A Call for Action on Immigration Reform: Over 300 Organizations Present Letter to Senator Schumer Calling for Human Rights Protections in Immigration Reform

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CONTACT

Christian Ramírez, American Friends Service Committee
National Coordinator Human Migration and Mobility
cramirez@afsc.org, 619-885-1289

Nadine Wahab, Rights Working Group
Communications Director
nwahab@rightsworkinggroup.org, 202-365-6071

A Call for Action on Immigration Reform: Over 300 Organizations Present Letter to Senator Schumer Calling for Human Rights Protections in Immigration Reform

Washington D.C. - October 22, 2009 – More than three hundred organizations including immigrant rights, human rights and civil liberties groups along with community and faith-based organizations delivered a letter on Tuesday to Senator Schumer (D-NY), Chair of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee. The signatories, represented by the American Friends Service Committee and the Rights Working Group, asked the Senator to ensure that U.S. immigration and border policy is implemented in a way that is fair, humane and respectful of individuals' constitutional and human rights.

The signatories have been encouraged by the public statements of the Senator, who has committed to immigration reform during this session of Congress. The letter applauded the Senator for recognizing that the current system impels people to break the law and then cruelly punishes them. The signatories agreed that enforcement-only policies have done nothing to remedy a broken immigration system and asked the Senator to incorporate the following principles as a necessary component to protect constitutional and human rights in the drafting of new legislation:

* Enforceable Detention Standards

* Secure, Community-Based Alternatives to Detention

* Fair Day in Court

* Access to Counsel

* Review of Federal Enforcement of Immigration Laws

* Civil Rights

* Responsible and Accountable Border Policy

"There are serious concerns over racial profiling when state and local law enforcement agents are deputized to enforce civil immigration law. Any immigration reform bill should restrict immigration enforcement to the federal government,” said Margaret Huang, Executive Director of Rights Working Group.

"Too much is at stake for the nation. No one benefits from the bleak situation we now have before us. Families continue to be separated and detention is only a temporary escape valve that does not solve the structural flaws of the current immigration system. None of this is humane, practical or realistic," added Esther Nieves director of American Friends Service Committee's Project Voice, a national immigrant and refugee rights initiative.

The full text of the letter can be found online at: http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/content/letter-schumer

The complete list of signatories can be found at: http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/sites/default/files/LettertoSchumer_Web.pdf

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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.

Formed in the aftermath of 9/11, the Rights Working Group is a coalition of more than 250 community-based grassroots groups and national organizations working to restore civil liberties and human rights protections for all people living in the U.S.