By David Bacon, Rosalinda Guillen and Mark Day, New America Media
June 6, 2013
As the Senate prepares to vote on comprehensive immigration reform, it's important to remember that workers and immigrants have never made significant progress in gaining civil and human rights in the United States without a fight. The same is true today.
No political party or Gang of Eight can bestow upon undocumented immigrants rights that can only be won through an organized social movement. President Barack Obama would not have issued an executive order to defer the deportations of undocumented students had not these courageous youths fought those deportations, staged protests, and proposed their own immigration reform - the Dream
Act.
The Senate's proposed bill, however, does not reflect the reality in which most immigrants live, starting with the reasons why people come to the United States to begin with. This bill will not stop the flow of undocumented immigrants, its stated purpose, because it does not address the root causes of migration.[...]
Read the full article:
http://newamericamedia.org/2013/06/the-price-of-immigration-reform-is-steep.php
Monday, June 17, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Immigrants Explain Why the Senate Reform Bill Is Inadequate
Immigrants Use May Day for Legalization Push
By Juan Matossian, Asian Journal, El Diario La Prensa
April 30, 2013
Translated by Emily Leavitt from Spanish
Go to original story
On May 1, International Workers’ Day, thousands of immigrant workers will not only reclaim their rights, they will also raise their voices in unison to demand fair immigration reform.
A large part of the protests and events that the New York immigrant community usually organizes will center around the recent immigration reform bill presented just a few weeks ago, and the effects it will have on workers.
Some of the participating groups will use May 1 to express their disagreement with the bill – already known officially as S. 744 – because they consider it clearly inadequate. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.voicesofny.org/2013/04/immigrants-use-may-1-for-legalization-push/
Youth organizer Denise Romero explains why she wouldn't accept legalization through the Senate bill:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkUAiypb74
By Juan Matossian, Asian Journal, El Diario La Prensa
April 30, 2013
Translated by Emily Leavitt from Spanish
Go to original story
On May 1, International Workers’ Day, thousands of immigrant workers will not only reclaim their rights, they will also raise their voices in unison to demand fair immigration reform.
A large part of the protests and events that the New York immigrant community usually organizes will center around the recent immigration reform bill presented just a few weeks ago, and the effects it will have on workers.
Some of the participating groups will use May 1 to express their disagreement with the bill – already known officially as S. 744 – because they consider it clearly inadequate. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.voicesofny.org/2013/04/immigrants-use-may-1-for-legalization-push/
Youth organizer Denise Romero explains why she wouldn't accept legalization through the Senate bill:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkUAiypb74
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Hunger Strike to Protest Immigration-Related Firings
STOP MAKING WORK A CRIME
A Bay Area Network Opposing the Firing of Immigrant Workers
FIRED WORKERS AND SUPPORTERS LAUNCH A THREE DAY HUNGER STRIKE TO OPPOSE THE "SILENT RAIDS"
PRESS RELEASE - for release Monday, June 10
Press Contact: Laura Rivas - 510-282-2500, Mike Henneberry - 510-719-7691, Sara Steffens - 510-332-9483
From noon on Tuesday, June 11 to noon on Friday, June 14, Bay Area immigrant workers and their supporters will be engaging in a FAST AGAINST THE FIRINGS to draw attention to the unjust firing of hundreds of immigrants.
Even though the full Senate has begun deliberations on the Immigration Reform Bill S. 744, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency of the federal Department of Homeland Security is requiring local employers to fire hundreds of workers, saying they have no immigration papers. The administration calls its reform proposal "commonsense immigration reform," but the fasters say there is no common sense in firing workers while Congress debates it.[...]
Read the full press release:
http://www.unionbook.org/profiles/blogs/california-hunger-strike-v-immigration-related-firings-david
Thursday, June 13, 2013
"Enemy Alien" Showing in DC, 6/14/13
"Enemy Alien" Showing in DC, 6/14/13
The Jerusalem Fund/Palestine Center will present Enemy Alien as part of its Summer Film Series
Friday, June 14, 2013
6:30pm
The Jerusalem Fund
2425 Virginia Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Director Konrad Aderer will be present for discussion after the screening.
