The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Comprehensive Immigration Reform and National Day of Action

Speech by Wade Henderson - March 22, 2006

Good morning. I am Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the nation's oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. LCCR is proud to support the National Day of Action and a broad, strong coalition of organizations that support comprehensive immigration reform.

LCCR believes that immigration policy is a matter of tremendous importance to the civil rights community. The entire history of the civil rights movement has been rooted in the principle that there can be no such thing as second-class Americans. Yet for too long, our immigration laws have created a two-tiered society, and have perpetuated racial and ethnic discrimination. This is unacceptable, as immigrants have always been essential to our success as a nation.

We're calling on Congress to enact immigration reforms that are both comprehensive and fair. For LCCR, that means five key principles:

• First, Congress must give hardworking immigrants a way to come out of the shadows and become Americans. In order to do that, immigrants need a meaningful way to become permanent residents.
  
  
• Second, enforcement policies need to focus on setting up a safe, orderly system of entry into the United States that meets the needs of families and businesses alike - and not on proposals that would criminalize undocumented immigrants or the people who help them.
  
  
• Third, Congress needs to go back and fix the laws that it enacted 10 years ago. Ever since the 1996 reforms, immigrants have been locked up indefinitely, deported for petty offenses, and kept out of the federal courts. It's time to bring common sense back to our immigration laws.
  
  
• Fourth, Congress needs to eliminate backlogs in visa processing and make it easier for families to come together and to stay together. With the way the current family-based visa system works, it's no wonder people overstay their visas or jump the lines to be with their families.
  
  
• Finally, any program that would provide new labor must completely protect the rights of both immigrant workers as well as those already here. Any program that simply tells workers to leave the country after a short period of time will only encourage them to remain here illegally.

I also want to tell you exactly the wrong way to reform our immigration system: through measures like H.R. 4437, the "enforcement-only" bill that passed the House in December. Strict enforcement without addressing the reality of 12 million persons already here ironically would institutionalize the permanent underclass most Americans decry. Comprehensive immigration reform is in the national interest. Punitive measures only make us less secure.

Unfortunately, this message is lost on some. Just last week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist introduced S. 2454, a bill that is almost as problematic as its House-passed equivalent. We're disappointed that Senator Frist would introduce it in an effort to do an end run around his own Judiciary Committee, which is working in good faith to produce a bipartisan and comprehensive immigration bill.

Immigration law is an incredibly complicated matter. Divisive proposals like H.R. 4437 or the Frist bill do little more than scapegoat immigrants, and they have no place in the debate that is currently taking place. Instead of rushing the process, Congress needs to take its time and get immigration reform right. Thank you.