Thread: "No human is illegal": The fight against anti-immi

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"No human is illegal": The fight against anti-immigration legislation
by rajani
March 2006 | Discuss this article

On December 2005, the House of Representatives passed the Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Act (H.R. 4437), sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) and Peter T. King (R-N.Y.). Supported by Republicans, this bill is opposed by many who consider it one of the most anti-immigrant bills in recent memory, with provisions that would criminalize approximately 11 million undocumented workers. In addition, it would also criminalize those who assist or work with undocumented workers including social workers, teachers, medical personnel, union workers, clergy and family members. The bill also calls for the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. Opponents point out that the bill focuses on enforcement, providing no path to legalization. Since local and state police would be deputized to arrest anyone they think may be without documents, opponents of the bill worry about increased racial profiling.

On March 7th, the National Immigration Coalition, a coalition of 40 faith, labor, business and community based organizations from Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C., organized a demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. to protest anti-immigration legislation. The rally coincided with the Senate Judiciary Committee’s session to consider the “compromise bill” proposed by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) which, while providing for “earned legalization”, still includes provisions from H.R. 4437 for criminalizing 11 million undocumented immigrants as well as those who assist them by classifying them as human traffickers. Moreover, the bill also proposes a temporary “guestworker” program. This would temporarily legalize the status of undocumented workers for three years; after this period, workers would be able to apply for a further three year extension after which they would be required to return to their home countries. This program has drawn criticism from both sides. Those advocating tighter immigration controls consider it wrong to award legal status to those who have entered the country illegally. Pro-immigration groups do not think this program provides an adequate path to gaining permanent citizenship. Other issues also come up—for example, this type of program would give all the power to employers, creating more opportunities for abuse of workers.

Proponents of this kind of harsh legislation believe that it works in the interest of protecting the United States from terrorists by strengthening the country’s borders, over which an estimated 1 million immigrants illegally pass. Another concern of anti-immigration groups is the job security of American citizens. It is claimed that the American worker is losing out because companies prefer to use cheap immigrant labour; this “insourcing” exacerbates the economic plight of workers already affected by other practices such as outsourcing. The anti-immigrant sentiments of some of these groups are unambiguous. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), for example, encourages citizens to report suspicions of “illegal immigration” and lists the phone numbers of local immigration offices across the country on their website. Others like The Minuteman Project—the so-called neighbourhood watchdog group that voluntarily patrols the borders for “suspicious” crossings—refer to undocumented immigrants as “mobs of ILLEGAL aliens who endlessly stream across U.S. border”, among other colourful characterizations. Some of these groups, together with radio talk show hosts are launching a lobbying effort “Save the American Worker Week” on March 20th to try and influence the Senate vote on these issues.

Luna Ranjit from Adhikaar, a Nepali group working for immigration rights among other issues, attended the rally in Washington D.C. She answered some of our questions regarding the immigration issue and its significance for Nepalis living in the United States.

How many Nepali immigrants are there in the United States and what is the distribution throughout the country? Is there some place where this information can be found?

LR: Unfortunately, there is no reliable data about the numbers or distribution. I’ve asked the consulate here, but the person I spoke with there did not know. The last census conducted in 2000 lists 11,715 people of Nepali origin. But, the unofficial estimate is around 100,000 Nepalis living in the United States, with around 30,000 in the greater New York area.

How many Nepalis would be affected by these types of anti-immigration legislation and what demographics?

LR: Again, no reliable data exists. In some parts, the numbers are higher. In the New York area, more than 50 percent are estimated to be undocumented—people who have overstayed their visas, mostly tourist visas, but some students as well. Also, in terms of socio-economic status, there are more working class, newer immigrants in the New York area. But the proposed legislation is going to affect us all in one way or another.

What groups other than Adhikaar are working for immigration rights? Also, please tell us something about Adhikaar.

LR: I do not know of any other Nepali groups working on immigration rights issues. There are some Nepali individuals. One person I know is Rajani Adhikary, who works at the Restaurants Opportunities Center of New York. I have heard that there is another organization in the LA area, but I do not yet have the contact information.