Event listing & reservations
Enemy Alien is now available on Amazon as a DVD! Please SUPPORT the film by posting a 5-star review once you’ve seen it. (http://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Alien-Konrad-Aderer/dp/B00B2RC6VQ)
The film will also be available for digital download online soon, and a shorter classroom version of Enemy Alien is in the works for release this year.
Production continues for the next Life or Liberty project, Resistance at Tule Lake, telling the explosive hidden history of Tule Lake Segregation Center. At this American concentration camp, Japanese Americans who protested their incarceration were branded by the U.S. government as “disloyal,” violent disturbances led to martial law being imposed on the camp, and thousands renounced their U.S. citizenship.
The 9-minute trailer of the film was shown at the San Francisco and New York City annual Day of Remembrance events in February and March. Watch the trailer
Your support is greatly appreciated! Please connect and keep up through the lifeorliberty.org website, Facebook page (facebook.com/EnemyAlien) and Twitter (@enemyalien).
The Jerusalem Fund/Palestine Center will present Enemy Alien as part of its Summer Film Series
Friday, June 14, 2013
6:30pm
The Jerusalem Fund
2425 Virginia Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Director Konrad Aderer will be present for discussion after the screening.
Event listing & reservations
Enemy Alien is now available on Amazon as a DVD! Please SUPPORT the film by posting a 5-star review once you’ve seen it. (http://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Alien-Konrad-Aderer/dp/B00B2RC6VQ)
The film will also be available for digital download online soon, and a shorter classroom version of Enemy Alien is in the works for release this year.
Production continues for the next Life or Liberty project, Resistance at Tule Lake, telling the explosive hidden history of Tule Lake Segregation Center. At this American concentration camp, Japanese Americans who protested their incarceration were branded by the U.S. government as “disloyal,” violent disturbances led to martial law being imposed on the camp, and thousands renounced their U.S. citizenship.
The 9-minute trailer of the film was shown at the San Francisco and New York City annual Day of Remembrance events in February and March. Watch the trailer
Your support is greatly appreciated! Please connect and keep up through the lifeorliberty.org website, Facebook page (facebook.com/EnemyAlien) and Twitter (@enemyalien).
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Dignity Campaign Response to Senate Bill S 744
By the Dignity Campaign
June 1, 2013
As organizations participating in the Dignity Campaign for Immigration Reform Based on Human and Labor Rights, we are very concerned about the harsh impact the Senate’s immigration reform bill will have on immigrants. Rather than ‘bring immigrants out of the shadows’ this bill will hold millions in an underclass, vulnerable to exploitation and relegated to the ranks of the working poor, with no access to basic services. Millions will have no hope of receiving permanent legal status, let alone citizenship.
We believe this bill will affect our communities for decades to come, in the same way we continue to feel the negative effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, passed in 1986. It is important to look at what our world will be like if the Senate’s version of immigration reform passes, to expose the negative impacts the bill will have, and especially prepare to defend our communities.
We want legal immigration status for people living in the U.S. who don’t have it, and believe this desire unites millions in this country. Diverse groups with many different experiences are all fighting today for the civil, labor and human rights of immigrants, and of all working people. This fight didn’t start with this bill – it’s been going on for generations. It won’t end with it either.
This bill, however, does not reflect the aspirations of a majority of the US population to provide permanent resident status to the undocumented. It is instead the product of corporate America, which wants to hold down the cost of labor, especially in high tech, the hotel and restaurant industry, construction, and the food growing and processing industry. Massive enforcement creates money-making opportunities through continued detention and constructing more border walls, which we all already know will not stop the flow of migration.[...]
Read the full statement:
http://dignitycampaign.org/statements/response-to-senate-bill-s-744/
June 1, 2013
As organizations participating in the Dignity Campaign for Immigration Reform Based on Human and Labor Rights, we are very concerned about the harsh impact the Senate’s immigration reform bill will have on immigrants. Rather than ‘bring immigrants out of the shadows’ this bill will hold millions in an underclass, vulnerable to exploitation and relegated to the ranks of the working poor, with no access to basic services. Millions will have no hope of receiving permanent legal status, let alone citizenship.
