Challenge Immigrant Right

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July 6, 2007

Legalization, Not Guest Worker Programs, is the Solution

The New Challenges Facing the Immigrant Rights

Movement

By RENEE SAUCEDO and TODD CHRETIEN

THE U.S. Senate and the Bush administration failed in their effort to revive an

immigration proposal, which, among other things, would have separated families,heightened worker exploitation b creating a !guest"worker! program, furthermilitari#ed the U.S."$exico border, and provided no realistic path to residenc forthe vast ma%orit of undocumented people now living in the U.S.

&ike most !comprehensive immigration reform! proposals in the past couple ofears, this bill would have led to more suffering and death, and was nothing shortof a human rights abomination.

'espite this terrible realit, however, millions of undocumented immigrantssupported the bipartisan immigration proposal""because !something seemed

better than nothing.! The bill(s defeat was mostl engineered b the most anti"immigrant lawmakers in )ongress""another reason wh man people saw theoutcome as a setback for immigrant rights.

*ationall sndicated and hugel popular morning radio talk show host Edd!+ioln! Sotelo, who was a ma%or supporter of the -/ $a 'a marches,collected 0 million pro"reform postcards and organi#ed a caravan to 1ashington,'.)., to personall lobb for the bill.

The bill(s failure will surel lead man people to feel betraed and fear that theBureau of 2mmigration and )ustoms Enforcement 32)E4 will now unleash a newround of raids designed to terrori#e their families.

Even as we clarif wh we opposed the bill and wh we now believe we have thechance to fight for much better legislation in the coming months and ears, wehave to keep in mind that man people will be bitterl disappointed b the bill(sfailure. Therefore, we have to explain how to move ahead.

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1H6 H7S it been so difficult for the immigrant rights struggle to push for a %ustlegali#ation, or amnest, law8 1hat must we do to build a powerful and radicalmovement8

+art of the reason wh immigrant rights activists have failed in holding the U.S.government accountable is because we are facing tremendous challenges.

9irst, the intense level of state"sponsored terror against immigrant communitieshas made it difficult to organi#e in those communities. Since earl this ear, the'epartment of Homeland Securit and 2)E have harassed, arrested, detained anddeported over -, migrants under !:peration ;eturn to Sender.!

Throughout the countr, in cities and small towns, hundreds of workers arerounded up at their worksites and deported, as the were recentl at an :regon'el $onte plant. Uniformed 2)E agents use <estapo"tpe tactics to force their

wa into people(s homes without warrants.

+arents in ;edwood )it, )alif., were picked up as the dropped their children offat school. 7nd people who !looked immigrant! were randoml =uestioned b 2)Eon the street in San 9rancisco.

2mmigrants express a high level of terror""so much so that mothers fear takingtheir children to school, families fear going to local health clinics and everone isafraid to deal with police. :rgani#ers have had to combat this climate of fear, andbelieve recent raids and enforcement activities are responsible in part for thedecline in participation since last ear(s mass marches.

7 second challenge involves the wa that migration has been characteri#ed as a!criminal! or !illegal! issue, not as a conse=uence of global economic policiespromoted b U.S. corporate interests.

!2llegal immigrants break the law to get here, so the have no right to be here,!sa the racist, anti"immigrant forces, as well as moderate and even liberal voicesin this countr. )riminalit and illegalit are therefore addressed with punitivepolicies, including border and inland enforcement, emploer sanctions and denialof benefits and services.

Such punitive measures have never deterred people from migrating to the U.S.,but the do cause intense suffering, separation of families, %ob exploitation and

deaths. $igrants are so desperate for economic survival that the are willing toendure these hardships.

$igrants to the U.S. are not criminals at all, but rather economic refugees of U.S.policies, including free trade agreements that displace thousands of workers andfarmers.



9or example, the *orth 7merican and )entral 7merican 9ree Trade 7greements3*79T7 and )79T74 ended subsidies on agricultural products in $exico and)entral 7merica. This meant that corn grown b indigenous farmers without

subsidies had to compete in their own countries( market with corn from huge U.S.producers, subsidi#ed b the U.S. farm bill.

Between - and ->, $exico lost ?, %obs in the countrside, and@, in the cities. 7fter the treat was implemented, / million $exicans cameto live in the United States.

2mmigrant rights opponents convenientl characteri#e migration as a criminalissue in order to %ustif the dehumani#ation of the immigrant communit, and thepolitical mainstream adopted this characteri#ation, which makes immigrant rightsorgani#ing much more challenging.

The truth is that immigrants are forced to uproot themselves from theirhomelands and their loved ones because U.S. economic policies make itextremel difficult for them to feed their families.

