MALDEF Head on Comprehensive Immigration Reform for Latinos, Immigrants, and LGBT Communities

Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), called for comprehensive and inclusive immigration reform at the opening plenary of the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. To make his case, Saenz stressed on some strong similarities between the Latino and the LGBT communities: First, “many of the members of our communities continue to live in the shadows about our status. Undocumented immigrants and LGBT people, because of fear of law enforcement and hate crimes. Second, people assume that our communities are focused on single issues — immigration reform and marriage equality. But we know that our movements are enduring and are using political power to influence this nation. Third, we both face forces in Washington and elsewhere that would seek to exclude us from the 2010 census. Fourth, our two communities are victims of the courage deficit in Washington. The failure to have the courage to enact comprehensive immigration reform and the failure to end the discriminatory military policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ And finally, significant portions of our communities have been placed outside of constitutional law. Undocumented immigrants and LGBT people should be accorded the same protections that other groups have been accorded for the last fifty years.” Finally, Saenz stated that “our immigration system is discriminatory. We have a system that does not provide legal representation, often even a hearing, for decisions that are life and death for some families. We have a system that allows law enforcement to make assumptions based on race or identity that is inconsistent with our constitutional values.” To change this, Saenz stated that “we must reintroduce equal protection values into our definition of family — of any kind — under our immigration law. This means enacting the Uniting All Families Act as part of the comprehensive immigration reform.”

KJ