From Maribel Hastings. Part 7 in the series “Immigration Reform: Know the Players”

In April of this year a coalition of unions, headed by the AFL-CIO and Change to Win (CTW), announced with great fanfare what would have been impossible in 2007: a statement of support for comprehensive immigration reform.

Furthermore, their agreement included a controversial component: an independent commission to determine future labor flows, including both temporary and permanent workers. The commission would be an alternative to a guest-worker program.

Given that splits within the labor movement in 2007 were one of the many reasons for the defeat of immigration reform in the Senate, the announcement was welcomed by diverse sectors of the pro-immigrant movement.

The AFL-CIO represents 56 trade unions, with more than 10 million workers, and CTW is a coalition of 7 unions, with more than 6 million workers.

Of course, the final chapter hasn’t yet been written in the saga between labor and business—frequent opponents who each wield enormous influence over the White House, Congress and the immigration debate.

The consequences of defeat

Business owners are being watched more closely than ever by immigration authorities to ensure they comply with laws that prohibit hiring undocumented workers.

In 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audited more than 2,000 companies suspected of having undocumented employees on their payrolls—4 times the number audited in 2008. ICE fined companies a total of $2.5 million in 2008; in 2009, that amount skyrocketed to $16 million.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in August that during the first seven months of 2009, it had deported 215,000 undocumented immigrants.

Last week, Human Rights Watch released the report “Locked Up Far Away,” in which it reported that 53% of the 1.4 million transfers of undocumented detainees to jails far from their original location had occurred since 2006.

Unions have watched the deportation of members and potential members attempting to exercise their right to organize, as happened at the Smithfield processing plant in North Carolina.

The sticking point

In contrast to the demands of labor, business organizations demand an expansion of policies like the H-1, L-1 and EB visa programs, which facilitate the admission of professionals, employees with exceptional qualifications and investors.

The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) places these demands on its website, along with a promise to “lobby for reform to enable seasonal and small businesses to continue to use the H-2B temporary visa.”

The business sector favors legalizing the undocumented, but opposes the commission proposed by labor groups, instead defending a guest-worker program.

David Ferreira, vice president of government affairs for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), assured America’s Voice that “the commission is a non-starter. We know that the Administration considers it so, we know that the Congressional leadership privately considers it so”. “Politically, it doesn’t have enough support for reform to go forward in the Senate and moderate Senators, Republicans and Democrats, don’t support the commission.”

The USHCC and other business groups back “a regulator determined by the market to control the flow of immigrants, something that shouldn’t be dictated by a political posse. It should be dictated by the needs of the economy”, said Ferreira.

Although the unemployment rate is now in double digits, a guest-worker plan is needed, according to Ferreira, because “our economy isn’t going to be down forever. Our economy is going to grow, and at that point businesses are going to demand workers.”

“We have concerns that some members of the labor movement are not fully commited to comprehensive immigration reform, and the commission is one additional means by which they want to restrict the ability of immigrants to lawfully enter the United States”, Ferreira indicated.

But Ana Avendaño, the AFL-CIO’s assistant to the President for Immigration and Community Action, told America’s Voice: “How can (the USHCC) explain to a member of Congress that they support bringing hundreds of thousands of temporary workers into the country when we have 16 million people out of work? The politician who accepts that will find himself out of work after the next election!”

According to the labor leader, the commission would not have any intention of reducing future immigration; it would be independent , not union-controlled; and it would base its recommendations on how many workers the economy requires at any given time.

Besides, Avendaño said, both the Administration and Congress support the commission. “The Chamber (of Commerce) insists on this model (the guest-worker program) that’s already failed. We have to consider other alternatives.”

But hope remains

Despite their differences, the business sector has been working with labor groups such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on other issues, such as health-care reform. Ferreira praised Eliseo Medina, International Executive Vice President of the SEIU, for engaging in “good-faith” negotiations—which could recur on immigration reform.

Currently, the national unemployment rate is almost 11%. In June of 2007, when the last attempt at reform was killed, unemployment was at 4.5%. These figures should inspire business and labor leaders to negotiate a realistic plan for immigration reform for the good of the nation’s economy and for the 12 million undocumented immigrants.

