LARASA Board of Directors
Resolution on Immigration Adopted December 13, 2005
As it has repeatedly throughout our country’s history, immigration has become a focus of national and state debate. While discussion of immigration to the United States and the role of immigrants is valid and involves many legitimate questions of civil rights, the public welfare, families, and national security, the prominence of today’s debate is too often driven by those who use the issue for their own narrow political ends attempting to enflame passions that polarize the country.
LARASA believes that the debate on immigration must be done in a civilized manner. It must address real, not imagined problems. The debate must seek practical solutions. Inflammatory rhetoric and publicity seeking stunts have no place in the debate. All aspects of immigration including employment, government services, civil rights and national security must be part of the debate. Solutions that will in the future be seen as an embarrassment to our values and beliefs must be avoided, such as current proposals to create internment camps for undocumented immigrants. It must be remembered that the creation of such camps for Americans of Japanese descent in WWII is one of the most embarrassing episodes in recent American history.
NATIONAL
On a national level, LARASA supports the position of the National Council of La Raza in support of S/1033/HR2330, the “Secure American and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005”. The bipartisan sponsored bill:
- Creates a path to citizenship for current undocumented workers,
- Creates new legal channels for needed immigrant workers in the future,
- Reduces family immigration backlogs,
- Creates enforcement mechanisms that ensure that the new, well functioning system will be maintained.
S1033/HR2330 will improve an immigration system that is fundamentally flawed and not working. It does so pragmatically and humanely.
LARASA supports the NCLR National White Ribbon Campaign, an attempt to engage in peaceful dialogue around the issue of immigration in the United States . The campaign calls for a respectful and constructive debate on immigration matters and rejects deplorable tactics such as intimidation, violence and threats, and the spread of fear, hatred and divisiveness.
LARASA recognizes the contributions of undocumented workers to the economy of the United States and believes they should be afforded the protection of our country’s worker protection laws. These 8 to 11 million undocumented U. S. workers provide essential services to the labor market while enduring low wages and poor working conditions, living in the shadows of society, and are easily victimized. The sales, income and social security taxes they pay are an offset to any government services that may be used and particularly to Social Security which undocumented workers do not collect despite paying into the system.
LARASA recognizes that different views exist in all communities and welcomes the opportunity to participate in open and civilized dialogue among those with shared goals.
COLORADO
LARASA is concerned about the tone of the debate in Colorado . That debate reflects many of the same issues as the national debate – provision of government services to undocumented immigrants, the role of state and local law enforcement and health care workers, civil rights protections for citizens and legal residents, and the “scapegoating” of immigrants for various social problems.
LARASA believes that all people are entitled to emergency health services and that providing routine medical care is both cost-effective to the health care system and humane, particularly to children and pregnant women. The federal government mandates certain benefits in education and health services that must be provided. Currently an effort is underway in Colorado to end any state and local government services to undocumented immigrants. Any proposal must identify the services that will be cut so that the public impact can be determined. It is not clear if Colorado provides benefits beyond those federally required.
LARASA’s concern for both civil rights and public health leads to the opposition of proposals to add immigration enforcement responsibilities to public employees such as police departments, health service and education providers, motor vehicle departments or other public agencies. Already short of both operating funds and staff to meet current workloads, it makes no economic sense to add additional burdens to these agencies. Limiting access to health care would raise serious public health concerns.
An Interfaith Statement in Support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform was released in October 2005. Signed by over one hundred national and local organizations, and individual faith leaders, the statement calls for legislation based on:
- An opportunity for hard-working immigrants who are already contributing to this country to come out of the shadows, regularize their status upon satisfaction of reasonable criteria and, over time, pursue an option to become lawful permanent residents and eventually United States citizens;
- Reforms in our family-based immigration system to significantly reduce waiting times for separated families who currently wait many years to be reunited;
- The creation of legal avenues for workers and their families who wish to migrate to the U.S. to enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner with their rights fully protected; and
- Border protection policies that are consistent with humanitarian values and with the need to treat all individuals with respect, while allowing the authorities to carry out the critical task of identifying and preventing entry of terrorists and dangerous criminals, as well as pursuing the legitimate task of implementing American immigration policy.
LARASA supports the goals of the Interfaith statement and will use the principles outlined above to weigh any proposals that come forth in Colorado , either in the legislature, as a ballot initiative, or a state or local governmental action.
