America's Voice Blog

Posted 09/30/09 at 04:57pm By Web Team

Are American Apparel lay offs a replacement for raids?

Note: By guest blogger Madhuri from the Restrore Fairness blog.

I am deeply disappointed that the Obama administration has failed to bring about immigration reform. Whereas I know he has the intention to do so, getting the job done is another story.

Words from the farewell letter written by Dov Charney, American Apparel’s chief executive, to almost a quarter of his staff laid off because of a federal investigation that found irregularities in their documents. According to a New York Times article:

The firings at the company, American Apparel, have become a showcase for the Obama administration’s effort to reduce illegal immigration by forcing employers to dismiss unauthorized workers rather than through workplace raids. The firings, however, have divided opinion in California over the fallout of the new approach, especially at atime of record joblessness in the state and with a major, well-regarded employer as a target.

In fact just yesterday California lawmakers put forth a resolution which passed in the California Senate (it does not have the force of law) whose first sentence states, “The State of California….strives to enable all residents to work and live free from discrimination, exploitation, and repressive federal immigration enforcement.”

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has opened audits of 654 other companies, but what makes American Apparel stand out is its open and strong support of immigration reform (remember Legalize L.A.!). While it’s certainly been a relief to see a stop to the old workplace raids, replacing these with a different kind of enforcement that often has the same effects is not quite the solution one is looking for.

Watch Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren describing the old style raids.

 

 

It was an interpreter translating in the hearings for nearly 400 immigrant workers picked up in the Postville raid who revealed that many of the workers pleaded guilty to social security fraud (a dubious claim that the Supreme Court rejected) without understanding the criminal charges they were facing, or the rights that they had waived. Many went on to serve 5 months in jail and then get deported.

Two new documentaries examine the effects of the raids by tracing them back to their villages in Guatemala. Both Guatemala: A Tale of Two Villages that screened on PBS’s Frontline and In the Shadow of a Raid (courtesy FIRM) show how the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history made a Guatemalan village weep while pushing an Iowa farm town to the brink of collapse.

Note: Guest blogger Madhuri joins us from the Restore Fairness Blog-- check it out.

Posted 09/30/09 at 01:43pm By Jackie Mahendra

Extreme Groups Push Amendments to Bar Legal Immigrants, Block Millions from Buying Insurance

UPDATE:  The Sen. Kyl amendment for tax credits, which would have undermined the confidentiality of tax information, went down after a brief debate. Senator Rockefeller called it dreadful, and Sen. Bingaman repeated that it was a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist.  Thanks to all who have made phone calls already.

nasty graphicToday the Senate Finance Committee is considering several key amendments on immigration to the current health insurance reform legislation.   The worst amendments are sponsored by Senators Kyl (R-AZ), Grassley (R-IA) and Ensign (R-NV).

Check out this alert by reform advocates working on the intersection of healthcare and immigration policy -- please take a moment to call your Senators now to oppose amendments that are bad policy for all Americans.

As you’d expect, anti-immigrant organizations are calling on their members to light up the phones. FAIR, the leading anti-immigraton lobbying organization, which is recognized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is urging its activists today to oppose any inclusion of legal immigrants in health insurance reform. Hate groups like FAIR will continue to spread lies about immigrants and health care.  And, they’ll continue to feed misinformation to their allies on Capitol Hill. 

We’ve reached a point in the health care debate where yesterday we had to ask legislators who support such measures, "What part of LEGAL don't you understand?"

Senator Steve King (R-IA), as blogger Dave Neiwert pointed out at Crooks and Liars, was so eager to throw immigrants under the bus this week that he even eschewed traditional conservative values of the free market:

In typical fashion, Rep. King read the word “immigrant” and jumped on it, telling the Washington Times: "If anybody can, with a straight face, advocate that we should provide health insurance for people who broke into our country, broke our law and for the most part are criminals, I don't know where they ever would draw the line.”  Never mind the fact that no one was advocating taxpayer assistance to undocumented workers, but simply the right to purchase health insurance with their own money.  Since when were Republicans like King so opposed to the free market?  Oh right – when it involves undocumented immigrants, who “for the most part are criminals,” according to King.

Free-market Steve King vs. Anti-immigrant Steve King. That pretty much sums up how absurd this debate has become.

I'm no health policy expert, but it makes sense that immigrants should have access to affordable health care.  Even Fox news anchors agree that it pays to let undocumented immigrants buy their own health insurance, instead of blocking them from doing so.

