The following is an open letter being signed and distributed by immigrant rights organizations, leaders and activists.
What we stand for:
- Full legal, political and workers rights for ALL immigrants!
- End the deportations and reunify immigrant families!
- No to the militarization of the border!
- No program of second-class guest workers!
- No onerous fines and waiting periods for legalization!
Immigration reform is long overdue. That it has taken this many years of injustice for reform to become politically “feasible” is an indictment of a system that consistently puts profits over people, that thrives on racism and xenophobia, and fails to live up to the “human rights” standards that it preaches across the globe.
Now that the U.S. political establishment has finally decided to take up immigration reform, it is an urgent necessity that immigrants and their supporters 1) speak with clarity about what constitutes real justice, and 2) prepare to mobilize in support of these demands.
We demand equality
We believe that all workers and people of conscience should back the demand: “Full Rights for All Immigrants!” That means across-the-board equality in terms of legal and political rights, workers’ rights protections, and social benefits. To abolish the caste features of the U.S. labor market, immigrants must have the same rights that all people should enjoy.
In this spirit, we denounce all attempts to criminalize undocumented immigrants, militarize the border, and programs that institutionalize a second-class of immigrant workers.
Immigration has increased in recent years because of U.S. neoliberal policies that rob underdeveloped countries of their ability to develop and sustain their own economies. U.S. military interventions of various types have likewise had a devastating and distorting impact, causing increased migration flows. This is true from Mexico, the Philippines, Haiti, Vietnam and everywhere in between.
Thousands of people die trying to cross the border to survive. The media, government and corporations boast of the global economy that eliminates borders to enrich them. But those same companies and politicians—both Republican and Democrat—are militarizing the borders against humans and waging war on immigrant America.
The immigrant’s decision to leave the home country, often made with the heaviest of hearts, is the consequence of global economic and political policies outside of her control. If these policies are considered legal, and in fact celebrated, it is the height of hypocrisy to then turn around and criminalize immigrant workers. We believe that every worker who makes the difficult decision to migrate must be entitled to full legal rights and equal protections.
The necessity of mobilization: lessons from recent history
The massive outpouring of millions of immigrants and their supporters in 2006 defeated the racist Sensenbrenner Bill (HR 4437). When the “sleeping giant” of immigrant America woke up and united, it quickly became a movement demanding the legalization of millions of undocumented workers.
At that time, some told the movement that the marches were no longer necessary, and that the election of new politicians would deliver reform.
But when the marches ended, the anti-immigrant tide returned. This was not just true of vigilante racists at the border. At the state level, bills like Arizona SB 1070 were passed. At the national level, the misnamed “Secure Communities” program was introduced and rammed through the states. Deportations skyrocketed. Immigration reform, which seemed inevitable in the spring of 2006 was quickly declared “impractical.”
What was decisive in this political calculus was not which party held power in Washington. The decisive element has always been the level of mobilization and action among immigrants and their supporters. It was the “Day Without An Immigrant” strike that really shook the country’s political establishment. Likewise, it has been the action of immigrant youth that has kept the fire burning in the last few years, from the brave struggles against SB 1070 to the Dreamers’ direct “Undocumented and Unafraid” activities.
What we need again is mass and determined action. We know that the political establishment looks at immigration reform from the standpoint of their political and electoral advantages. Without mass mobilization in the interest of real justice, immigration reform will be hammered out exclusively behind closed Congressional doors, and thus undoubtedly involve cruel “compromises” that militarize the border, expand guest worker programs, and impose long waiting periods and onerous fines.
There is a force strong enough to win real justice—a united people’s movement. That is what changes history. That is what won the eight-hour day, women’s suffrage and the Civil Rights Act. It is in the interest of all workers in the United States to join such a movement for immigrant rights. For U.S. labor to organize the unorganized, and advance workers’ struggles for better wages and benefits, it must fight all measures to impose a second-class of vulnerable immigrant workers.
Who cultivates, harvests, and packages the food we eat? Who sews the clothes that fill shopping centers? Who cleans the hotel rooms and offices of every U.S. city and town? Who serves as domestic workers, nannies and caretakers? Who does this work that makes all other work possible? Immigrants actively participate and work in all areas of life. Immigrants contribute billions to the U.S. economy and many, especially the undocumented, receive no benefits in return.
Immigrants are routinely scapegoated for the economic crisis that the banks and corporations created. But immigrants aren’t the real cause of unemployment or crime—it’s the economic system that puts profit over people. We need real justice for immigrant workers and ultimately, we need to change that system.
Join us, and let’s mobilize all our resources for a powerful people’s movement that says “No human being is illegal! Full rights for all!”
Initial signers: Damayan Migrant Workers Association, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, KmB Pro-People Youth, Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition (Los Angeles), ANSWER Coalition, Haiti Liberté, International Haiti Support Network (ISHN)
