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BAIRC in the News |
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Immigrant Advocates Refocus on Perceptions
By Jack Chang
Contra Costa Times
03/31/05
OAKLAND - Advocates representing the spectrum of Bay Area immigrant communities met Wednesday to build a united front in the growing debate about how the United States treats immigrants.
Many participants in the "summit" at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland said the country was at a low point in its treatment of immigrants.
Top on the dozens of leaders' minds at the six-hour meeting was a Bush administration proposal giving illegal immigrants temporary work permits, but requiring that they leave the country after three years. Many said they opposed the proposal because it doesn't provide a path to permanent residency.
Meeting participants voted to launch two advocacy campaigns this year, one focusing on the Bush plan and other immigration reform proposals and the other fighting moves they said would erode the civil rights of immigrants.
"We need to be united as organizations and say, 'This is my agenda,'" said Silvia Ramirez with the San Francisco-based Comite de Padres Unidos. "We need to put ourselves forward in a focused way."
The Oakland-based nonprofit Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition organized the meeting. Attendees included representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative, the International Institute of the East Bay and the Latina Center in Richmond.
Advocates for tougher immigration restrictions have targeted the same issues, said Rick Oltman, the Federation for American Immigration Reform's western regional field director.
"2005 is a very important year," Oltman said. "The media has found illegal immigration as an issue. It's something that gets people energized. And there really isn't much illegal aliens and their advocates can say to justify them sneaking into this country and taking our jobs."
The past year has been marked by defeats for immigrant advocates.
In February, the House of Representatives approved the Real ID Act, which would punish states that issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The Senate is now considering the bill.
Arizona voters passed a ballot initiative in November denying driver's licenses and benefits to illegal immigrants. And two months before that, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the sixth bill proposed by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, to give licenses to illegal immigrants.
Public opinion polls have generally showed Americans and Californians disapprove of illegal immigrants and proposals that assist them.
Overcoming negative public perceptions will be important in efforts to win the immigration debate, said Jayashri Srikantiah, director of Stanford University's newly formed Immigrants' Rights Clinic.
"Anti-immigrant politicians and policy makers have been successful in reframing the debate and making it an issue of being anti-criminal and anti-terrorism," Srikantiah said. "We think those are false connections."
Questions of language dominated much of Wednesday's discussion.
Arnoldo Garcia of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said advocates should talk about "legalization" rather than "immigration" reform to emphasize proposals offering permanent residency to illegal immigrants.
Several supported focusing debate on the "human rights" of immigrants rather than their "civil rights" because the word choice underlined immigrants' humanity.
With unity and the right strategy, advocates can make a difference despite the overwhelming odds against them, said the Bay Area coalition's director, Sheila Chung. As an example, she cited the successful grass-roots campaign against Proposition 54, a 2003 initiative that would have prohibited the state from collecting demographic data about its residents.
"It's in coming together that we find our strength," she said. "Now, more than ever, it's time for us to pull together."
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