Adhikaar was started last year to address the needs of Nepali communities everywhere, but our focus is in the United States right now. It is a women-led organization—all board members are women. We made a conscious decision to make it so, because almost all the Nepali organizations we know are male-dominated, and have male leaders. Most are almost exclusively male. Programmatically, we focus on immigration, health, and women’s rights. But right now, most of our work is on immigration rights. As I mentioned before, there is very little reliable information about who’s here, what’s their status, and what they are doing. So, right now Adhikaar is also conducting a survey of Nepalis in the NY/NJ area. It’s a slow process because we are not known yet, and people are reluctant to give out information.

Tell us about the rally in D.C. Did a lot of Nepalis attend? I am not finding that much information about immigration issues pertaining to Nepalis specifically; are there any important issues that might not be immediately obvious?

There were 40,000 people at the D.C. rally. As far as I know, only two Nepalis attended—me and Rajani Adhikary. But I didn’t go around looking for Nepalis, so I can’t say for sure. Also the rally was organized by mostly Hispanic groups, and there were few Asians of any descent. Both of us went as a part of the Immigrant Communities in Action, a multi-ethnic coalition of immigrant organizations in New York.
The current proposed legislations make things tougher for all immigrants, documented or not. For Nepalis, it is probably of importance that even those who are on F-1 and cannot take a full load (of coursework) or those who are on H1B who lose their jobs but cannot find another immediately can also be deported. The senate judiciary committee is still debating—they’re in recess the week of March 20th, so none of this is official law yet. But the way things are going, it is very likely that many anti-immigrant provisions will pass.

Why don't we hear talk about immigration issues among Nepalis? How much of a taboo is it to talk about one's "illegal" status?

My take on why we don’t talk about immigration issues is that most of us are first generation immigrants, and still think that we are here temporarily. Most of us talk about going back to Nepal soon/in the near future/some day, even though many of us are starting families here and will probably never go back to live in Nepal. The political and economic situation in Nepal also makes it tougher for people to go back. Since we feel that we are here temporarily, we are less willing to get involved with local issues. I’ve had this conversation with many Nepalis… even those who have green cards or citizenships—their reaction is “why bother” or “it’s not our country” or “I’m not a citizen, so I don’t have any right to speak”—I also think it’s a matter of time. Once we have a critical mass and/or once we have second generation of Nepalis in large enough number, we too will get involved. We work here and pay taxes, we spend our most productive years here. We should also be talking about our rights here. As for people talking about their status, most people I have spoken to have freely talked about their immigration status.


Further information:

Immigrant Communities in Action is organizing "An Urgent Immigrant Community Dialogue with Elected Officials" on Saturday, March 25th, from 1pm to 4pm at P.S. 212 at 34-25 82nd Street, Jackson Heights,
Queens. Call DRUM at (71 205-3036 or email monami@drumnation.org for details.

Adhikaar’s website is www.adhikaar.org

Download Adhikaar's newsletter here

Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York’s website is www.rocny.org

QUOTE:
The anti-immigrant sentiments of some of these groups are unambiguous. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), for example, encourages citizens to report suspicions of “illegal immigration” and lists the phone numbers of local immigration offices across the country on their website. Others like The Minuteman Project—the so-called neighbourhood watchdog group that voluntarily patrols the borders for “suspicious” crossings—refer to undocumented immigrants as “mobs of ILLEGAL aliens who endlessly stream across U.S. border”, among other colourful characterizations. Some of these groups, together with radio talk show hosts are launching a lobbying effort “Save the American Worker Week” on March 20th to try and influence the Senate vote on these issues.
__________________________________________________
Both FAIR and the Minuteman Project are an inspiration to all Americans. They are both patriotic and perform a great service to our country.
What is wrong with citizens reporting suspicious behavior, or calling the police to report mobs of illegal aliens loitering around shopping malls and schools?

Once we have a critical mass and/or once we have second generation of Nepalis in large enough number, we too will get involved

Yep, here they come. Can you imagine the future of this country. You are going to have literally hundreds of nationalities all yelling for what they want or rather DEMANDING it. I fear chaos is in the future for our children. The ILLEGAL Nepalies need to go also!