Undocumented Immigration
Latinos in America, CNN and Refocusing the Immigration Issue
Much has been made of CNN’s seemingly conflicted programming on immigration—on one hand is CNN host Lou Dobbs, unofficial Director of Demagoguery who broadcasts misinformed anti-immigrant rhetoric on a nightly basis; and on the other hand is CNN’s latest documentary, Latinos in America, a two-part series hosted by Soledad O'Brien which takes a closer look at “how Latinos are changing America and how America is changing Latinos.” While many immigration advocates argue CNN “can’t have it both ways,” senior executive producer and vice president of CNN’s documentary unit, Mark Nelson, is angry. He argues that his documentary, Latinos in America, is about Latinos, not Dobbs: Read More
Senator Vitter’s Amendment is Gumming Up the Census
By now, we’ve grown accustomed to Senators attempting to score political points at home through anti-immigration amendments, regardless of the topic of the underlying bill. Still, Senator David Vitter’s amendment to the Commerce, Justice and State appropriations legislation, which would cut off financing for the 2010 Census unless the survey includes questions about immigration status, is pretty convoluted—especially for a politician from a state still struggling to recover from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Read More
New Report Trumpets Irrelevant Opinion Poll to Bash Immigration Reform
Any serious researcher would probably tell you that trying to use a single public-opinion poll to gauge the likely impact of a policy initiative as complex as immigration reform is about as reliable as consulting a psychic. Yet that is precisely what some opponents of comprehensive immigration reform are now attempting to do. For instance, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is trumpeting the results of a poll conducted in Mexico to suggest that creating a pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States would trigger a tsunami of illegal immigration from south of the border. CIS completely ignores the fact that the last legalization program in 1986 did not spur an increase in unauthorized immigration (it actually reduced it in the short run). Instead, CIS acts as if popular beliefs and attitudes about immigration among Mexican citizens are a means of predicting the future. But popular perceptions are no substitute for hard data—and the data is not on CIS’s side. Read More
Old Dogs, Old Tricks: Nativist Groups Declare War on Clergy
Nativist groups are pulling an old strategy out of their play book as they attack members of the clergy. This tired exercise includes identifying a constituency that is in support of solving our nation’s immigration problems (currently the religious community), coordinating with other like-minded groups to disseminate faulty arguments (this time using the bible to condemn immigrants), claiming to be acting in the name of someone other than your self (in this case the American worker), and finally going after them with all the fervor you can muster to convince them that the bible preaches against helping strangers, that leaving the status quo in place is good for American workers and see how many spiritual leaders you can peel off. Read More
Rep. Luis Gutierrez Lays Out Principles for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Today, more than 3,000 people from across the nation gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrants and their families, veterans and clergy met with Congressional offices and gathered for an afternoon vigil at the Church of Reformation on Capitol Hill to share stories about those facing deportation, family separation and personal struggles with our broken immigration system. Today’s rally culminated on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol where Rep. Luis Gutierrez, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force, laid out core principles for a comprehensive reform bill he plans to introduce in the House in the months ahead. Read More
Restrictionist Group Uses Bible to Condemn Immigrants
For many years now, religious leaders and diverse faith groups have contributed much to the ongoing immigration debate. Grounded in faith and good works, the faith community has been and continues to be steadfast in their outreach to immigrants through a myriad of support and service programs, faith rallies and support of those in need. That being said, there are restrictionist groups who would rather sully the debate by co-opting faith-based terminology and tease anti-immigrant agendas out of Scripture. Yesterday, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) held such a panel discussion on the immigration debate from a faith-based perspective. CIS Fellow, James R. Edwards Jr., an apparent biblical scholar, was on hand to discuss his recently released report, A Biblical Perspective on Immigration Policy—the latest in a series of CIS publications on faith which writes off “compassion” as the practice of “religious elites” and attempts to speak for the majority of “rank-and-file” Christian laity who apparently “oppose legalization and support enforcement of immigration laws.” Edwards’ report attempts to examine the biblical role of civil government. Read More
DHS’s Plan to Reform U.S. Immigration Detention System a Good Start
When I was a little girl, my mom posted a sign in our kitchen which read, “If you want to change the world, start with your own little corner.” It’s possible that Dr. Dora Schriro, author of the Immigration Detention Overview and Recommendations report released today by DHS, grew up with a similar motto. Her concise report systematically documents and critiques the legendary shortcomings and tragic consequences of America’s immigration detention system. Read More
Our Immigration System Needs Solutions, Not Villains
This week, American Apparel is slated to lay off 1,800 workers from its clothing factory in Los Angeles. The impending layoffs are the result of a federal investigation which turned up irregularities in the documents workers presented when first hired by the company. The investigation itself represents a new direction in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration enforcement, one which focuses on audits of employment records rather than mass roundups and S.W.A.T.-team raids—raids which inflicted abuse and trauma on immigrants, their families and our communities. Read More
Report Shines Light on Deadly Failings of U.S. Border-Enforcement Policies
Today—on the fifteenth anniversary of “Operation Gatekeeper”—the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and Mexico’s National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH), jointly released a report which shines a much-needed spotlight on the fatal consequences of U.S. border-enforcement policies. The report, Humanitarian Crisis: Migrant Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border, describes the consistent and systematic under-counting of deaths among migrants by the U.S. Border Patrol, and draws from a wide range of sources to produce its own chilling body count: 5,607 dead from 1994 through 2008—including 725 in 2008 and 827 in 2007. As the report emphasizes, these deaths are a direct result of U.S. border-enforcement policies which fail to deter unauthorized immigrants from coming to the United States, while wasting tens of billions of taxpayer dollars on symbolic and ineffective measures such as the ill-conceived U.S.-Mexico border fence. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