On a positive note, common sense has triumphed in some areas of the debate today. Senator Grassley proposed a new verification requirement that would have caused problems for U.S. citizens and immigrants alike.  Fortunately, It was defeated by a 10- 13 margin. All the Republicans, including Olympia Snowe (ME), on the Finance Committee voted with Grassley. All the Democrats opposed his amendment.

Your phone calls to Congress do matter -- so don't forget to tell Congress where you stand.

Note: Cross-posted at Daily Kos.

Posted 09/30/09 at 10:31am By Mahwish Khan

Get Your Tickets: 9500 Liberty at APA Film Festival This Thursday

Eric Byler and Annabel Park are local documentarians who have taken on the immigration debate in a unique, in-depth and innovative way.

Their latest film, 9500 Liberty, documents the intense debate over immigration in Virginia’s Prince William County when it, in Park’s own words, “passed a local ordinance that was considered the harshest local ordinance cracking down on illegal immigration.”

The brilliance of the documentary lies not only in the fact that it reveals the economic and human consequences of extreme local immigration policies, but it is also the first “interactive documentary series” on YouTube. According to reviewer, Anna Petrillo:

It [9500 Liberty] illustrates the potency of the Internet and new media to inspire participation and leadership on all levels in the political and community building process during times of economic and political uncertainty.

The film recently won the “Indie Truth Award for Best Documentary” at the Charlotte Film Festival, and will be featured at the 10th Annual DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival on opening night, this Thursday, October 1, with both directors in attendance.

Tickets for the event can be bought here.  Snatch yours up before they sell out!

Posted 09/29/09 at 12:44pm By Adam Luna

CNN’s Dobbs: Creating a Hostile Image of Hispanics

Every weeknight, CNN airs one full hour of Hate TV -- it’s called, "Lou Dobbs Tonight."

For 260 hours every year, Dobbs has a bully pulpit from which to spew race-baiting, fear, and intolerance stamped with the CNN seal of approval.

As I wrote last week, when America’s Voice launched its new TV ad:

Few individuals have done more to bring extremism and race-based hate speech into the mainstream than Lou Dobbs.

We’re starting to get a clearer picture of just how extensive that belief is among Latino leaders --- and how much of an impact CNN’s Dobbs has on the lives of Latinos in America.

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/28/09 at 08:12pm By Patty Kupfer

Month in Review: Faith Community Flexes Muscle on Immigration

Watch out, FAIR.

The faith community has been flexing its muscle throughout September with one goal in mind: to bring humanity back into the immigration debate. And the momentum is most definitely building. Earlier this month, religious leaders who were holding a prayer vigil on Capitol Hill called for an end to hate in the dialogue on immigration were featured on the front page of the Washington Post.  

Last week, the Center for American Progress released a new report, Welcoming Thy Neighbor: Faith Communities and Immigration Reform, documenting the growing grassroots movement of faith communities around the country for immigration reform. Author, Sam Fulwood III, notes that this heightened level of activism in the faith community “…is an important development because it heralds a sweeping grassroots movement that will support political leaders in Washington who join their cause.”

Finally, be on the lookout for an upcoming hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee entitled, Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Faith-Based Perspectives.  The hearing was recently postponed due to the markup of healthcare legislation in the Finance Committee, but it’s an important acknowledgement of the critical nature of the faith community’s perspective and commitment to the immigration issue – it’s also remarkable how broad the support is across the political spectrum.

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/28/09 at 05:28pm By Web Team

Update from “Dreamer” Jorge-Alonso: Call Senators Cantwell and Murray Now

UPDATE: Last week, over 5,000 emails were sent to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, which has helped delay Dream Act eligible, business student Jorge-Alonso’s deportation.  In the following video message, Alonso thanks his supporters for the work they’ve done so far, and what it is that they can do to help further. Watch:

His appeal for help issued as an email this morning read:

As of today, my only remaining hope to stay in the United States is for one of my US Senators -- Maria Cantwell or Patty Murray -- to immediately introduce a private bill on my behalf.

Call Senator Cantwell or Murray and urge them to introduce a private bill in order to keep Jorge-Alonso at home with his family and friends where he belongs.

Posted 09/28/09 at 12:51pm By Jackie Mahendra

Lou Dobbs Roundup: Pressure Mounts on CNN, How You Can Help

Only 1 week old, our campaign to air a hard-hitting new Lou Dobbs television ad on CNN has already raised about a third of the $16,000 dollars needed. These contributions have come directly from hundreds of everyday people who are fed up with the hate speech on CNN.

Check out the coverage so far, and don't forget to chip in here.