We believe this bill will affect our communities for decades to come, in the same way we continue to feel the negative effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, passed in 1986. It is important to look at what our world will be like if the Senate’s version of immigration reform passes, to expose the negative impacts the bill will have, and especially prepare to defend our communities.
We want legal immigration status for people living in the U.S. who don’t have it, and believe this desire unites millions in this country. Diverse groups with many different experiences are all fighting today for the civil, labor and human rights of immigrants, and of all working people. This fight didn’t start with this bill – it’s been going on for generations. It won’t end with it either.
This bill, however, does not reflect the aspirations of a majority of the US population to provide permanent resident status to the undocumented. It is instead the product of corporate America, which wants to hold down the cost of labor, especially in high tech, the hotel and restaurant industry, construction, and the food growing and processing industry. Massive enforcement creates money-making opportunities through continued detention and constructing more border walls, which we all already know will not stop the flow of migration.[...]
Read the full statement:
http://dignitycampaign.org/statements/response-to-senate-bill-s-744/
Friday, June 7, 2013
Radical Alternatives to Immigration Reform @ Left Forum 2013
Saturday, June 8th, Noon
Room W510
Pace University
Tens of thousands are detained and deported in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere but human migration will not stop. The number of migrants worldwide has increased from an estimated 36 million in 1991 to over 200 million today, including 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Migration is wired into the structures of capitalism and is transforming nation-state demographics and politics. However, the proposals coming from the mainstream parties and organizations purposely fail to address fundamental issues such as climate change, border walls, global recession and economic underdevelopment. This forum will put forward radical proposals and movement-strategies to challenge the shortcomings of 'immigration reform'.
Chair: Sarah Flores
Panelists:
Sonia Guinansaca, Education Not Deportation Campaign and New York State Youth Leadership Council
Immanuel Ness, author, Guest Workers and US Corporate Despotism
Jane Guskin, author, The Politics of Immigration
Anthony Donaldson, Families for Freedom
Denise Guadalupe Romero, Migrant Power Alliance & The Black Alliance for Just Immigration [BAJI]
Shaun Harkin, Chicago May Day 2013 Organizing Committee; Coalition for Migrant Justice; Socialistworker.org contributor
Sponsored by the International Socialist Review
www.isreview.org
www.facebook.com/isreview
http://www.leftforum.org/content/radical-alternatives-immigration-reform
https://www.facebook.com/events/380581435386213/
* * *
Right before the immigration panel, filmmaker Konrad Aderer ("Enemy Alien") will be on a panel about resistance to global capitalism
Rebel from Below: Global Capitalism and Local Resistance in Comparative Perspective
Session 1 W608 Sat 10:00am - 11:50am
Lu Zhang -- Temple University
Kimberly Lok -- Temple University, Food Chain Workers Alliance
Jennifer Candipan -- USC
Konrad Aderer -- Life or Liberty (lifeorliberty.org)
Esther Hio-Tong Castillo -- Temple University
René Ropac -- Temple University
http://www.leftforum.org/content/rebel-below-global-capitalism-and-local-resistance-comparative-perspective
Room W510
Pace University
Tens of thousands are detained and deported in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere but human migration will not stop. The number of migrants worldwide has increased from an estimated 36 million in 1991 to over 200 million today, including 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Migration is wired into the structures of capitalism and is transforming nation-state demographics and politics. However, the proposals coming from the mainstream parties and organizations purposely fail to address fundamental issues such as climate change, border walls, global recession and economic underdevelopment. This forum will put forward radical proposals and movement-strategies to challenge the shortcomings of 'immigration reform'.
