MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS DID NOT MARCH LAST YEAR TO SETTLE FOR THE “STRIVE” ACT

The “STRIVE” Act—Security Through Regularized Immigration & Vibrant Economy—was introduced in Congress in March 2007 as a possible solution to our broken immigration system. Allied groups all around the country, including a diverse coalition of grassroots immigrant organizations representing immigrants from dozens of countries in New York City—Immigrant Communities in Action—are standing up against settling for crumbs that will exclude millions of us while subjecting us to detention, deportation and death at the border for decades to come.

THE STRIVE ACT IS NOT A LEGALIZATION BILL: IT IS A “REPORT TO DEPORT” SYSTEM FOR MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS THAT CANNOT MEET PERILOUSLY HIGH HURDLES AND INNUMEROUS BARRIERS TO LEGALIZE BECAUSE, AMONGST DOZENS OF REASONS, WE:

 will not be able to leave the US to “touch-back” since we are not guaranteed the right to return to the US or cannot afford to leave  will not be able to pay thousands in fees, fines, and lawyers costs because so many of us live in extreme poverty as the low-wage backbone of the economy & will not be earning money if the “head” of our households must leave the US  will not qualify because we have penalized by routine violations of the law as part of our work as street vendors or cab drivers, as examples.  will not qualify because we are elderly and have been unemployed  will not be able to demonstrate our work history, even if we have worked, because of uncooperative employers  will not pass medical requirements because of our HIV+ status and current HIV bans & bars  will not fit legal definitions of “family” because of our gender identity or sexuality  will not fit arbitrary date restrictions  will have to go to the “back of the line”—this feeble “path” to citizenship will take decades of further fear and suffering

FOR THESE REASONS, MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS WILL CHOOSE NOT TO RISK APPLYING AND WILL CONTINUE TO WORK IN THE SHADOWS AS AN UNDERCLASS OF EXPLOITABLE WORKERS.

THE STRIVE ACT FAILS TO FIX THE BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM AND EXPANDS EXPLOITATION OF IMMIGRANTS BY:

-Forcing community members who want to reunite with their families to wait for years to first get a green card and then file petitions for relatives -Imposing excessive employer control on workers through the use of verification databases and penalties for employers which will expand their ability to exploit immigrant workers. -Increasing the numbers of young immigrants in the military by requiring them to register for the army in order to legalize as the only option if they cannot afford tuition for college -Expanding the number of temporary workers who will live in slave-like working conditions and deported for speaking out, without expanding labor protections

THE STRIVE ACT WILL EGREGIOUSLY TEAR OUR FAMILIES APART BY MASSIVELY INCREASING RAIDS, DETENTION AND DEPORTATION BY:

militarizing the border which will produce more deaths—already, over 4,000 have died at the border since 1994—and increase profits for a multi-billion dollar smuggling industry as higher fees are extorted for an even riskier north-ward journey. encouraging local & state police to act as federal immigration agents and placing thousands of border patrol & ICE agents in communities and worksites, making our communities more vulnerable to abuse, racial profiling, harassment and lead to wide scale detention and deportation further criminalizing immigrants for an even longer list of minor offenses that has already led to the mass deportation of over a million green-card holders since 1996 exposing future immigrants to 10-year bars on legalization if they enter without documents after a new law passes expanding expedited deportation which provides no due process protections such as access to a lawyer or hearing before a Judge providing limited civil or human rights protections, basic due process rights, or constitutional safeguards despite a clear history of violations by the Department of Homeland Security

For the above reasons and beyond, we CALL ON CONGRESS TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD TO CRAFT A REAL SOLUTION

with humane principles at the forefront, as outlined by Immigrant Communities in Action’s “People’s Platform for Immigration Reform” [see our pamphlet or website]. JOIN Immigrant Communities in Action in fighting for a fair legalization for ALL immigrants and a movement to end deportations & detentions—not a law that will hurt us for YEARS to come. Overall, the STRIVE Act indefinitely delays pseudo-legalization until “interior enforcement”, “employer verification” and “border security” milestones are in place, which could take years. Immigrant communities are in crisis as our families are being torn apart—we desperately need legalization & an end to raids, deportations, detentions & policing. The truth about this bill is that it will be VERY difficult to get papers and MORE of us will be at risk of deportation & detention.