FIOB’s Position on Immigration Reform

April 2, 2013

This one-page summary of the position on immigration reform of the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations was just received from Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, a FIOB leader and its former binational coordinator.

At this crucial time in which immigration reform is being debated in Washington DC, and when racist attacks with no base in reality are rising in states like Arizona, the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB), after analyzing the different proposals in local committees in Santa Rosa, Madera, Fresno, Santa Maria, Los Angeles and San Diego, proposes the following points for a fair and humane immigration reform.
• A quick and fair legalization for all undocumented people who haven’t been found guilty of serious crimes, who are in the United States at the time the reform bill is introduced, and a rapid and low-cost pathway to citizenship.

• More permanent residence visas, and shortening the time that it takes to process family reunification petitions.

• No new guest worker programs, reform the existing programs to give rights to the workers in them, and end these existing programs after five years. Those who come to work in the U.S. should be given permanent residence visas.

• Revoke all the programs for militarizing the borders, take down the border walls, revoke the state laws that prohibit giving drivers’ licenses to undocumented immigrants, and free movement for indigenous communities across the borders.

• End mass detentions and deportations, close the detention centers as soon as possible, and stop police from enforcing immigration laws.

• Repeal employer sanctions (which prohibit undocumented people from working), end the e-verify program, and respect the rights of immigrant workers to organize and enforce labor standards.

• Renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, because it is one of the causes of forced migration, and causes poverty and inequality within Mexico in our communities of origin.