This week’s immigration blog roundup discusses the White House meeting on immigration reform, the National DREAM Graduation Ceremony, remarks from President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a new report on ICE misconduct.
Today the White House administration will have the official meeting comprehensive immigration reform that has been postponed twice since the Reform Immigration for America Campaign summit. The coalition of community, labor, and faith leaders from across the country has maintained their strong urgency since the summit despite speculations that the White House is distancing itself from earlier commitments to comprehensive immigration reform this year. On Monday White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said immigration reform is not likely to see much action in Congress this year, but many including Senator Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee that handles immigration and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have said immigration reform is possible for this year. Immigration advocates hope that in today’s meeting the Administration will recommit to finding workable solutions to fixing our immigration system this year.
Yesterday, almost 400 students and their supporters came to Washington D.C. to celebrate their achievements at the National DREAM Graduation Ceremony and demand that their immigration status not act as a barrier for them to move forward. The graduation ceremony was hosted by the United We Dream Coalition (UWD) to recognize the achievements of immigrant students who would benefit from the legislation, highlighting their contributions to their communities. In addition to yesterday’s graduation, students from DreamActivist have reached out to other organizations and helped arrange solidarity actions across the United States.
Recently, Cardinal Francis George, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), speaking at the conference’s annual spring meeting, called on President Barack Obama and congressional leaders of both parties to work together to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the end of the year.
“It has been clear for years that the United States immigration system requires repair and that reform legislation should not be delayed,” Cardinal George said, speaking on behalf of the bishops.”From a humanitarian perspective our fellow human beings, who migrate to support their families, continue to suffer at the hands of immigration policies that separate them from family members ..this suffering should not continue.”
A national commission released a report, Raids on Workers: Destroying Our Rights, on Immigration and Customs Enforcement misconduct during a series of workplace immigration raids under the Bush Administration. The report by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) criticizes the federal government for a “systematic abuse of worker rights”after the ICE raids on Swift factories in 2006 and 2008. The report documents the devastation the raids have had on families, workplaces and communities across the country, and emphasizes the need for comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
The report comes on the heels of a Capitol Hill briefing addressing immigration enforcement policies addressing immigration enforcement policies that inflict suffering on immigrant women and their families. At the June 24 briefing group of leading human rights advocacy and research groups, a former immigration detention center nurse, and a former detainee, testified to Congress about the ramifications of immigration detention. According to Human Rights Watch, Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds 33,000 immigrants in detention, about 10 percent of them women. Detainees are often asylum seekers, victims of trafficking, pregnant women, survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault,and mothers of children who are US citizens.
The hosts for the briefing include the following organizations: the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights; American Civil Liberties Union; Human Rights Watch; Legal Momentum; National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; and the Women’s Refugee Commission.The briefing was held in cooperation with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
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