Rafael Prieto Zartha contributed to this article. He can be reached at rprietoz@hotmail.com.

Previous articles in the “Immigration Reform: Know the Players” series:

Introduction

Part 1: With Law Enforcement on Our Side

Part 2: DREAMers: Taking the Reins of Their Cause

Part 3: Anti-Immigrant Groups: A Chorus of Intolerance

Part 4: The Pro-Immigrant Movement: Fighting On, Despite All The Obstacles

Part 5: The Faith Movement

Part 6: Legalizing Farm Workers: A Shared Necessity

Part 5 in the series “Immigration Reform: Know the Players” from Maribel Hastings.

This Thanksgiving week, as end-of-year celebrations commence, faith groups across the country stress the moral urgency of immigration reform. These groups have played an important role in the immigration debate, although the process has not been without controversy.

In the 1980s, Catholic priests led marches in Los Angeles calling for legalization of the undocumented, and some offered their churches as sanctuaries — often challenging their superiors by doing so. In recent years, undocumented activist Elvira Arellano became nationally known when she stayed for a full year in a Methodist church in Chicago which had granted her asylum.

Against the raids

In the wake of massive raids, like those in Iowa at a Marshalltown meatpacking plant in 2006 and a Postville slaughterhouse in 2008, the faithful have been the first to assist families of detainees during their initial trauma and the bitter aftermath of family separation and dire economic need.

In February of this year, the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) protested the arrest of undocumented workers in a Washington state factory.

The meaning of Christmas

Last week, the IIC announced the “Home for the Holidays” campaign, which aims to send 250,000 Christmas postcards to the Capitol advocating for comprehensive immigration reform.

Shared concerns

The goal of seeing undocumented immigrants legalized is shared by the leadership of the Catholic Church, and by leaders of various Protestant groups, including Baptist, Pentecostal, Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations.

Patty Kupfer, Director of Campaign Partnerships for America’s Voice, pointed out that although there has never been credible opposition to immigration reform among faith groups, “the difference now, as we gear up for reform in 2010, is that the support from people of faith is both deeper and broader than ever before.“

“We’ve seen leaders from conservative Evangelical churches make a bold call for immigration reform, joining long time supporters from Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim faiths. We’ve also seen an unprecedented level of mobilization from the faith community at the grassroots level,” added Kupfer.

A Pew Hispanic Center study concluded that 68% of Latinos are Catholic, 15% are evangelical Protestants, and 8% are not affiliated with a particular religious denomination.

Catholics

Kevin Appleby, of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), told America’s Voice that “there are still elements in all our faiths that are nativist and that do not agree with us on immigration reform. They impact those in the middle who we are trying to convert to our side. So, it is still a hard lift, but we are making progress.”

Since 2002, the USCCB has maintained that the current immigration system needs to be fixed in order to be “just and humane.”

Catholics, who represented only 1% of residents of the United States at the time of the nation’s founding in 1776, are now the most populous religious group in the country, numbering 70 million faithful.

The growth of the Catholic population is partly the result of the presence of immigrants, especially those from Latin American countries.

One Zogby poll in October 2008 indicated that 69% of Catholics favor legalizing undocumented immigrants, including providing them with a path to citizenship.

Evangelicals

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which represents 45,000 churches,issued a resolution in October advocating for comprehensive immigration reform. The resolution was supported by 87% of the NAE’s national assembly.

It is estimated that Latino evangelical churches have between 7 and 9 million followers in the U.S., of whom about half are converts — mostly from the Catholic Church.

Galen Carey, the NAE’s Director of Government Affairs, indicated that since the 2007 bill was defeated, the NAE has had 2 years to engage in dialogue “and develop a clear consensus among our leaders, which we hope will help us to advocate more effectively for immigration reform in the coming year.”

Controversies

The opposition of certain conservative religious groups to legalization has been controversial, as has been the call by some Latino evangelicals to boycott the Census if immigration reform fails to pass. This call has been widely criticized and challenged by national Latino organizations.

