Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform letter

March 9, 2007

Dear President Bush and Members of Congress,

As the debate on immigration reform begins in earnest in the 110th Congress,
the undersigned organizations urge you in the strongest possible terms
to enact workable comprehensive immigration reform this year. Our message
is simple: get it done, do it right, and make it work.

Immigrant workers and families are desperate for real reform, as are
American workers who want a level playing field and decent employers
who want a legal workforce. State and local governments are frustrated
that politicians in Washington produce more talk than action on a priority
only federal policy makers can realistically address. The public is tired
of partisan posturing and finger pointing. They want their leaders to lead,
to solve tough problems on a bipartisan basis, and to produce results,
not excuses.

Workable comprehensive immigration reform is the solution.
Enforcement-only efforts have not worked in the past and will not work
in the future. Rounding up or attempting to force out 12 million
undocumented immigrants is neither feasible nor desirable. Most
undocumented immigrants live in families, most have been here
for more than five years, and as workers they fill one out of every
20 jobs in the United States. Fixing our broken immigration
system requires a broader approach, a strategy that aims to replace an
unregulated, chaotic, and abusive system with a controlled, limited,
and legal system.

Attached are principles that have long guided our work. These will
continue to serve as our anchor during the upcoming legislative debate
and as the basis for assessing legislative proposals. Our principles are
about restoring the rule of law, providing a path to earned citizenship,
protecting immigrant and American workers alike, reuniting families,
respecting due process, and helping newcomers become new Americans while
helping the communities in which they settle. This combination enacted
together will work to bring immigrants out of the shadows and under a
realistic regulatory regime. An effectively reformed immigration system
will serve national interests by supporting economic growth, social mobility,
strong families, labor rights, civil rights, political rights, and law and order.

On one particular component the future flow of needed workers we want
to make our position clear. The undersigned organizations oppose new guest
worker programs. Instead, we support new worker visas with an earned path
to citizenship. Work-and-return guest worker programs that tie workers to
individual employers and compel workers to leave the country when their
short-term visa expires simply will not work. When the immigration status
of workers and their right to stay in the country depends on an employer,
the resulting imbalance of power inevitably fosters exploitation. This, in turn,
undercuts the wages and working conditions of native-born and immigrant
low-wage workers alike. What we do support is a break the mold new worker
visa program, one that guarantees needed immigrant workers renewable
long-term visas, full labor rights, the right to change jobs, wage protections,
the right to join a union, the right to be with close family members, the
protection of constitutional rights, and the realistic option of a path to
earned citizenship.

We also believe that workable comprehensive immigration reform
must serve the interests of native-born workers. In addition to eliminating
the perverse effects of our broken immigration system on native-born
workers, we need to address the needs of unemployed or underemployed
American workers by strengthening the reach and effectiveness of job
programs and anti-discrimination measures in order to improve skills
training and access to jobs.

Finally, let us never forget that the immigration reform debate is about
real people. Undocumented immigrants live in our communities, have
loving families, work hard, pay taxes, and believe deeply in the American
Dream. They bus tables, clean buildings, cook food, care for children,
tend gardens, tend to the elderly, construct houses, clean hotel rooms,
pick crops, produce food, and so much more. They have voted with their
feet to be here. Many have risked their lives in the process of getting here.
And far too many have died horrible deaths in the desert
seeking only a better life for their families.

Immigrant workers and families want to be here with legal immigration
status. Requirements that include paying a fine, studying English, and
going to the back of the line are not a problem as long as the process
is workable and there is a line for earned citizenship to get into.
And that line cannot keep people in legal limbo
or create huge backlogs that would deter people from coming forward or
from becoming new Americans. Immigrants in the U.S. want to be accepted
and recognized for their contributions, and are fully prepared to assume
both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The signs in last year's
marches said it so well and so powerfully: We Are America.

But this debate is also about who we are. As a nation, we are at our best
when we overcome us vs. them fears to forge unity out of our diversity.
As a nation we are at our best when we live up to the ideals of opportunity
for all, equal treatment under the law, and basic fairness. As a nation,
it is time to solve this problem with a smart and practical comprehensive
immigration reform bill that will make our country stronger, safer, and
prouder.

JALSA joined organizations from many different communities
signing onto this letter

CCIR Principles for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

February 2007

Immigration is a defining feature of America’s history and of America’s future.Unfortunately, America’s current immigration system is broken. Instead of legal channels, legal immigration, and orderly, screened entry, the immigration system has fostered a black market characterized by a ballooning undocumented immigrant population, widespread use of fake documents, increasingly violent smuggling cartels, and widespread exploitation of undocumented workers.

The American people are frustrated with their leaders on this issue and hunger for a solution that will work. They want neither open borders, nor closed borders, they want smart borders.

The time has come for the President and Congress to work together to enact comprehensive legislation that rewards work, reunites families, restores the rule of law, reinforces our nation’s security, respects the rights of U.S.-born and immigrant workers, and redeems the American Dream.

1) Reform Must Be Comprehensive: The proposal must simultaneously deal effectively with
1) undocumented immigrants working and living in the United States;
2) the future flow of workers and close family members;
3) the need for tailored, targeted, effective enforcement of more realistic policies; and
4) support for the successful integration of newcomers in the communities where they settle;
5) protection of fundamental civil and human rights in the immigration process.

2) Provide a Path to Citizenship: Opportunities should be provided for undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. to receive work permits and travel permission and access educational opportunities once they undergo background and security checks. Those who want to settle in the United States should be eligible for permanent residence and citizenship.

