by Anne Winkler-Morey, WAMM
In the name of the “War on Terrorism,” new repressive legislation and more violent enforcement measures are being wielded against immigrants:
In March 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers who hire undocumented immigrants and then fire them for trying to unionize are not liable for back pay.
June 2002 was the deadliest month on record for people trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border. Seventy people died, including two girls ages eleven and twelve. Two thousand people have died since border “security” was increased in 1996.
As of Friday, August 26, local police officers can now be drafted to assist the INS in enforcing immigration law. It is already happening in Florida.
Legislation is now in place to encode drivers’ licenses with information about the driver’s immigration status (e.g., the expiration date of the driver’s green card).
The claim of “secret, undisclosable” evidence is being used to hold immigrants accused of terrorism.
These policies and trends deepen the United States’ long habit of exploiting immigrants for cheap labor. Historically, the U.S. has depended on cheap immigrant labor to fill the below-minimum-wage jobs that bolster our economy. This repressive economic system is perpetuated by (1) the exploitation of underdeveloped nations, creating need for people to immigrate; (2) the denial of workers’ rights to immigrants, including the right to organize, to be paid a minimum wage, to legal representation, to social security, etc.; and (3) the militarization of our borders and the INS, intensifying inequality and racism.
Repression of immigrants in the name of the “War on Terrorism” is military madness! We need affordable housing, more teachers in our schools, and health care for all, not a more extensive police state. Anti-immigration policies are leading to the further militarization of our society.
If we want a world without terror, first we need an immigration policy that provides all people with human and workers’ rights. Second, we need to change the economic policies of free trade and bonded labor that make immigration necessary.
WAMM Action!
Take action locally to challenge immigration policies and trends:
--Oppose police brutality against immigrants
--Support immigrant workers’ right to organize
--Oppose the deportation of immigrant activists
--Oppose the new immigration policies as part of your opposition to the “War on Terrorism”
--Incorporate your concerns about immigration policies into anti-war protest signs, press releases, and demands
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
310-8th St., Ste. 303
Oakland, CA 94607
510-465-1984 (phone)
510-465-1885 (fax)
nnirr@nnirr.org
www.nnirr.org
Copyright © 2002 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.