Action

A large part of the public actions supporting immigration reform have been religious in nature. Many of the demonstrations in 2006 and 2007, for example, took the form of vigils.

The day after President Obama’s inauguration, religious leaders took part in a ceremony in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in which they conducted readings from the Old Testament to entreat a change.

The action, organized by the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) and the National Capital Immigrant Coalition (NCIC), included a “cleansing” of ICE facilities.

The contributions of the faithful have also been prominent in the actions Congressman Luis Gutierrez has conducted throughout 2009 in support of immigration reform, and will surely continue to be so throughout the coming year.

Rafael Prieto Zartha contributed to this article. He can be reached at rprietoz@hotmail.com.

Previous articles in the “Immigration Reform: Know the Players” series:

Introduction

Part 1: With Law Enforcement on Our Side

Part 2: DREAMers: Taking the Reins of Their Cause

Part 3: Anti-Immigrant Groups: A Chorus of Intolerance

Part 4: The Pro-Immigrant Movement: Fighting On, Despite All The Obstacles

From Maribel Hastings’ blog.

Part 4 in the series “Immigration Reform: Know the Players”

The pro-immigrant movement is in touch with the current media landscape, utilizing social networking and technology in its effort to mobilize the public to exert the political pressure necessary to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18th, for example, instead of conducting a traditional “town hall” to discuss the plan for reform he intends to propose, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) will conduct one by telephone. More than 700 “house party” events have been scheduled across the country (including in Puerto Rico) so that the public can participate in the “national conversation” with Rep. Gutierrez.

The Reform Immigration for America campaign is using text messages to add followers and exert pressure on Congress and the White House.

Anyone interested can send the message JUSTICE to 69866 to be added to the national campaign.

“Never before have people at the grassroots level been able to connect so closely and directly with national advocacy efforts for immigration reform. The national campaign is investing in new technologies to put advocacy at the fingertips of anyone, anywhere that supports immigrants’ rights,” declared Rich Stolz, director of the national RI4A campaign.

It hasn’t been easy.

The debate over the failed immigration bill of 2007 revealed divisions within the pro-immigrant movement, hampering its ability to respond properly to anti-immigrant arguments. Nor was it able to organize effectively enough at the district and state levels to influence particular members of Congress.

But according to Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, the political landscape has changed: the election of 2008, and above all the rise in immigrant voters, speaks to the movement’s political power.

“We’ve made the statement that our opponents aren’t as strong as people
 think, and are more extreme than people know,” he added.

After the failure of 2007, immigration enforcement intensified.

Many assumed this would change when Barack Obama was elected, but the reality is that families are still being divided and the immigrant community continues to live in fear. “That reality, I think, is pushing people towards unity of action and urgency of action,” said Sharry.

The marches of 2006

The pro-immigrant movement demonstrated its organizing power most forcefully in 2006, when millions of people took to the streets to protest the proposed “Sensenbrenner Bill” (H.R. 4437), which would have criminalized undocumented immigrants.

Divergences

But the pro-immigrant movement was attacked by immigration opponents, and discrepancies in message and strategy appeared among different pro-immigrant groups as well.

In the fall of 2006, pro-immigrant groups found themselves able to attract fewer people to their rallies than before, and the same was true in the first half of 2007.

The death of the reform bill

Divisions among pro-immigrant leaders, divisions in Congress, a lack of effective leadership from the White House and anti-immigrant rhetoric all contributed to the defeat of the reform bill in June 2007.

Conflicting interests

Divisions in Congress reflected the diversity of agendas and philosophies within the pro-immigrant movement.

Those in favor of comprehensive immigration reform include both farmers in need of manual labor (who support guest worker programs) and agricultural workers seeking improved labor conditions.

A similar split exists between the United States Chamber of Commerce, interested in attracting the “Hispanic market,” and labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, whose membership would increase greatly with the legalization of immigrants. The Catholic Church and Protestant churches also share an interest in legalization, even as they compete for followers.

