MAPA Opposition to Both the Grand Bargain and STRIVE Act

Mexican American Political Association
June 01, 2007
Greetings!

JOIN US TO PREVENT THE BETRAYAL OF IMMIGRANT RIGHTS – NO TO THE U.S. SENATE “GRAND BARGAIN” – KENNEDY BILL (S.1348) AND NO TO THE GUTIERREZ-FLAKE IMMIGRATION BILL (STRIVE ACT – H.R.1645)
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The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana call on all organizations concerned about the rights of immigrants, concerned about the growing intensity of immigration raids and deportations, which target predominantly Latino communities and workplaces, concerned about the forced separation of families and the abandonment of children by undocumented parents detained by ICE, concerned about the increased militarization of the border and the continued incidents of death on the border, and concerned about the increase of interior enforcement and cooperation between local police authorities and ICE – to join us in opposing the U.S. Senate “grand bargain” – the Kennedy Bill (S.1348) and to definitively declare to the party leaders that the Gutierrez-Flake Immigration Bill, known as the STRIVE ACT – H.R.1645, does not reflect the legitimate aspirations of immigrant families throughout the U.S.
OUR DEMANDS –

In 2006, millions of families marched to demand LEGALIZATION FOR ALL, NO TO THE BORDER WALL and NO MILITARIZATION OF THE BORDER, NO BRACERO/GUESTWORKER programs, and PROTECTION OF LABOR and CIVIL RIGHTS and CIVIL LIBERTIES. Today we add demands to STOP IMMIGRATION RAIDS and DEPORTATIONS, and NO FORCED SEPARATION OF FAMILIES through the deportation of undocumented parents. Legalization to ALL for us means permanent resident visas, not temporary visas or temporary-worker programs.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY PROPOSALS –

The grassroots immigrant coalitions and membership-based organizations represent the backbone of the immigrants’ rights movement, and we must urgently convey to the Democratic Party (the DNC) and the national federal legislative leadership – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – that the Gutierrez-Flake legislation represents an incredible betrayal of the immigrant’s interest, a rank strategic concession to the right-wing of the Republican Party that emphasizes enforcement- only or enforcement-first, over any form of fair and rational legalization of the estimated 12 million undocumented persons currently in the U.S., and the creation of a massive bracero-type program dubbed falsely as the “new worker visa.” This initiative surfaced first, and now, leaders of both parties in the U.S. Senate have cooked up their “grand bargain,” – the Kennedy Bill (S.1348), which presents a similar faulty framework of heavy enforcement in exchange for some form of legalization and contract-workers. This is nothing short of a massive cheap labor management experiment to supply corporate America, large and small, urban and rural, but on their terms, low-wage vulnerable and exploitable (and in the case of the contract-workers, recyclable and disposable migrant workers) labor force of a second-class category status.

WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED –

We will not be intimidated by the argument used by Congressman Luis Gutierrez that if we don’t accept his legislation the immigration raids will not only continue but intensify. We will not be bullied into accepting the argument that the only way to stop the separation of families and deportations is to embrace his proposal and the Senate’s “grand bargain.” We refuse to accept the rationale that in order to obtain a fair legalization program, we must accommodate ourselves to a loss of due process rights and the criminalization of our families. This is not a fair exchange. It is an unfair bargain.

THE PROPOSALS ARE ONLY DIFFERENT BY DEGREES –

The immigration proposals recently released by President George W. Bush are ten steps to the right of the Gutierrez-Flake Bill, but the framework is essentially the same. The “grand bargain” is only to the right of the STRIVE ACT by degrees. The emphasis is on enforcement and the creation of a massive guest-worker program – guaranteeing cheap and vulnerable labor for corporate America and depressing the prevailing wage for domestic labor.

We will not be forced to accept the supposedly less onerous legislative proposal due to the existence of a more draconian and extremist measure. In fact, Congressman Gutierrez has already used the White House proposals to buttress his own. “If you don’t like my legislation, just look what the White House has in store for you.” Neither proposal is a good choice for our families.

THE MAJORITY OF LATINOS ARE DEMOCRATS –

While the majority of Latinos are Democrats, and were incredibly loyal to the party in the November 2006 elections, which resulted in it assuming control of the U.S. Congress, the party has not demonstrated equivalent loyalty to the Latino electorate and immigrant communities of America on the issue of immigration.

The Latino and immigrant communities expect more from the party leadership. We must demand full legalization for our families without being hooked into a massive bracero-type program, not be forced to voluntarily deport ourselves and waive our legal rights (return and touch base to our countries of origin and then apply for legal permanent resident status), or be criminalized for having entered the country without inspection.

If we do not act immediately to stop the betrayal represented by the Kennedy Bill and the Gutierrez- Flake Bill, and the surrender of our legal rights, it will too late. We must impress upon the Democratic Party leadership that we will not be intimidated nor bullied.

WHY FOCUS ON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?

We have been asked – why focus on the Democratic Party? The answer is simple – it is the party in power and has the votes to prevent passage of any legislation that is not fair, humane, and rational. The repeated use of the term “comprehensive” does not mean fair, humane, or rational. In fact, the recent debate demonstrates that the use of the term “comprehensive” really means harsh enforcement combined with some form of regularization.

