Predictably, media coverage focused more on electoral
strategy than on the important immigration issues raised in the platform. The
immigration issues that the media did discuss were generally the ones the
political class considers hot-button questions—abolish
ICE? open
borders? decriminalize unauthorized entry?—not demands for amnesty and a
repeal of the 1996 laws, the demands
that have the greatest impact on immigrant families and communities.
The Sanders platform has the potential to be far more than
an electoral ploy. While not perfect, it’s a major step towards getting a wider
public to rethink the United States’ entire approach to immigration.
Below we
describe some of the best media coverage.
Vox’s Nicole Narea and Tara Golshan produced a fairly
comprehensive summary of the platform in their article, “Bernie
Sanders’s immigration plan puts the rights of workers into focus.” As
the title indicates, Narea and Golshan note Sanders’ emphasis on undocumented
immigrants as workers who are denied their labor rights. The Vox writers
also note Sanders’ support for amnesty and his pledge to end Trump’s
anti-asylum measures, notably MPP/”Remain in Mexico,” by executive action. But
they don’t mention two other major commitments: to repealing the
1996 immigration laws and to addressing the root causes of immigration in US
foreign policy.
In The Nation, John Washington’s “Bernie’s
Immigration Plan Is Good” makes several important points. While the Vox
coverage treats Sanders’ emphasis on labor rights simply as “part of his
signature issue of workers’ rights,” Washington also notes that immigration and
labor exploitation “cannot be untangled,” just as immigrant rights can’t be
treated separately from the struggle against racism. Another important point
from Washington: the Sanders platform was largely written by immigrant rights
activists rather than by politicians and think tank analysts. Strangely,
though, he omits any mention of the platform’s positions on repealing the 1996
laws and on turning back Trump’s attack on asylum.
“Bernie
Sanders’s New Immigration Proposal Is Incredibly Strong,” by Daniel
Denvir in Jacobin also passes over the asylum issue. However, Denvir
stresses the organizing potential of the platform’s platform on workers’
rights: “by emphasizing that immigrants are core to the working class rather
than a threat to it, Sanders strengthens the multiracial coalition that is this
country’s only hope for transformative change.” Denvir also notes that the
Sanders approach addresses the US government’s role in creating the conditions
that force people to leave their countries. “[W]e must remake the global
economy and deliver economic justice,” Denvir writes, “so that people are free
to not migrate and stay put if they choose.”
”Bernie
Sanders’s immigration plan: a response from the front-lines of struggle,”
by Lupita Romero at Puntorojo also stresses Sanders’ commitment to
addressing the US foreign policies that lie at the heart of much immigration here. Romero, who is an undocumented immigrant herself, emphasizes a point that
Washington makes: that Sanders' platform “is the only one truly tapping into
the demands of the immigrant rights movement and the popular sentiment for
defending and strengthening civil rights.”
But Romero also brings up an issue missed by most
coverage: that Sanders’ platform can be used as a starting point for grassroots
organizing "through and beyond" the 2020 election. “[C]oalitions and organizing
committees should be formed now.” Romero writes. “We should be calling for the
abolition of ICE and the DHS, for the repeal of the ‘Illegal Immigration Act of
1996,’ and for active opposition to US intervention in Latin America.”
