Statement by LCCR Exec. Director Wade Henderson at SEIU Press Conference on Immigration
Speech by Wade Henderson at an SEIU Immigration Press Conference on April 11, 2002.
Good morning. My name is Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights ? the nation's oldest, largest and most diverse civil rights coalition.
In the wake of September 11, it is clear that no public policy issue has been affected more than immigration. To the civil rights community, this is unfortunate - as our country has a tragic history of reacting in times of crisis by placing the blame on groups of people that we do not consider to be fully American. And when we look at some of the actions being taken by our Attorney General, and at the rhetoric being hurled about in Congress, we are again seeing too much of the same type of patterns that eventually led to shameful incidents like the Palmer raids and Japanese internment.
It is certainly true that our immigration policies that touch on national security may need to be reexamined. But amidst the calls to tighten our borders, I would urge that the very least we can do is ensure that our nation's immigration policies still demonstrate a genuine respect for the rights of immigrants who are already here, and who are doing their best to make positive contributions.
First, we need to leave no doubt that our institutions and our basic notions of due process exist to protect everyone, not just citizens. Even before September 11, and particularly since 1996, our immigration policies have been sending out exactly the wrong message. The message has been that the rights of noncitizens are not all that important ? that they can be denied a meaningful day in court, they can be locked away for months or even years with fewer rights than even convicted criminals, and in many cases they cannot even turn to the federal courts for help. The civil rights community believes it is essential that we restore due process to immigration law because history has proven, time and time again, that if the civil rights of one group are undermined, everyone else becomes vulnerable as well.
Second, our immigration policies need to reaffirm one of our greatest traditions - that of rewarding people who are here and who are trying hard to contribute to our economy, our culture, and our communities. While we certainly need to do all we reasonably can to enforce our immigration laws, we should never lose sight of the fact that they are only one of many ways in which we pursue our bottom line: doing what is in the best interests of our country in the long run. When it becomes so overwhelmingly clear that we have particular groups of people in our country who are helping us pursue those best interests, we have little to lose and so much to gain by shaping our policies in a way that encourages them. And by this, I am not only talking about undocumented workers. There are also groups of people whom we once welcomed in a more official sense. For example, while we welcomed thousands of Liberians into our country, with the idea of providing them a temporary safe haven, so many of them have become so much a part of America that it only makes sense - for them, and their American families, but also for us as a whole ? that we recognize it and allow them to stay.
I would just close by asking Congress and the Administration to show their commitment to respecting the rights and the contributions of our nation's immigrants. It is even more important now, post 9/11, when our worst fears make doing this more difficult than ever and when we are more tempted than usual to turn our backs on them. Protecting civil rights is never supposed to be easy; it ultimately means standing up for the least popular and most feared groups among us. But in the end, this means that our immigration policies, the way we treat noncitizens in this country now, will be the real yardstick by which we measure our nation's commitment to upholding the civil rights of everyone.