7 third challenge facing the immigrant rights movement is that corporateinterests are fighting ferociousl for !reform! legislation, including a new andexpansive guest"worker program.

2n his writings, labor %ournalist 'avid Bacon describes how companies like :racleand $icrosoft hoped to revive the most recent Senate bill, which containedprovisions for a massive guest"worker program.

Such a program, explains Bacon, treats immigrants onl as a reserve of cheaplabor. 2t sets up contract labor programs, allowing emploers to recruit migrants,who must remain emploed or else be deported.

2n exchange for the promise of legali#ation, the Senate bill re=uiredundocumented workers to spend more than a decade as contract workers withfew rights and an incentive to remain silent about exploitative working conditions.2t has been an uphill battle fighting for %ust legali#ation in this context.

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S: 2* view of these challenges, what do we do to build a viable movement that

has the power to push for real changes8 The following are a few ideasA

"" 1e need to bring organi#ed labor full on board. 1hile the 79&")2: and manunions came out in opposition to )ongress( immigration proposals, the ServiceEmploees 2nternational Union 3SE2U4 supported almost all of them, even whenthe contained guest"worker programs and other anti"immigrant provisions.



Unions like the SE2U must disassociate themselves from the coalition of1ashington lobb groups, large emploers and conservative think tanks that arepromoting new temporar worker programs. The must follow the lead of

immigrant rank"and"file members, and support proposals that don(t betra theinterests of workers or the workers( rights movement.

"" 1e must support grassroots immigrant organi#ing and leadership much moreaggressivel.

7n overwhelming number of grassroots and membership immigrant rightsorgani#ations came out against the current immigration proposal. +eople on theground are conscious that negotiating awa ma%or rights while gaining little is notan option.

1e should work with these groups so that their message and their power are

brought forward. :therwise, we(re stuck with the approach of the immigrationproposals( proponents, including a network of lobbists referred to in the press as!immigration advocates.! These groups, including the *ational 2mmigration9orum and *ational )ouncil of &a ;a#a, have all along supported alegali#ationenforcementguest"worker program tradeoff, and have sold out thema%orit of the immigrant communit.

7s organi#ers, we must focus less on meaningless negotiations, and more onbuilding power and leadership among those impacted""namel undocumentedimmigrants.

"" 1e must build multiracial unit. 2mmigrants, people of color, the poor and

oppressed people in this countr continue to bear the burden of attacks,criminali#ation and scapegoating.

&atino and 7sian immigrants, 7frican 7mericans, homeless groups, &<BT andothers are successfull working together and forging alliances. 9or example, inthe Ba 7rea, a group of 7frican 7merican organi#ers formed a group called Black7mericans for Cust 2mmigration 3B7C24, which works with various immigrantrights organi#ations to make the connections of oppression more explicit forpeople.

2mmigrant and 7frican 7merican organi#ers in San 9rancisco have workedtogether to make connections between the deportation of &atinos and the

displacement of 7frican 7mericans from their neighborhoods due to gentrification.

""1e must define migration as an issue of human rights and workers( rights.$igration and immigration cannot be ade=uatel discussed or dealt with unlesswe address it in terms of economic in%ustice.

Therefore, we must address the underling causes of people(s desperation, whichcauses them to migrate to the U.S.A global economic policies and trade



agreements. 7 ma%or demand of our movement should be that the U.S.government repeals *79T7.

""1e need to combat anti"immigrant scapegoating b exposing how the U.S.capitalist sstem is causing economic and social insecurities in this countr, notmigrants.

1e know that undocumented immigrants do not cause %oblessnessD corporatedownsi#ing, corporate outsourcing and an econom based more and more onprioriti#ing the militar"industrial complex do. 1e know that undocumentedimmigrants do not cause crime and instabilit in this countrD povert, tax breaksfor the rich and the de"prioriti#ation of investing resources in human needs do.

&et us be on the offensive when it comes to putting the current situation inperspective""so that immigrant bashing can no longer be used.

""1e must continue to fight for legali#ation as the solution, not guest"workerprograms. Temporar"worker programs are inherentl exploitative, and theweaken the labor and workers( rights movements. The onl benefit the bosseswho want a constant source of cheap, exploitable labor.

2nstead, we should support immigration proposals that strengthen familunification, protect workers( rights and make residenc eas to obtain.

'espite the man challenges currentl facing the immigrant rights movement,our communit is courageous and creative. 1e will continue to struggle until weachieve amnest and %ustice for all.

RENEE SAUCEDO is an attorne and organi#er with &a ;a#a )entro &egal andthe San 9rancisco 'a &abor +rogram.

TODD CHRETIEN is the -/ <reen +art candidate for U.S. Senate from)alifornia.

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Challenge Immigrant Right