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News Release

NATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCES HELD: NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL
AFSC CALLS FOR SUBSTANTIVE IMMIGRATION POLICY SOLUTIONS
Senate Leaders Falter: Immigrants and Border Communities Become National Security Scapegoats

PHILADELPHIA (MAY 24) – Today, under the theme No Human Being is Illegal and in a significant show of local unity and national collaboration, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the National Network for Immigrants and Refugee Rights, and local allies held press conferences throughout the United States calling on our nation’s leaders and the Bush administration to devise realistic, constructive and long-term policy solutions to fix what it called, “a broken system of immigration.”

In what have been difficult days packed with bipartisan rhetoric, emotionally charged and tough talk, the U.S. Senate has repeatedly failed to produce substantive immigration reform measures. Instead of comprehensive and coherent policies, Senate leaders have charged ahead with short-term, punitive measures or enforcement-only provisions, such as the total militarization of the border and provisions for the construction of miles of multi-layered fences. Some argue for an “apartheid-like” tiered legalization process.

“What is being fashioned in the halls of Congress does not represent what is in the best interest of our nation,” notes Esther Nieves, interim director of Project VOICE, the American Friends Service Committee immigrant rights initiative. “The tone and tenure of the debate has focused on pre-election political convenience, one-upmanship and demagoguery. We urge our legislators not to succumb to partisan shortsightedness that ultimately only divides families and destroys communities.”

An amendment imposing English-only requirements moves the bar for eventual citizenship even higher. Studies have consistently documented that immigrants consider learning to speak and communicate in English of critical importance. To bar immigrants from accessing resources or becoming legal residents because of English proficiency is a damaging indictment. Indeed, a more sensible solution would be the allocation of resources to conduct English and civic classes rather than the imposition of an English-only litmus test.

“The measures that have been presented are troubling. As proposed, the process leading to permanent residency and eventual citizenship will be quite cumbersome, punitive and unrealistic,” observed Christian Ramirez, AFSC Project VOICE national base-building coordinator. “Long-term solutions that address structural flaws in the immigration system have been lost in the discourse.”

The Bush administration has set in motion a multibillion-dollar federal contract process and has solicited bids from major contractors to increase security on the southern border. Taking a chapter from its warfare-building arsenal, the administration recently requested $1.95 billion from Congress to “fix the problem of immigration.” However, the continued build-up of the border and the infusion of dollars to further militarize the region by adding National Guard troops, more enforcement agents and new technology has no impact on the long-term policies that are needed to bring 12 million undocumented workers and their families out of the shadows.

The continued build up of the border and the infusion of dollars – more than $30 billion in the past decade have not deterred border crossings. Instead 4,000 people have died crossing the desert in the past 12 years.

“Congress and the current administration must acknowledge that there are 12 million undocumented workers who have established deep roots in the United States,” emphasizes Joyce Miller, AFSC assistant general secretary for justice and human rights. “They work, they pay taxes, they live here, they have married and have children here, they shop here, and they worship in local churches and are an asset to local economies. The Senate is steadily chipping away at this historic juncture – that is, to bring millions of immigrants out of the shadows.”

“It is ludicrous to use taxpayers’ dollars to continue to build fences, erect barriers, and impose punitive and mean-spirited policies. These are tremendously difficult issues that our national leaders must tackle. The discrepancy over who has health coverage in this country, the rising cost of medication, the skyrocketing gasoline prices, a coherent energy plan, the dwindling resources of the nation’s working and middle class families, and other basic quality of life concerns would be a wiser use of our national budget resources,” Ramirez concluded.

The American Friends Service Committee supports the rights and dignity of all people, regardless of their immigration status. AFSC’s Project VOICE works to uplift immigrant voices and strengthen efforts of immigrant-led organizations to set an agenda for fair and humane national public policies. Backed by an 89-year history working for peace, justice and reconciliation in troubled areas of the world, the American Friends Service Committee is a faith-based organization grounded in Quaker beliefs respecting the dignity and worth of every person. The AFSC has worked in Mexico on rural and urban development projects and with migrant farm workers in California since 1940. In 1977 AFSC’s U.S./Mexico Border Program was created.

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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

En español (this release in Spanish) >

Locations of press conferences and list of endorsers >

More on AFSC’s immigrant rights work >

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