And within the progressive movement, splits can emerge between those who advocate for reform knowing that negotiation will be required to get it to pass, and others who oppose any sort of concession.

September 11th

The 2000 Census documented the growth of the Hispanic population, and by implication the population of undocumented immigrants.

In September 2001, the Republican administration under George W. Bush planned to start discussion of immigration reform—but the September 11th terrorist attacks quickly brought those plans to a halt.

Since then, immigrants have been the target of attacks from members of Congress, ultraconservative radio and television personalities, and xenophobic groups.

The Freedom Ride and CCIR

At the end of 2003, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride called attention to the difficult situation faced by undocumented workers.

The Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR) formed in 2004, and fought at least four legislative battles over immigration proposals between 2005 and 2007.

The promise

CCIR dissolved in early 2008, at the start of the presidential campaign that would end later that year with the election of President Obama.

Obama’s promise to pass immigration reform contributed to his receiving the support of 67% of Hispanic voters and 78% of Latinos born outside of the U.S.

RI4A

In June, the RI4A campaign launched with the support of more than 400 organizations, encompassing groups of diverse agendas.

The challenge for the pro-immigrant movement in 2010 will be to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2007 — and when there is actual legislation on the floor for debate, the movement will be put to the test.

“My impression is that there is a greater recognition now that the status quo is a harsh, enforcement-only regime, and that the only thing that really will stop it is the passage of immigration reform,” concluded Sharry.

Rafael Prieto Zartha contributed to this article. He can be reached at rprietoz@hotmail.com.

Previous articles in the “Immigration Reform: Know the Players” series:

Introduction

Part 1: With Law Enforcement on Our Side

Part 2: DREAMers: Taking the Reins of their Cause

Part 3: Anti-Immigrant Groups: A Chorus of Intolerance

This is the first installment of a series of posts titled “Immigration Reform: Know the Players” by Maribel Hastings. Originally posted at MaribelHastings.com.

“Americans want a solution to our immigration dilemma, as do law enforcement officials across this nation. But the solution isn’t turning every local police department into an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

That isn’t a quote from a pro-immigration activist. It’s from an editorial that the former Chief of Police of Los Angeles, William J. Bratton, wrote in the Los Angeles Times last week.

Bratton isn’t alone. Over the course of this year, there have been various reports and events at which law enforcement officials have come out as allies in support of immigration reform. Their reasons are obvious: instead of concentrating on efforts to guarantee the safety of the communities whose trust they must secure in order to protect them, dozens of police departments are diverting time and agents toward immigration enforcement.

Ron Miller, Chief of Police of Topeka, Kansas, summarized it this way:

“We cannot police a community that will not talk to us. We need to work together as a nation to address immigration reform.”

J. Thomas Manger, Chief of Police of Montgomery County, Maryland, described the consequences when the immigrant community fears law enforcement officials:

“An increase in unreported crime, reluctant victims and witnesses, and the targeting of immigrants by criminals because the bad guys know that many immigrants will not call the police.”

This year, the Police Foundation issued a report detailing how tasking police with immigration enforcement is counterproductive. It diverts scarce resources, makes them more vulnerable to lawsuits, and creates distrust in the same community police are ostensibly supposed to protect.

Art Venegas, former Chief of Police of Sacramento and director of the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative (LEEI), lamented that national attention has focused on figures like Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona and his questionable techniques in implementing the 287(g) program (which allows local police to function as immigration agents) when police across the country are calling on Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration to advance broad immigration reform.

“There are police chiefs and sheriffs who aren’t doing what Arpaio’s doing. They’re the silent majority,” Venegas told America’s Voice.

The Republican administration of George W. Bush interpreted the defeat of immigration-reform proposals in Congress in 2006 and 2007 as a green light to intensify enforcement efforts and demonstrate a “firm hand” against the undocumented, even though the former president had promoted immigration reform. In addition to a physical and virtual “border wall,” they conducted a series of raids which terrorized entire communities. Furthermore, they intensified the enforcement of the 287(g) program (which, in the spirit of full disclosure, was first implemented as part of the disastrous 1996 immigration reforms signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton).

