JOIN THE DIGNITY CAMPAIGN for Real Immigration Reform
Over the last year a group of organizations and individuals have been meeting to affirm the need for an immigration reform bill based on human rights. This bill would include immediate legalization of the undocumented; de-criminalization of immigrants; equal rights; reunification of families; an end to temporary worker programs, and an end to trade and foreign policies that cause the dislocation of people. We seek meaningful immigration reform that is an alternative to the kind of proposals coming from Congress.
We are calling this effort the Dignity Campaign for Real Immigration Reform. What immigrants need are real solutions to the denial of migrants’ rights, to the economic and political forces that force migration, and to the economic crisis that affects working people in general. By developing this alternative we hope to raise our collective aspirations for immigration reform, rather than limit our political work to criticizing Congressional proposals that we know reflect corporate America’s need for exploitable labor.
We believe the Dignity Campaign is an effective education and organizing tool — a positive alternative to Congressional proposals and policies that continue to criminalize immigrants. We can use the alternative ‘bill’ in community forums, union meetings, marches, lobbying visits to Congress members, newspaper articles and other ways to raise our expectations for real solutions and rally support.
We welcome the input of groups and individuals on this proposal and encourage communities and unions to use it in formulating your own proposals. Some communities are already using the proposal this way. We invite you to join the Dignity Campaign in developing an immigration bill that represents the reforms we really need. To sign-on to this campaign or for more information please contact Renee Saucedo at La Raza Centro Legal (415-575-3500 and 415-553-3404, renee [at] lrcl.org), Lillian Galedo at Filipino Advocates for Justice (510-465 9876, lgaledo [at] filipinos4justice.org), Fred Hirsch (408-821-1394, fredhirsch [at] cruzio.com), David Bacon (510-851-1589, dbacon [at] igc.org), Bill Chandler at the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, (601-968-5182, b.chandler [at] yourmira.org), Rosalinda Guillen at Community to Community (360-738-0893, rosalindag [at] qwestoffice.net) or Hamid Khan at South Asian Network (562-230-4578, hamid [at] southasiannetwork.org).
Click here to view a side-by-side comparison of immigration reform proposals.
Click here to view the Dignity Campaign’s outline for real immigration reform.
Click here to read “Another Immigration Policy is Possible!” by David Bacon on truthout, (7/2/10).
In solidarity,
Filipino Advocates for Justice, Oakland, CA
La Raza Centro Legal, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Living Wage Coalition, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Day Labor Program, San Francisco, CA
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, San Francisco, CA
MAIZ, San Jose, CA
South Asian Network, Los Angeles, CA
Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, Jackson, MI
Community2Community, Bellingham, WA
Dominican Development Center, Jamaica Plain, MA
National Domestic Worker Alliance
May 1 Coalition, New York, NY
Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales, U.S./Mexico
Asocaicion de Jorneros de San Diego, San Diego, CA
Mujeres Unidas y Activas, San Francisco and Oakland, CA
San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, CA
California Healthy Communities Network
Frente Unido de Inmigrantes, Chicago, Il
Tags: immigration reform