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Our immigration system is broken.
“Our immigration system is broken.” We have a serious need for balanced reform, not walls and criminalizing people said Anne Attea(right), Hispanic Ministry Leadership Team Coordinator for the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese, to a crowd of about 60 people at First Universalist Church on Sunday, March 12, 2006, where First Universalist and St. Joan of Arc co-sponsored an education and action forum on immigrants rights.
On the State level, Gov. Pawlenty recently released a controversial report that unfortunately stigmatized undocumented people by tying their presence in our community with crime and social costs. The report failed to recognize their contributions. The Governor has also proposed enforcement measures that include stiffer penalties to employers who hire undocumented workers and a statewide immigration enforcement team, a measure staunchly opposed by the Police Chiefs in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Minnesota immigrants.
Minnesota schools house a significant number of Somali students seeking a better life.
Why do they come?
Essential workers.
So why don’t the undocumented just go home and come back legally? Because there is no avenue for them to do this. The number of “legal” visas for unskilled workers is so low they are practically nonexistent. In addition, family reunification avenues are fraught with obstacles, like 3 and 10 year bars to admission and extreme waiting lines of up to 12-15 years for spouses from Mexico. (Family reunification means legal avenues by which US family members file petitions for spouses and children but the family members have to wait until a visa becomes available until they can become a legal permanent resident.)
Myths about immigrants.
Immigrants pay taxes, including income, property, sales, and business taxes, yet most are barred from receiving public assistance. Only refugees, asylees and some legal residents are eligible to receive any public benefits and even those are subject to time limits. Undocumented persons are not eligible for any public benefits, with the exception of emergency medical assistance.
Immigrants contribute more to social security than they will ever receive. They will play an integral role in financing Social Security as the U.S. population ages. A 2005 study by the Urban Institute and the Migration Policy Institute found that undocumented immigrants pay $6-7 billion in Social Security alone that they will never be able to claim.
Statistically immigrants commit no more crimes than the rest of the population, although they are constantly linked with crime. In fact, according to a study by Robert J. Sampson, professor of sociology at Harvard, “evidence points to increased immigration as a major factor associated with the lower crime rate of the 1990’s.” His study found “that immigrants appear in general to be less violent than people born in America, particularly when they live in neighborhoods with high numbers of other immigrants,” and more than half of immigrants of Mexican descent live in such neighborhoods.
Where do these myths come from? They come from organized anti-immigrant groups, the media, leaders, and public officials who prey on fear – fear of difference.
Border issues.
While professing security concerns, the U.S. has long fostered a “revolving door” policy at the border. In reality, the government “opens” and “shuts” the border depending on the economic needs of domestic economic interests.
Proposed Legislation: an appeal for comprehensive immigration reform.
Grecia Lozano is a Latino student from Chaska High School working for the Dream Act, a bill that would give better access to undocumented kids to college by allowing them to pay in-state tuition.
Attention must be called to the rights of migrants and their families and to respect for their human dignity, even in cases of non-legal immigration.” Ecclesia en America, Pope John Paul II, January 22, 1999.
Many immigrant groups, religious and labor organizations, lawyers and legal services, advocacy organizations, and businesses are working together to advocate for fair immigration legislation and policy at the local, state, and federal level that respects and protects immigrants. AFFIRM (Alliance for Fair Federal Immigration Reform of Minnesota) is an alliance of over 25 of these groups and includes ISAIAH. AFFIRM and the US Bishops’ Justice For Immigrants Campaign are appealing for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
House position -- Sensenbrenner bill
Pro-immigrant voices heard
Pro-immigrant marches have been held across the country with more than 500,000 people marching through downtown Los Angles last weekend. Marchers took to the streets in Denver, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Dallas, Columbus Ohio, and other cities. 100,000 marched in Chicago on March 11th with chants of “Si, se puede,” or “Yes, you can.” On Ash Wednesday, Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, called for civil disobedience should H.R. 4437 become law. “As his disciples, we are called to attend to the last, littlest, lowest and least in society and in the church,” he said. - (New York Times editorial) Maywood, a small Southern CA town, declared itself a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.- (Morning Edition, MPR, 3/29/06) St. Pius X Catholic Community in El Paso hung two large banners from its copper dome. The signs, visible from Interstate 10, say, “Immigrants Welcome – Oppose H.R. 4437.” - (El Paso Times 3/16/06)
The immigration debate is going on now!
Reality is that the staffers and senators continue to say that they receive many more anti-immigrant constituent contacts, some said as many as 10 (or more) to every CIR(Comprehensive Immigration Reform) contact. It must be shown to our Senators that Minnesotans in great numbers support CIR and reject Sensenbrenner's HR 4437.-
John Keller, Esq., Executive Director, Immigrant Law Center of MN
upon return from recent Lobby Day in Washington D.C.
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While the above issues remain essentially the same, the immigration debate has moved to new levels since the March 12th forum. Battle lines have been drawn between the House and the Senate.
