Minnesota should be pressing for national and global solutions to the issue of illegal immigration, rather than creating "a climate of fear" about immigrants, Twin Cities religious, labor and community leaders say.
At a news conference Friday at the Resource Center of the Americas, members of AFFIRM, the Alliance for Fair Federal Immigration of Minnesota, criticized Governor Tim Pawlenty's recently proposed immigration initiatives and challenged elected officials to seek real solutions.
"We denounce as morally unacceptable the criminalization of the immigrant community and the climate of fear that is being created," said the Rev. Larry Hubbard, pastor of Incarnation-Sagrado Corazon de Jesus parish in south Minneapolis.
Pawlenty's proposals include the creation of a state law enforcement task force to target illegal immigrants and the imposition of state fines for employers who hire people who are undocumented. He also would overturn local ordinances, such as those in effect in Minneapolis and St. Paul, that keep responsibility for enforcing immigration law with federal authorities ? not local officials.
"Our immigration system is broken," said AFFIRM Co-Chair Mariano Espinosa, "but the governor's proposals do not address its major flaws and inequities."
 |
| Anne Attea, of the Office of Hispanic Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul, is flanked by other members of AFFIRM as she addresses a news conference Friday. |
The system provides "no path for legal status" for thousands of immigrants to the United States, said attorney Bruce Nestor. "Despite their best efforts, current law does not allow them to become full members of our communities."
At the same time undocumented workers have no access to legal immigration, they are being drawn to the United States by the desperate economic situations in their home countries and by employers seeking workers for low-wage jobs in meatpacking plants, farms, hotels and other workplaces.
Hubbard said NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, has led to "a total collapse of the infrastructure" in Mexico, with many farmers driven off the land. "Where do people go when they cannot live in their country?" he asked. "They've been sold out."
AFFIRM said the solution is comprehensive, federal immigration reform that would provide a path to legalization for undocumented people already living and working in the United States, provide for unification of families, and create "safe and orderly" immigration programs for workers needed in low-wage areas.
Members of AFFIRM include religious, civic and labor organizations; lawyers and legal services; and businesses working together to advocate for fair federal immigration reform.
Share
Minnesota should be pressing for national and global solutions to the issue of illegal immigration, rather than creating “a climate of fear” about immigrants, Twin Cities religious, labor and community leaders say.
At a news conference Friday at the Resource Center of the Americas, members of AFFIRM, the Alliance for Fair Federal Immigration of Minnesota, criticized Governor Tim Pawlenty’s recently proposed immigration initiatives and challenged elected officials to seek real solutions.
“We denounce as morally unacceptable the criminalization of the immigrant community and the climate of fear that is being created,” said the Rev. Larry Hubbard, pastor of Incarnation-Sagrado Corazon de Jesus parish in south Minneapolis.
Pawlenty’s proposals include the creation of a state law enforcement task force to target illegal immigrants and the imposition of state fines for employers who hire people who are undocumented. He also would overturn local ordinances, such as those in effect in Minneapolis and St. Paul, that keep responsibility for enforcing immigration law with federal authorities ? not local officials.
“Our immigration system is broken,” said AFFIRM Co-Chair Mariano Espinosa, “but the governor’s proposals do not address its major flaws and inequities.”
|
| Anne Attea, of the Office of Hispanic Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul, is flanked by other members of AFFIRM as she addresses a news conference Friday. |
The system provides “no path for legal status” for thousands of immigrants to the United States, said attorney Bruce Nestor. “Despite their best efforts, current law does not allow them to become full members of our communities.”
At the same time undocumented workers have no access to legal immigration, they are being drawn to the United States by the desperate economic situations in their home countries and by employers seeking workers for low-wage jobs in meatpacking plants, farms, hotels and other workplaces.
Hubbard said NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, has led to “a total collapse of the infrastructure” in Mexico, with many farmers driven off the land. “Where do people go when they cannot live in their country?” he asked. “They’ve been sold out.”
AFFIRM said the solution is comprehensive, federal immigration reform that would provide a path to legalization for undocumented people already living and working in the United States, provide for unification of families, and create “safe and orderly” immigration programs for workers needed in low-wage areas.
Members of AFFIRM include religious, civic and labor organizations; lawyers and legal services; and businesses working together to advocate for fair federal immigration reform.