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Asian Pacific Americans to March for Fair Immigration System |
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Today and tomorrow, hundreds of Asian Pacific Americans are meeting in Washington, D.C., for “a historic mobilization for a just and humane immigration reform.” Activists from more than a dozen Asian Pacific American organizations will meet with members of Congress to lobby for a fair immigration system. The two-day meeting will culminate with a noon rally on Capitol Hill on May 1.
On April 9, President George W. Bush re-launched his efforts to reform immigration laws by pushing for increased border security, more forceful enforcement of immigration laws, a temporary workers’ program and draconian rules on the status of undocumented immigrants.
“This country was made great by the vim, vigor and sweat of immigrant labor,” says Maria Somma, president of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), an AFL-CIO constituency group.
We cannot let the mistakes of the past repeat. When our Asian Pacific American brothers and sisters were toiling in the sugar plantations of Hawaii, the canneries of Alaska and the agricultural fields of California, exclusionary and racist laws were passed. Now, we find the same hateful views are calling for the deportation of workers who are extremely vital to the American economy. Comprehensive immigration reform will allow hard working immigrants to reap the benefits of their labor.
“Asian Pacific American immigrants revitalize communities,” says APALA Executive Director Gloria Caoile. “It is critical that we provide immigrants with pathways to citizenship and help them unite with their families.”
It is vitally important that we influence the debate in Congress as it heats up in the coming weeks. We are joining more than 12 national organizations in making a visible presence in Congress and in presenting a clear and unified call for humane and just immigration reform.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney condemned the Bush immigration plan, saying it would put into law a “two-tier society in America, with immigrant workers perpetually stuck on the bottom rung.” The Bush plan calls for creating two new massive guest worker programs: one for the 12 million undocumented people currently living in the United States and another that would supply employers in the future with hundreds of thousands of temporary workers who will come to this country for permanent jobs. Under the Bush plan, undocumented workers now in this nation will continue to labor in second-class status as newly defined “temporary” workers. Several recent reports have shown that guest workers often are abused and oppressed by their employers, many of whom pay lower than promised wages, confiscate workers’ legal documents and threaten them with deportation if they complain about their working conditions.The AFL-CIO has long opposed guest worker programs because they create a secondary class of workers with no enforceable rights. Guest worker programs force workers to labor in temporary status while doing permanent jobs. Those programs also lower working standards in entire industries.
As Sweeney says:
Our nation should instead provide a path to citizenship for these immigrants who are already working here, paying their taxes and enriching our communities. The key to raising standards for all workers is to ensure that all workers are able to enforce their rights. As long as there are workers who are unable to exercise their basic rights to the minimum wage, to a safe workplace or to join a union, we will continue to have a second tier of workers.
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