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Immigration Reform
The current debate over immigration reform is an obvious example of a social issue that exposes enduring racial inequity. In Maine we are welcoming more and more people from different nations, making decisions about immigration reform is increasingly important to Maine communities.
Immigration is a defining feature of America’s history and of America’s future. Unfortunately, our nation’s current immigration system is broken, and the crisis has reached heartbreaking proportions. Immigrant workers and families are desperate for real reform, as are American workers who want a level playing field and decent employers who want a legal workforce.
We need the President and Congress to work together to enact comprehensive legislation that rewards work, reunites families, reinforces our nation’s security, and respects the rights of U.S.-born and immigrant workers.
MPA is a member of the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR). This coalition is urging Congress to pass reforms this year that honor the following principles:
Reform Must Be Comprehensive: Reforms must deal effectively with undocumented immigrants already in the United States, the future flow of workers and their family members, the need for effective enforcement of more realistic policies that protect fundamental civil and human rights, and support for the successful integration of newcomers in the communities where they settle.
Provide a Path to Citizenship: Opportunities should be provided for undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. to receive work permits. Those who want to settle in the United States should be eligible for permanent residence and citizenship. It’s also important to look at how failed US foreign economic policy is forcing people to leave their homes, creating millions of economic refugees, and is an underlying cause of mass migration to the U.S.
Protect Workers: To replace the illegal flow of workers to jobs in the US (which results in the deaths of hundreds each year), there need to be ways for workers to be admitted legally to fill available jobs. Our current “guestworker” programs are stop-gap solutions that create disenfranchised, politically powerless, second-class residents who are tied to jobs with sometimes unscrupulous working conditions. Such programs should match current labor markets by allowing workers to change jobs, protect law-abiding employers from unscrupulous competitors, and provide a path to permanent status.
Reunite Families: Immigration reform will not succeed if public policy does not recognize one of the main factors driving migration as well as one of America’s most cherished values: family unity. Those waiting in line should have their admission expedited, and those admitted on work visas should be able to keep their nuclear families intact.
Promote Citizenship and Civic Participation and Help Local Communities: Immigration to America works because newcomers are encouraged to become new Americans. It is time to renew our nation’s commitment to the full integration of newcomers by providing adult immigrants with quality English instruction, promoting and preparing them for citizenship, and providing them with opportunities to move up the economic ladder. The system should also offer support to local communities working to welcome newcomers.
Protect and Advance Civil and Human Rights: We need immigration reform that restores basic civil liberties and human rights, protects our core American values of fairness and justice, and defends the due process rights of everyone.
As the face of Maine changes, it is our hope that future immigration reform is fair, respects workers and families and provides paths to citizenship for newcomers seeking to become a part of and contribute to Maine communities.
Join us in the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform
If you'd like to get involved, call Ben at 782-7876.
Racial Justice
Maine People’s Alliance has joined a growing movement within citizen action organizations in the region to integrate racial justice into our strategies and issue work.
From the pressing need for affordable housing to the inequality in accessing health care, the fight for justice demands that we consider and act on how communities of color are disproportionately impacted by all the issues we work on.
Racial minorities, from our native populations to our newest immigrants, are harshly affected by (and at the same time are often scapegoated for) failed policies that rob our public institutions of the funds they require to meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens.
To better address these injustices, MPA representatives attended a dynamic training session last July where they learned how to develop community organizing strategies that advance racial justice.
Out of this training, we worked with allies to call together racial justice advocates across the state, and formed a Maine Racial Justice Planning Team. The Team is made up of MPA members and staff, and allied organizations like Mano en Mano, Centro Latino, NAACP and others. These team-building efforts led to another group of activists attending the second Racial Justice Strategy training in January.