"we are here because you were there" - going deeper on immigration reform
DESCRIPTION
By Dennis ChinTRANSCRIPT
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Goals of session
• Provide an introduction to the immigration issue
• Explore root causes of immigration
• Explore blind spots, tensions and contradictions in current immigration debate
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Ground rules
• No human being is “illegal” – please use the term “undocumented”
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YP4 Summit Philadelphia, PA
June 18, 2011
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We are here because you were there
• What are the origins of the quote? What does the quote signify?
• Quote originates from western Europe
• Quote points to relationship between globalization and migration
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Immigration is an American story
• “We are a nation of immigrants”
– Phrase of contention
– But ultimately, immigrants have always been a part of our communities
• America historically has manipulated immigration policy to acquire cheap labor and create capital
– Immigrants as laborers to fill in sector gaps (in agriculture, transportation, food services)
– Immigrants as scabs to disrupt organized labor
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History of Immigration and Labor
• Farm workers – Latino, Chinese, Japanese and Filipino labor – Created the United Farm Workers
– Fought for better conditions
• Industrial workers – Chinese labor
• Bracero Program – 20th century caste system – Throwaway work force that denied guest workers
right to move freely from job to job, opportunity to unionize and stay in the country when their visas ended
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Immigration System Today
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Why Don’t You Wait in Line?
• Literally takes YEARS to be considered
• 3 paths towards citizenship
– Family relations (depending on relation and country of origin)
– Employer (exploitation)
– Lottery (approx. 50 K annual slots)
• Virtually no path for “unskilled” immigrants without familial relations in U.S.
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Current statistics*
• Roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants – 3/5 of undocumented immigrants have been in
the United States for more than a decade
– Approximately 2.5 million native-born U.S.-citizen children have at least one undocumented parent
– 1 in 20 workers are undocumented
• Undocumented immigrants are comprised of people mostly from Latin America and Asia – More than half are from Mexico
* Research collected from Pew Hispanic Center and Department of Homeland Security
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Story of Enforcement vs. Legalization
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Solutions based on enforcement
• What do we mean by enforcement?
– State violence
– Community violence
• Why enforcement?
• What lies at the root of enforcement?
– Fear resulting from growing economic insecurity
– Racism
• “War on Immigrants”
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Growing Economic Insecurity
• Economy doubles since 1980 but wages have barely increased
• All gains went to the super rich (top 1 %) – 40% of nation’s wealth in their hands
– With wealth comes political power to lower their own taxes
• Huge budget deficits (safety nets and services slashed)
• Middle class is divided – immigrants are scapegoated
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Examples of enforcement solutions
• Community Violence
– Militias (minutemen)
– Hate crimes
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Examples of enforcement solutions
• State-based violence – Raids and deportations (Postville, IA)
– Border militarization
– Sensenbrenner Law
– SB 1070 in AZ
– Real ID Act
– Secure Communities
– E-Verify
– Repealing birthright citizenship
– Banning of ethnic studies
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Today’s War on Immigrants *
• According to the National Conference of Legislatures, an all-time high of 1,538 bills dealing with immigrants and refugees have been introduced in state legislatures this year alone.
• Measures include e-verify, restrictions on public health services and college access for illegal immigrants and more power to local law enforcement to do federal immigration checks
• Obama administration holds record for number of deportations of undocumented immigrants
* Research by National Conference of Legislatures
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Strategies for Legalization
• Organizing
• Communicating
– Fighting back with stories
– Changing hearts and minds
• Advocating
– Comprehensive immigration reform
– DREAM Act
– Executive Action
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New Methods of Organizing
• Youth Organizing
• Cultural Organizing
• Cell Phone Action Network
• Civil Disobedience
• Marches and rallies
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Youth Take OVER
• Movement Building Trainings
• DREAM students
– Trail of DREAMers
– Sit-ins in Sen. John McCain’s office
– Undocumented and unafraid
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March for America
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Changing Hearts and Minds
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Progressive Messaging
• Leading with values
• Public opinion research *
– Broad support for “workable solutions that uphold our nation’s values and move us forward together.”
