of 50 will have until the year 2017 to obtain these forms of identifications.

A Series of Extensions for Implementation of REAL ID

States have 60 days to apply for an extension for the implementation of REAL ID after the final rule is published in the Federal Register. States that apply will be granted an extension until December 31, 2009.

By May 11, 2008, a driver's license or identification card issued by a state that has not applied for an extension will not be accepted by federal agencies for official purposes. The final rule defines "official purposes" as "access to Federal facilities, boarding Federally-regulated commercial aircraft, entry into nuclear power plants, and such other purposes as established by the Secretary of Homeland Security".

The final regulations establish a procedure for states to apply for an additional extension by October 11, 2009, provided that they demonstrate they have achieved "certain milestones towards compliance with the Act and the final rule," specified in the DHS REAL ID Final Regulations. DHS will grant the second extension until May 11, 2011, at which time the state must begin issuing fully compliant REAL ID driver's licenses and identification cards.

States Stand in Opposition to REAL ID

DHS asserts that states are not mandated to participate in REAL ID. Individuals from states that do not choose to issue REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses and identification cards can still present other forms of acceptable identification - such as a U.S. passport - for official purposes, according to DHS.

In 2007, several states enacted legislation prohibiting compliance with REAL ID including Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina.

Members of Congress Oppose REAL ID

Several members of Congress spoke in opposition to REAL ID after DHS issued the final regulations. Both Senators Tester and Max Baucus (D-MT) reaffirmed their opposition to REAL ID. Senator Baucus emphasized the need to safeguard the country's security without compromising the privacy of Americans.

Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and John E. Sununu (R-NH) also expressed disappointment over the final regulations released by DHS. Representative Tom Allen (D-ME) responded to the final REAL ID regulations by stating, "REAL ID imposes a costly mandate on states that require them to gather, scan, and retain personal information about everyone who seeks a driver's license or identification card, raising serious privacy concerns".

Senators Akaka and Sununu are co-sponsors of the Identification Security Enhancement Act of 2007 (S. 717), a bill that would repeal Title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005 and reinstitute section 7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Representative Allen (D-ME) is the sponsor of H.R. 1117, the House version of the Identification Security Enhancement Act of 2007.

Organizations Find REAL ID Problems Unresolved

Barry Steinhardt and Tim Sparapani of the American Civil Liberties Union stated that by delaying the implementation of REAL ID, DHS seems to have passed the problems of the statute on future administrations. The ACLU also argues that the final regulations fail to address many of the concerns raised by the more than 21,000 comments that the DHS received during the comment period. According to David Quam, director of federal relations for the National Governors Association, the final regulations "put us at the beginning of the process, not the end" (Washington Post).

Immigration Not Wedge Issue in New Hampshire's Primary

2008-01-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

What issues did voters consider in the recently held New Hampshire primary? According to CNN and New York Times exit polls, the economy and the war on Iraq ranked as the top two issues for voters of both parties. Although Republicans rated undocumented immigration third, the percentage fell from 33 percent during the Iowa caucuses to 22 percent in New Hampshire (Houston Chronicle).

Both Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), who won the New Hampshire primary and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), who won the Iowa caucuses support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (Pew Forum). A University of Iowa poll (March 2007) found that the majority of Iowans support a path to citizenship. The majority of voters favoring New Hampshire primary winner Senator John McCain (R-AZ), also support an opportunity for undocumented immigrants to apply for citizenship (NY Times).

Moreover, according to the Houston Chronicle, TV campaign ads critical of McCain's support of immigration reform did not set back his bid for New Hampshire, and in fact, worked in his favor. In exit polls taken, the majority of Republican candidate Governor Mitt Romney's supporters ranked undocumented immigration as the top issue (NY Times).

Following the primary results, Republican candidate Mike Huckabee retracted previous statements in which he expressed support for a change in the Constitution's 14th amendment which would deny citizenship to the US-born children of undocumented immigrants. Among its stipulations the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to those born on U.S. soil.

Whether immigration will rank higher in upcoming primaries remains uncertain, but one point resonates - anti-immigrant rhetoric fails. Despite a misguided anti-immigrant fervor, the majority of the American public continue to support a humane solution to the nation's out-of-date immigration system.