[URBANTH-L]NEWS: U.S. Immigration Debate Heats Up
Angela Jancius
acjancius at ysu.edu
Wed Mar 15 23:56:23 EST 2006
From: Dr. Rachel H. Adler <radler at tcnj.edu>
Hi Urban Anthropologists,
For those of us who study immigration, (and for those of us who do not,)
please read the following and take action. As scholars we have a
responsibilty to speak out for humane immigration policy. Thank you for
your consideration.
Best,
Rachel Adler
Subject: Immigration Debate Heats Up! ACTION: Call Sen. Specter on March 15
From: SIUHIN at aol.com
Date: Wed, March 15, 2006 5:11 am
To: info at immigrantsolidarity.org
Immigration Debate Heats Up! ACTION: Call Sen. Specter on March 15
An appeal from National Immigrant Solidarity Network
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org
All across the country, immigrants and their allies are making their
voices heard as the debate on immigration reform heats up! Just last
week, 100,000 people marched in Chicago; 40,000 gathered on the West
Lawn of the U.S. Capitol; over 3,000 lobbied in the halls of Congress;
and tens of thousands called their Senators during a National Call-In
Day.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT SENATE MEMBERS CONTINUE
TO HEAR OUR VOICES! The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue
to review and revise Senator Specter's (R-PA) draft immigration bill
("Chairman's Mark") this Wednesday and Thursday. Call Senator Specter,
the Judiciary Committee Chair, on Wednesday, March 15 and let him know:
** I support realistic, humane comprehensive immigration reform. ** I
oppose legislation that creates a permanent, second-class of workers who
will never have a meaningful path to citizenship; the "Gold Card"
proposal is unacceptable.
** I believe the Judiciary Committee should not have to work under an
arbitrary deadline set by Senator Frist (R-TN) and should have all the
time it needs to bring forth a REAL comprehensive immigration reform
bill. You can contact Senator Specter's Judiciary Committee office at:
(202) 224-5225
Useful Information:
2/24: Draft Senate Immigration Bill Released:
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0441
2/24: Partial Summary of Select Provisions in Senator Specter's February
23 Draft Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0438
Talking Point: Myths about Undocumented Immigrants _English_
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Documents/CommonMyths-Immigrants-FINAL.pdf
and Spanish:
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Documents/CommonMyths-Immigrants-SP-FNL(2).pdf
Useful Tools
Tool kit on fighting state/local police enforcing immigration laws:
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Documents/State-localenforcementtoolkitfinal.pdf
Immigration reform is a big agenda item for Congress this session and
Senate and House leadership seem committed to passing legislation that
includes stronger border protection and an expanded guestworker program.
The national tone for immigration reform was set in December when the U.
S. House of Representatives passed HR 4437 making it a felony for
immigrants to be in the United States without proper documentation. Also
known as the Sensenbrenner bill, HR 4437 makes it a crime for any person
to assist an undocumented immigrant. Contact the Senate Judiciary
Committee
now to oppose this legislation:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=94216954
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/IWJ/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3030
.
Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee began considering reform of the
nation's immigration laws by debating various components of numerous
pieces of immigration reform legislation combined into one bill by Senator
Arlen
Spector, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This combination bill
is known
as the "Chairman's Mark", but its official title is the Immigration Reform
Act of
2006. After mark up in committee the bill is scheduled, on March 27th, for
consideration by the full Senate. It has two major guestworker or temporary
worker components and it does not provide a path to permanent residency or
citizenship in the U.S. Spouses and children of the workers would be
permitted
to come to the United States, but they would be denied any legal
opportunity to
work! Many if not most of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants
in the
U. S. could apply to stay and work after meeting certain criteria. And an
unlimited
number of new guestworkers would be permitted to enter the country and work
for
a total of six years, but the legislation contains no mechanism to enforce
any violation of their workplace rights.
Tell Your Senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee to Say No to the
Immigration
Reform Act of 2006
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
http://tinyurl.com/ek4wz
Immigrant workers need a real path to citizenship. U. S. workers should
not be forced into unfair competition for jobs and wages with an
inherently
vulnerable workforce. All workers need to be guaranteed full workplace
rights
and a real voice on the job. The legacy of indisputable abuses suffered by
post-World War II workers in the bracero program continue in today's modern
guestworker programs. The U.S. should not expand its guestworker
initiatives, which
relegate immigrant workers to second-class guest worker status. A massive
new
guestworker program will have a long-term negative impact on our economy
and create an undemocratic, two-tiered society.
Tell Your Senator to Support
* Enforceable remedies against companies that violate employment and
labor laws for all workers regardless of immigration status
* A clear path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million
undocumented
workers who have paid taxes and contributed to their communities
* Requirements for employers to offer all jobs at prevailing wage and
to attest (under penalty of law) that hiring foreign workers will not
adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed
workers in the U.S.
=====================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/
mail: info at ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)544-9355
Please consider making a donation to the important work of National
Immigrant Solidarity Network
Send check pay to:
National Immigrant Solidarity Network/AFGJ
and mail to:
ActionLA / The Peace Center
8124 West 3rd Street, Suite 104
Los Angeles, California 90048
(All donations are tax deductible)
*to join the immigrant Solidarity Network daily news litserv, send
e-mail to: isn-subscribe at lists.riseup.net or visit:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn
*a monthly ISN monthly Action Alert! listserv, go to the
webpage http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn-digest
Please join our following listservs:
Asian American Labor Activism Alert! Listserv, send-e-mail to:
api-la-subscribe at lists.riseup.net or visit:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/api-la
NYC Immigrant Alert!: New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas
immigrant workers information and alerts, send e-mail to:
nyc-immigrantalert-subscribe at lists.riseup.net or visit:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/nyc-immigrantalert
US-Mexico Border Information: No Militarization of Borders! Support
Immigrant Rights! send e-mail to:
Border01-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
or visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Border01/
--
Dr. Rachel H. Adler, Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
The College of NJ
Ewing, NJ 08628
609-771-2626
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