In "Dropping Lou Dobbs: Unrepentant Wingnuttery means CNN needs to choose between its credibility and its pride," Dave Neiwert of Crooks and Liars argues:

Dobbs's irresponsible brand of journalism besmirches the credibility of an organization like CNN. Which means that it needs to choose between preserving its fast-eroding integrity, or sacrificing it on the altar of Dobbs' ego.

In "America's Voice Uses Facebook Targeted Ads to Take On Lou Dobbs", David Cohen reports for Media Bistro:

Pro-immigration reform group America's Voice is going after CNN host Lou Dobbs in a big way, and it's using Facebook's targeted advertising to do so, ClickZ reported.

In "Ad Campaign Urges CNN To Drop Hater Lou Dobbs. How You Can Help," blogger Baratunde Thurston (aka Jack Turner) of Jack and Jill Politics writes:

Dobbs is no friend to black people or just decent people. Adam goes on to cite the connection between Dobbs’ dehumanizing rhetoric and the rise in hate crimes against Latinos (again, something “we” know a bit about as I mentioned back during the cops-shoot-gorilla-as-proxy-for-Obama cartoon controversy last Spring).

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/28/09 at 10:50am By Frank Sharry

Immigration Must Reads: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

First the good—Some of us already knew this, but the fact that good immigration policy also boosts the middle class is a myth-buster that bears repeating, as well as a new report by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI). Immigration Impact argues:

The myth that immigration is bad for U.S. workers has sullied the immigration debate for far too long. A new report by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI), “Principles for an Immigration Policy to Strengthen and Expand the American Middle Class: 2009 Edition,” sets the record straight. In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and in anticipation of a new round of legislative debates on comprehensive immigration reform, DMI’s report makes a rational, concise argument for why comprehensive immigration reform is needed to improve the conditions for middle class Americans.

Next up, some good, some bad— We’ve got a few takes on urgency and timing of reform. Conservative Latino columnist Ruben Navarette argues, on CNN,  that the President is not setting a clear enough timetable for how and when reform will happen—going so far as to state that Obama has thrown immigrant advocates under the bus. Then, in the AP Friday, Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), said, “he fully expects work on rewriting immigration law to begin in Congress next year.” He argues:

"Part of President Obama's mandate coming in, particularly in the high levels of support that he received from Latino voters in critical states, I think a significant part of his mandate was about comprehensive immigration reform," Saenz said.

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/25/09 at 12:46pm By Jackie Mahendra

Politico: 90% of Latino Leaders Believe CNN’s Lou Dobbs Makes it Harder to be Hispanic

Democracia

Today Democracia Ahora released a new report on their newly-launched website TellCNNEnoughisEnough.com.

Check it out:

Latino Leaders and their Opinion of CNN’s Lou Dobbs

According to the Politico:

The results of the report are not surprising – 90 percent of the interviewees believe Dobbs is helping create a negative image of Hispanics, with his frequent criticisms of illegal immigration.

The question is, what is CNN going to do about it?

We're getting closer to our goal of putting this ad on CNN, to ask that very question-- can you pitch in now?

Posted 09/25/09 at 10:00am By Frank Sharry

Immigration Must Reads: Politics, Faith, and the Movement Telling CNN Enough

must reads

Today, Politics Daily captures the push and pull on Democrats and Republicans regarding Latinos and immigration politics, with Simon Rosenberg rightly cautioning Democrats that inaction will not be cost-free:

"The disappointment of Latino voters will be profound" if immigration reform doesn't happen next year, NDN president Simon Rosenberg, whose group studies the Latino vote, told me. If Obama and his party delay the bill further, or their efforts look half-hearted, he added, "there will be costs. It will not be pain-free."

The Drop Dobbs campaign heats up as Media Matters, NDN, America’s Voice, and others keep up the pressure.  Democracia Ahora releases their new report outlining Latino leaders’ views that Dobbs has made Hispanic a much harder thing to be in the U.S. The report launches yet another strong effort to hold CNN accountable: TellCNNEnoughisEnough.com.
 
Mike Lux writes a moving post about his father’s values, welcoming the other, how far we’ve come, and how much we have yet to do.  There’s a Washington Post piece on Salvadorans getting organized nationally, with immigration reform a top priority.  Raul Reyes in USA Today talks about immigration as a red herring in the health care debate (BTW --  we hear some Menendez amendments are looking good regarding immigrants and health care coverage – more detail to follow). And there’s a New York Times survey showing that the US still a strong draw for Mexicans in Mexico.  
 
Don’t forget to read up on the coverage of CAP event  on the increasingly crucial role faith groups are playing in support of immigration reform.
 
That’s about it… for now. Stay tuned.

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