The results have been terrible for the immigrant community and minorities, especially Latinos. 287(g) has resulted in racial profiling and other abuses illustrated to perfection by Arpaio, who is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations.

Although more than 520 organizations defending civil rights, human rights and immigrants have asked the Obama administration to end the program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided instead to revise the guidelines, in an attempt to eliminate profiling and abuse. For example, they did not renew Arpaio’s authority to conduct “sweeps” to check for immigration status on the streets of Maricopa County, but did allow him to continue identifying undocumented immigrants who had been incarcerated in the county’s jails.

However, this time, it’s more typical to find police officers advocating for pragmatic solutions.

“The fact that many of these programs damaged the relationship between communities and local police departments didn’t seem to matter before. But now local and state police are reclaiming their territory,” said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice.

In the past, one of the concerns holding immigration reform back was that its opponents would frame the issue as a choice between the “rule of law” or rewarding lawbreakers.

“But the growing public support of law enforcement agents demonstrates that even from the perspective of the police themselves, the appropriate and realistic solution is comprehensive immigration reform,” Tramonte added.

And in the search for Congressional support, police officials in favor of immigration reform are a persuasive ally.

Venegas admits that for many police officers, speaking out in favor of reform isn’t easy. Some have even faced retaliation.

But there are more Venegases and Brattons around us all the time.

As Rick Braziel, Sacramento’s Chief of Police, put it: “Without comprehensive immigration reform, we place our communities and our nation at risk.”

This is the introduction of a series about the players involved in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform, and what makes this time different from past attempts.

Be on the look out for regular installments!

By Maribel Hastings, America‘s Voice  www.maribelhastings.com

When people talk in the abstract about undocumented immigrants – or, as some call them disdainfully, “illegals” – they don’t think about the fact that these “invisible people” are in fact present every minute of every day. The food we bring to our mouths has been picked or processed by their hands. They serve or cook our meals in restaurants, take care of our children, clean the offices where we work, or own businesses we patronize. They are our neighbors, friends, relatives…the list goes on.

Only in the world of Sheriff Joe Arpaio can you tell if someone is undocumented just by looking at him. The reality is that we’re all mixed together. I don’t like it when we talk about immigration reform “bringing people out of the shadows” because it makes them seem like criminals. They’re not in the shadows, they’re in plain sight–even though some people don’t want to see them or recognize their existence, and even though they have to live plagued by uncertainty from one day to the next.

Over and over again, we’ve been told that immigration reform is coming, and it’s beginning to seem like crying wolf. But our job now is to maintain the pressure on Washington to do something.

The last debate over immigration reform was in 2007, and a lot has happened since then. Over the next few weeks we’ll publish a series of articles profiling the major players in this real-life drama to explain who they are, what changes they’ve undergone since the last, failed attempt at reform, and how the interactions between them have changed.

The central protagonists, clearly, are undocumented immigrants, who still haven’t seen a happy ending to their situation. But the list of players is long. After all, a wide range of groups have immense interests at stake–which is one of the reasons it’s so hard to arrive at an agreement on the issue.

The group “undocumented immigrants” includes those in a variety of situations. Two of the most painful are that of the youths brought to this country as young children, called the “DREAMers,” and that of the agricultural workers who face some of the most dangerous working conditions in the country. However, we will also consider faith communities; business interests; labor groups; law enforcement; pro-immigration activists; anti-immigrant groups; Congress, with its partisan divisions and special interests; and a White House that supports reform and is held by the same party that controls Congress, but relies in large part on the divided Congress to advance its agenda.

At the moment, in fact, the battle over health-care reform has delayed any discussion of immigration reform, while the crisis of the undocumented continues.

Given the controversy generated by the 287(g) program, which allows local and state police to act as federal immigration agents, we dedicate the first article of the series to law enforcement–and how this time, unlike past years, more police chiefs are speaking out each day in favor of immigration reform that returns responsibility for enforcing immigration law where it belongs: with the federal government.