Chair: Sarah Flores
Panelists:
Sonia Guinansaca, Education Not Deportation Campaign and New York State Youth Leadership Council
Immanuel Ness, author, Guest Workers and US Corporate Despotism
Jane Guskin, author, The Politics of Immigration
Anthony Donaldson, Families for Freedom
Denise Guadalupe Romero, Migrant Power Alliance & The Black Alliance for Just Immigration [BAJI]
Shaun Harkin, Chicago May Day 2013 Organizing Committee; Coalition for Migrant Justice; Socialistworker.org contributor
Sponsored by the International Socialist Review
www.isreview.org
www.facebook.com/isreview
http://www.leftforum.org/content/radical-alternatives-immigration-reform
https://www.facebook.com/events/380581435386213/
* * *
Right before the immigration panel, filmmaker Konrad Aderer ("Enemy Alien") will be on a panel about resistance to global capitalism
Rebel from Below: Global Capitalism and Local Resistance in Comparative Perspective
Session 1 W608 Sat 10:00am - 11:50am
Lu Zhang -- Temple University
Kimberly Lok -- Temple University, Food Chain Workers Alliance
Jennifer Candipan -- USC
Konrad Aderer -- Life or Liberty (lifeorliberty.org)
Esther Hio-Tong Castillo -- Temple University
René Ropac -- Temple University
http://www.leftforum.org/content/rebel-below-global-capitalism-and-local-resistance-comparative-perspective
Saturday, June 1, 2013
AFL-CIO: American high-tech workers not in shortage
Companies want a massive expansion of visa holders so they can pay them less.
By Richard Trumka, USA Today
May 28, 2013
Policy proposals from multinational corporations often come with slick, poll-tested rhetoric. It is always worth digging deeper.
And the more you dig into the idea that we need to hugely expand the number of employer-based temporary worker visas for tech companies, the more you uncover the truth: This is about powerful companies pursuing lower wages. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/28/h1b-visa-high-tech-workers-afl-cio-editorials-debates/2367769/
Current and proposed high-skilled guestworker policies discourage STEM students and grads from entering IT
By Hal Salzman, Daniel Kuehn, and B. Lindsay Lowell, Economic Policy Institute
May 30, 2013
In 2011, the number of high-skilled (i.e., possessing at least a college degree) guestworkers was estimated to be equal to between one-third to one-half of new job openings filled by all college graduates in the information technology (IT) sector. However, a new analysis finds that in 2011, the number of college-educated guestworkers under the age of 30 in IT was equal to two-thirds of all the 166,000 new college-educated IT job holders under the age of 30. At a time when Congress is proposing to dramatically increase the number of skilled guestworkers available to IT and other industries, it is important to consider the adverse impact of increasing the guestworker flow on U.S. college graduates just entering the workforce and on those in school making plans for their future.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the country’s largest skilled guestworker program (H-1B) is primarily used to fill “entry-level” positions. Thus, recent graduates in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields seeking an initial foothold in the IT job market are competing directly with young college-educated guestworkers for these entry-level positions. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.epi.org/publication/current-proposed-high-skilled-guestworker/
By Richard Trumka, USA Today
May 28, 2013
Policy proposals from multinational corporations often come with slick, poll-tested rhetoric. It is always worth digging deeper.
And the more you dig into the idea that we need to hugely expand the number of employer-based temporary worker visas for tech companies, the more you uncover the truth: This is about powerful companies pursuing lower wages. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/28/h1b-visa-high-tech-workers-afl-cio-editorials-debates/2367769/
Current and proposed high-skilled guestworker policies discourage STEM students and grads from entering IT
By Hal Salzman, Daniel Kuehn, and B. Lindsay Lowell, Economic Policy Institute
May 30, 2013
In 2011, the number of high-skilled (i.e., possessing at least a college degree) guestworkers was estimated to be equal to between one-third to one-half of new job openings filled by all college graduates in the information technology (IT) sector. However, a new analysis finds that in 2011, the number of college-educated guestworkers under the age of 30 in IT was equal to two-thirds of all the 166,000 new college-educated IT job holders under the age of 30. At a time when Congress is proposing to dramatically increase the number of skilled guestworkers available to IT and other industries, it is important to consider the adverse impact of increasing the guestworker flow on U.S. college graduates just entering the workforce and on those in school making plans for their future.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the country’s largest skilled guestworker program (H-1B) is primarily used to fill “entry-level” positions. Thus, recent graduates in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields seeking an initial foothold in the IT job market are competing directly with young college-educated guestworkers for these entry-level positions. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.epi.org/publication/current-proposed-high-skilled-guestworker/
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