THE WASHINGTON DC-BASED LOBBYING GROUPS –

The Washington DC-based lobbying groups and foundation-financed immigrant “advocates” have inherently accepted this proposition or “bargain.” They only quibble about aspects of the framework, but do not challenge the framework itself. They present the “lesser-of-two evils” and “something is better than nothing” arguments to convince the mass of immigrants to not oppose the current momentum building in the U.S. Congress that will ultimately criminalize our communities and pit native-born against foreign-born, and mortgage our future in this country. We are referring to the National Council of La Raza and the National Immigration Forum who present themselves as the inside national immigration advocates who represent our interest at the table with the legislators. Well, they absolutely DO NOT represent our interests and are 100 percent corporate-funded to do the work of the corporations – SELL these legislative proposals to the mass of immigrants as the best possible deal.

IMMEDIATE NEXT STEPS

The debate on and the amendments to the “grand bargain” in the Senate will continue this week, but shortly the debate will move to the House. In reality, this is where we will have more leverage. The main focus of our attention should be on the House Subcommittee on Immigration, chaired by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. The majority of the members are Democrat and a number of them are considered left-of-center, and are generally friendly to our endeavors. These are the members who will have the most to say in relation to any House version. While the general marches throughout the country have had the effect of mass political pressure to prevent the passage of onerous immigration legislation, the political target and direction of our marches, protest, and movement NOW must be specific. They must be directed to the specific members who will have everything to say about any future immigration legislation. The majority of these members are Democrats, and we must not be shy about pressuring them for what we want, notwithstanding political party affiliation, loyalties, or patronage funding. We would be shy at the expense of our constituency. This is what we recommend, and what we have already begun implementing in California.

SENATORS HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON AND BARAK OBAMA

Additionally, it should not be lost on anyone that the pressure points in the U.S. Senate must be these two senators who also happen to be presidential candidate aspirants for the Democratic Party – Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barak Obama. We should remember that both of these senators voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorized the construction of the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Both individuals have bought into the framework for immigration reform mentioned above.

The observation is that this is the Achilles heel of the Democratic Party leadership, particularly the DNC, and the predominant centrist forces within the party that wants the issue of immigration to go away ASAP, and not become a stone in the shoe of these campaigns. Therefore, this is the immediate leverage that we have to defeat the bipartisan rightist legislation that they are committed to approve this year that will result in the destruction of our families and the demise of the real FAMILY VALUES.

This is what we recommend, and what we have already begun implementing in California.

Organize public hearings under the banner – SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON “IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD” PUBLIC HEARINGS ON IMMIGRATION REFORM AND FAMILY VALUES, bring forth mothers and fathers separated from their children, children and youth separated from their parents, to give testimony about the assault on the family and family values represented under the proposed legislation, and demand her and his opposition to the legislation (not just amendments); a big effort should be made to bring the media into the event; invite both Senators Clinton and Obama with press releases to that effect; organize a national call- in to their offices to demand their opposition; this campaign should continue over the next three to four months;
Senator Hillary Clinton (202) 224-4451
Senator Barak Obama (202) 224-2854

Launch a mass letter and visit campaign to each individual member of the house subcommittee on Immigration in the respective district. In other words, collect tens of thousands of letters within the district addressed to the member, and strongly encourage the individuals who sign the letter to take it personally to the member’s office to demand fair, humane, and rational immigration reform (during the months of June, July, and August); For example, these include: Howard Berman, Maxine Waters, Linda Sanchez, but others as well, such as Xavier Becerra (Pelosi’s leadership pick), Joe Baca (chairperson of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus), and Pelosi herself and Senator Harry Reid (Nevada);
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) (202) 225- 3072 – Subcommittee Chair
U.S. House Judiciary Committee website address:
http://judiciary.house.gov/. This address provides the list of the members of the subcommittee on immigration and each member has a website with the office address and telephone numbers. Go to this page and click under the title “committees” which will give the list of subcommittees, and the specific subcommittee on immigration, and the websites of each member;

For the complete list of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives go to: http://www.house.gov.

For the complete list of the members of the U.S. Senate go to: http://www.senate.gov

For those who do not have congress members from this subcommittee or the House Judiciary Committee (chaired by Congressman John Conyers, a historic ally and friend to immigrants) in their states, their letter and visit campaign can be directed to the Democratic members within their reach; you can also organize public hearings directed at Senators Clinton and Obama;

4. Organize mass mobilizations (marches and protests) during the latter part of June and early July at the offices of these members; general marches are good, specific marches directed at the members are better;

Launch a KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS campaign within the immigrant communities to educate and organize against the ICE raids and deportations and separation of families, or continue if such has already been in effect;

Pressure the unions in your area to actively oppose any unfair immigration legislation, particularly any that proposes deficient legalization provisions and/or massive contract-worker programs; the unions must put up and make this a priority as they have on other issues; the unions are the institution that traditionally advocates in support of strengthening the prevailing wage, and therefore, have the most to lose if a massive contract-worker program is approved; additionally, this is the institution that has the most leverage and influence on the Democratic Party (in addition to the corporate financiers);

Present the Unity Blueprint on Immigration Reform to the Democratic members as the most rational alternative to the current debate and proposals in Congress.
Well, based on our years of experience in the fight to defend the rights of immigrants, these are the best recommendations that we can make about where and when appropriate political pressure can be applied to get what we want. It is only a question of conducting the campaign over the next three months and reaping the benefit of our work.

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Join us in this prolonged campaign for driver’s licenses and visas for our families. The first step in making change is to join an organization that pursues the change we desire. We welcome you to our ranks.

Other organizations leading this movement include: Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), MAPA Youth Leadership, Liberty and Justice for Immigrants Movement, National Alliance for Immigrant’s Rights, and immigrant’s rights coalitions throughout the U.S.

CONTACT:
Nativo V. Lopez, National President of MAPA (323) 269-1575

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