IMMIGRATION
Immigration is at the center of national policy debate. Immigration is an important issue for the Latino community, even though most Latinos in the U.S. are U.S. citizens. In the Chicago region, 70 percent of Latinos are U.S. citizens and 90 percent of Latino children are born in the U.S; yet, many Latino families have relatives who are immigrants. Thus, current immigration policies and practices threaten the stability and well-being of the community as a whole. The general perception of the U.S. society is that most Latinos are immigrants and most immigrants are undocumented. Consequently, Latinos are treated as outsiders and their civil rights are often abridged.
A new generation of immigration policies is needed to support family unity, meet the labor needs of the U.S. economy, and strengthen national security. A comprehensive policy approach is necessary to fix the broken immigration system. The obsolete components of our current system force many immigrant workers and employers to break the law. The immigration policies enacted in 1986 and 1996 closed most channels to enter or stay in the U.S. legally. As a result, about three million U.S. children could lose their parents due to deportations. On top of this, hundreds of immigrants die every year crossing the border and about 12 million immigrants live and work in the country without authorization. The failed attempts in Congress to find a negotiated solution to fix the immigration system have prompted local governments to propose and pass harsh anti-immigrant ordinances that make it illegal to rent or do business with immigrants. In addition, reports indicate that hate crime against Latinos has increased and that nativism is on the rise in the country.
New immigration policies must consider the impact of globalization and U.S. foreign and domestic economic policies in migration patterns. Without intending it, the U.S. free trade agreements with Latin America have contributed to an increase in migration. While free trade agreements have been beneficial for some economic sectors, they have been devastating for others. Millions of small farmers in Mexico lost their livelihood as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As an example, the small farmers could not compete with the cheap prices of subsidized corn from the U.S. that entered the Mexican market, and roughly 1.1 million small farmers and 1.4 million Mexicans dependent upon the farm sector went out of business during the four years after NAFTA was enacted. Decreasing economic opportunities in Latin America and the availability of jobs in the United States is an incentive to cross the border without authorization. Immigration policies must reconcile the dichotomy in U.S. policies that promotes open borders for investment, goods, products and services but closes borders for workers.
Coherent policies to support the integration of immigrants into the social, economic and political fabric of the U.S. are necessary at federal and state level. Fairness must be restored for legal immigrants who lost access to basic federal programs in 1996 as a result of the provisions in Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA). The state of Illinois must continue recognizing the contributions of immigrants to the prosperity of the state and increase resources to ensure that immigrants learn English, become citizens, and have access to health care and to quality education. Considering the high levels of employment amongst immigrants and the fact that they pay sales and income taxes like the rest of Americans, immigrants should be eligible for government-funded programs. Immigration has become a wedge issue for Americans. Therefore, we must be able to craft an immigration policy that ensures opportunity for all Americans to realize the American Dream. Temporary work visa programs to manage the legal entry of future workers must not undermine opportunities for domestic workers. Immigration policies must uphold workers rights and human rights and be fair for all Americans.
The Latino Policy Forum is engaged in various immigration issues including: The Dream Act, Immigration Reform, Social Security Administration-No-Match Letters, Integrating Immigrants into American Life, and Latino-African American Alliances.
The LPF carries out the following activities to move forward its immigration agenda:
- Organizing community presentations and trainings to increase the leadership capacity of Latino immigrants to participate in the policy debate and advocacy actions
- Monitoring legislative proposals and producing and disseminating policy analysis
- Organizing advocacy events to influence policy outcomes
- Developing reports, policy briefs, legislative updates and fact sheets
- Educating the general public and media on immigration issues through public presentations
