Civil Rights Groups Unite around Low-Wage Principles for Immigration Reform
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 5/4/2007
A broad group of civil rights groups introduced a set of principles for immigration reform that take into consideration the plight of American low-wage workers.
"Certainly, we know that the current immigration system doesn't work and desperately needs fixing," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "But we also know that it needs to be a humane fix. Not a draconian drubbing of millions of workers employed by hundreds of thousands of American businesses."
The principles, signed by 20 organizations including LCCR, the NAACP, the National Urban League, Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), include calls for: better enforcement of antidiscrimination laws; more open vacancy notification systems to reduce job competition; increased enforcement of workplace standards, and more job skills, training, and adult education opportunities for low-wage workers, young people, and high school dropouts.
The principles came from a decision by national civil rights groups to fight anti-immigrant proponents who want to use immigration reform as a wedge political issue, particularly with the African-American community.
"I do not see this as an issue of economics. I see it as a moral one, and I believe it goes directly to our most basic understanding of civil and human rights … on the whole, African Americans understand that it is inherently wrong to divide people along the lines of race or ethnicity or national origin, and that creating "us versus them" scenarios does not help anyone in the long run," said Henderson, in testimony before the House Immigration Subcommittee on May 3.
Christopher Edley, dean of the University of California Boalt Hall School of Law, said that the motives of anti-immigrant proponents are suspect because few have done anything to alleviate the plight of American low-wage workers in the past.
"Our message is not that immigration reform should be held hostage to a comprehensive effort to tackle to problems of low-wage workers. Our message is that these can be pursued in parallel," said Edley.
Civil rights groups argue that immigration is only a part of the real overall problem with working conditions for all low-wage workers in the U.S. Cecilia Munoz, vice president of NCLR's Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation, said that immigration is merely "one step" toward a larger agenda of humane treatment of all U.S. workers.
"The solution is not to shut down immigration or pit immigrants against African Americans and other minority workers," said AAJC President and Executive Director Karen Narasaki. "The solution is to address the problems in the low-wage labor markets and ensure that sufficient resources are being invested in minority communities that have been under-funded since before immigrants came into the picture."
"None of us can move forward unless the rights and interests of all low-wage workers are protected," said Stephanie Jones, executive director of the National Urban League's Policy Institute.