– Across all three major demographic groups surveyed, “Law and Order” is the top value that likely voters seek embodied in immigration policy
• Drop the “I” word
* Research by the Opportunity Agenda
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Example of Progressive Messaging
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Comprehensive approach
• Championed by major advocacy groups and politicians – Reform Immigration for America – Previously, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) – Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
• Touted as “bipartisan” • Legislative strategy calling for “practical”
solutions – Includes both enforcement and legalization
• Introduced in 2006 and 2007
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The Arguments for Legalization
• Economic Argument
– Undocumented immigrants contribute roughly 11.2 billion in state and local taxes *
– Subsidizing social security for the rest of us *
– Generate more economic opportunity all around *
• Values-based Argument
– Immigrants are a part of our community
– We should keep families together
* Research by Immigration Policy Institute, CATO institute
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DREAM Act
• What is the DREAM Act? – Development, Relief and Education for Alien
Minors
– Pathway to citizenship for students who meet certain requirements:
• Championed by – DreamActivist.org
– United We Dream
– Trail of DREAMs - Gaby Pacheco, Juan Rodriguez, Felipe Matos and Carlos Roa
• First introduced in 2001
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DREAM Act eligibility
• Must have entered the U.S. before the age of 16 • Must have been present in the U.S. for at least
five years prior to enactment of the bill • Must have graduated from a U.S. high school, or
have obtained a GED, or have been accepted into an institution of higher education (i.e. college/university)
• Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application
• Must have good moral character
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Arguments for the DREAM Act
• Children shouldn’t be punished for what their parents did
• Children want to contribute to America
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Victories for the DREAM Act
• Federal level the DREAM Act failed past fall
• However, states like Illinois have moved forward
• Harry Reid re-introduced the DREAM Act this past May but Republicans held votes
– Considering adding e-verify to pass it through
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Executive Action
• Campaign for Obama to stop deportations of and protect workers.
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Corn Country
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Root Tree
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Globalization
• What is globalization?
• Globalization is essentially 3 parts: – Smaller governments and lowered taxes
– Deregulation of business so that they have fewer labor, environmental and pricing limitations
– Opening new markets by removing tariffs and other trade barriers
• Globalization’s negative effect on global south
• Globalization is INCOMPLETE
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Racism
• We assume that cultures and national identities are fixed
• Immigrants as others – “Good” immigrants just work, “Bad” immigrants broke the law
• Mainstream response to 9/11 has been to draw and freeze definition of “true” American
• Racial anxiety of whites eventually becoming the minority in the U.S.
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Discussion questions
• In what ways does current immigration reform strategy address root causes?
• Are there opportunities to insert root causes into the debate?
• What collaborative opportunities does the root cause analysis present us?
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Discussion questions
• How do we address root causes?
• Is any enforcement OK?
• Comprehensive approach vs. DREAM approach
• Are we focusing too much on legislation?
• How do we get around the word “illegal”?
• How do we engage African American communities?
• Which communities are left out of the debate?
• How do we talk to white people?
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We need a new immigrant framework
• We need to get over Enforcement vs. Legalization framework and acknowledge reasons WHY people migrate – Challenging globalization’s most egregious effects
– International labor and trade standards
• Rethink what citizenship means – Should ultimately be determined by how willing
people are to become a part of the social, civic and political fabric of the country they want to live in.
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Resources
• Books – The Accidental American by Rinku Sen – No One is Illegal by Justin Chacon and Mike Davis
• Advocacy organizations – National Network on Immigrant and Refugee Rights – Reform Immigration FOR America – DreamActivist.org
• Think tanks and Messaging Centers – Immigration Policy Center – Opportunity Agenda
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Contact me
• www.facebook.com/dennis.c.chin
• www.twitter.com/denniscchin