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democratic national convention

Both Sides of the Immigration Plank

Posted by Rachel L. on September 3, 2008

While the Democrats were rallying in Denver last week, Republicans met to hammer out the McCain Platform being presented this week in St. Paul.

Duke at MigraMatters posted on some details of the Immigration plank of the Republican Platform (and the deliberations that created the plank).

In sharp contrast to the 2004 platform, whose immigration plank clearly reflected the highly flawed Bush/McCain doctrine on immigration reform, relying heavily on a pro-business guest-worker program, a modified and somewhat limited path to citizenship for the 12 mill undocumented workers, and stricter enforcement with limited judicial review, this year’s platform is based entirely upon increased enforcement, raids and deportation.

So this means we can expect more of this and this?

The current platform full-throatily endorses the “deportation through attrition” model so favored by hate groups like FAIR and their allies in the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus led by ex-FAIR lobbyist Brian Bilbray.

While the 2004 platform at least tried to leave a modicum of human dignity for migrant workers intact by paying lip service to ” the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants” and the essential role they play in the nation’s economic vitality, this years platform, after four years of a campaign of misinformation from anti-immigrant activists, reflects more the rants of Tom Tancredo and Lou Dobbs than a practical governing tool.

The platform itself is decidedly anti-migrant, but the real sentiments seem to have come out during the deliberations process.

Two delegates wanted to harden the language surrounding the issue of amnesty. The draft read, “We oppose amnesty.” But, delegates from North Carolina and Colorado wanted to include opposition to “comprehensive immigration reform” because they believe it is a code word for amnesty. This sparked a heated discussion between members with a delegate from Washington DC who said that the Republican Party is a “not a xenophobic party, not an intolerant party. We are a compassionate party that insists on the rule of law and endorses federal law,” said Bud McFarlane. Kendal Unruh from Colorado, who wanted to include “opposition to comprehensive immigration reform” to the draft, seemed to take offense to that statement citing her missionary work and saying that she would “never have the label” of xenophobic “slapped on me.” She continued to press that the committee add the tougher language to stop “behind the door tactics” to prevent “amnesty” of illegal aliens.

This is compared to the Democratic immigration plank that I posted on (with Duke’s help) earlier this month.

On the good side there is a commitment to take up comprehensive reform within the first year, a plan to regularize the status of the 12mil undocumented migrants already living in the US, an acknowledgment that conditions in sender nations that foster increased migration must be dealt with, a reaffirmation of the commitment to the principles of family based immigration, an increase in the number of available visas, and a call to fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy.

On the bad side, the platform is still mired down in the language of enforcement and criminalization that marked previous failed efforts at reform. Calls for increased border enforcement and security as a means to regulate migration, and promises of getting tough on those who “disrespect the law”, while perhaps smart political theater, are not constructive ways to address a broken immigration system, and only add to the divisive and dehumanizing nature of the debate.

Check out the original post for the full text of Obama’s Immigration plank.

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Immigration and the Unspoken Words at the DNC

Posted by Rachel L. on September 2, 2008

Last Wednesday, the NY Times ran an article about the cuts made to various speeches at the DNC last week.

DENVER — It seemed like a typical Democratic line, one that would play well with the partisan crowd that has packed the Pepsi Center this week.

“Above all,” it said, “we can’t have a Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants to our country as we build a wall on the Southern border. Instead, let us build bridges of friendship and cooperation with our Southern neighbors.”

But when Representative José E. Serrano of the Bronx submitted his three-minute speech as required to the high command of Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, the remark was excised. In fact, there was no mention of immigration policy, an issue of great importance to Mr. Serrano and his constituents in New York.

It was this unwillingness to confront the immigration debate head-on that drew thousands of marchers in Denver last Thursday.

While the Convention went on with business as usual, nearly 600 workers were rounded up, sorted by race and shuffled through our country’s ”justice” system. Due process, civil rights and workers’ rights seemed to be far from the minds of the Convention’s delegates and speakers.

The experience of Mr. Serrano, an 18-year veteran of Congress and influential member of the House Appropriations Committee, provides an especially revealing look inside the scrupulous process. His speech underwent roughly four edits.

“They kept saying it was for space,” Mr. Serrano said. “They never said it was for content. They said they wanted it to be 280 words. But when you read it, they took out the meat of the message.”

Edited out, for instance, was a passage saying that the war on terrorism should not be used “as an excuse to trample on the civil liberties of our people.”

“It was not a bad speech, the one I gave,” Mr. Serrano said. “But it wasn’t a hard-hitting description of where the country is heading.”

On Thursday, Barack Obama briefly mentioned immigration in his acceptance speech.

“You know, passions may fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. But this, too, is part of America’s promise — the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.”

While I applaud Obama’s effort to denounce the humanitarian aspects of the raid, I would like to hear stronger language concerning the legal aspects of what the current administration is doing. The violation of due process is something that should concern every American that values their legal and civil rights. Like Mr. Serrano so eloquently stated, this is not a “hard-hitting description of where the country is heading”.

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Immigrant Rights March in Denver

Posted by Rachel L. on September 2, 2008

Last Thursday, thousands of people marched in Denver to call for Just and Humane Immigration Reform. The march marked the last day of a Democratic National Convention that gave little recognition to the immigration issue.

In a post titled “Immigration: Too Hot for DNC?”, Robert Lovato mentions the march:

Outside of the Pepsi Convention Center are hundreds of immigrant rights groups planning a major mobilization this Thursday – the day of Obama’s acceptance speech. They will protest what they believe is the unwillingness of Democrats and their Washington-based immigrant rights allies to seriously support what the press release of the March 25th Coalition calls “human legalization and a moratorium on raids and deportations.”

At VivirLatino, one blogger asks California Representative Loretta Sanchez about the raids in Mississippi that had occurred the same day.  Sanchez dodged the question.

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