3) Protect Workers: To replace the deadly, chaotic, and illegal flow of workers to jobs, there need to be wider legal channels so needed workers can be admitted legally to fill available jobs. To avoid the exploitation and abuses of flawed guestworkers programs, the nation needs a “break-the-mold” worker visa program that adequately protects the wages and working conditions of U.S. and immigrant workers. It should also allow workers to change jobs, meaningfully enforce both the program’s rules and existing labor laws, protect law-abiding employers from unscrupulous competitors, and provide a path to permanent status.

4) Reunite Families: Immigration reform will not succeed if public policy does not recognize one of the main factors driving migration as well as one of America’s most cherished values: family unity. Restrictive laws and bureaucratic delays too often undermine this cornerstone of our legal immigration system. Those waiting in line should have their admission expedited, and those admitted on work visas should be able to keep their nuclear families intact.

5) Restore the Rule of Law and Enhance Security: Enforcement only works when the law is realistic and enforceable. This can best be achieved by a comprehensive overhaul that combines reform – a path to permanent status for immigrants here and wider legal channels for those coming in the future – with effective enforcement. A smart enforcement regime should include smart inspections and screening practices, fair proceedings, efficient processing, as well as strategies that crack down on criminal smugglers, get tough with lawbreaking employers, and reduce illegality. Such a system will better enable the nation to know who is already here and who is coming in the future, and bring our system into line with our tradition as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

6) Promote Citizenship and Civic Participation and Help Local Communities: Immigration to America works because newcomers are encouraged to become new Americans. It is time to renew our nation’s commitment to the full integration of newcomers by providing adult immigrants with quality English instruction, promoting and preparing them for citizenship, and providing them with opportunities to move up the economic ladder. The system should also offer support to local communities working to welcome newcomers.

7) Protect and Advance Civil and Human Rights: We need immigration reform that restores basic civil liberties and human rights, protects our core American values of fairness and justice, and defends the due process rights of everyone.

Letter from Jewish Community Groups for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

March 20, 2007

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
House of Representatives
2371 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Madam Speaker:

With the House of Representatives preparing to consider legislation to address the complex problems of undocumented migration to the United States and legalization for the 12 million undocumented immigrants already here, we write to support your efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year that is workable and fair.

As leaders of Jewish community organizations, we look both to the teachings of our Jewish religious and ethical tradition, and to core American values relating to immigrants, for guidance on immigration reform. With 36 references in the Torah mandating that we not only welcome, but love the stranger, we call on Congress to show leadership by providing an effective legal immigration system that is characterized by rule of law, national interest and compassion. Comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system is critical to this nation’s security, economic and humanitarian interests. We urge Congress to pass legislation this year so that families can be reunited and we can restore the rule of law at the border and in the workplace once and for all.

We also call on Congress to ensure that any bill aiming to reform our immigration system preserves the United States' longstanding commitment to provide safe haven to those fleeing persecution. The United States has long been a leader in the protection of refugees at home and abroad. Yet in the past decade we have noticed a discouraging trend in legislation and regulations, making our laws more difficult to navigate by victims of persecution who are most often empty-handed, traumatized, and separated from their loved ones. While we support the government's right to ensure that the asylum system is not abused, this goal must be achieved without further traumatizing victims of religious and other persecution, and putting them at risk of wrongful return to those who mean them harm.

A comprehensive approach to immigration reform must recognize and respond to the reality that approximately 12 million undocumented individuals currently reside in the United States; that unrealistic immigration laws and ineffective border enforcement policies have created conditions that have resulted in thousands of deaths and increasing violence in the border regions; and that extensive backlogs for family immigration visas have led to prolonged and inhumane separation of families. Furthermore, the failure to reform our immigration laws perpetuates an illegal immigration system and undermines government efforts to target enforcement resources on criminals and terrorists who pose grave dangers to the country. Continuation of the status quo is not only unwise, but also unacceptable.

Any final comprehensive immigration reform legislation must include provisions that provide:
· Border protection policies that are consistent with American humanitarian values, protect legitimate asylum-seekers, and are effective against illegal migration, allowing authorities to successfully protect the integrity of our borders and prevent the entry of those who would do us harm;
· Opportunities 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 must wait many years, to be reunited with loved ones;
· Wider legal avenues that correspond with the needs of American employers, through which workers and their families can enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner with their rights fully protected; and
· Programs to enhance citizenship and encourage the integration of newcomers into American society.

As the debate progresses, we strongly believe that the tone of the immigration reform debate is as important as the legislation and policy it produces. We encourage Congress to engage in reasonable discourse characterized by civility and respect that is mindful of the very people affected by this legislation. A recent report by the Anti-Defamation League reminds us that there is a direct connection between the national policy debate and the atmosphere surrounding the daily lives of immigrants, showing that extremist groups are seeking to exploit national divisions and spread a message of xenophobia, promote hateful stereotypes, and incite bigotry and violence against Hispanics, regardless of their immigration status. The tenor and outcome of our national debate over the fate of undocumented persons in the United States will speak volumes about where we are heading as a society, and Members of Congress should seek opportunities to speak out against bigotry, intolerance, and prejudice in our society, wherever they occur.

We firmly believe that with your leadership, Congress can ensure that our country's immigration laws are reformed in a comprehensive manner that will make the United States stronger and safer while honoring our tradition as a nation of immigrants.

Respectfully,

JALSA signed onto this letter to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives along with 30 other Jewish community organizations.