Saturday, May 04, 2013

Defend Immigrants



Defend Immigrant Rights
International Worker's Day- May Day-  2013 took  on additional special meaning this year, as the drumbeat for immigration reform gets louder and louder. As part of an ongoing campaign, SEIU and allied organizations - such as Mi Familia Vota and the Community Center for Change – as well as unions and community groups celebrated May 1st with major actions in over 70 cities  across the nation.    See photos. 



   The current immigration bill in the U.S. Senate has some positive provisions, but it fails because it  includes a guest worker program as well as an extensive further militarization of the border.  The bill being drafted in the  Republican controlled House will probably be worse.
   Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) favors both the permanent extension of the  DREAM Act as well as broader immigration reform legislation that would grant immediate permanent resident status to all undocumented workers and their children and would establish an expeditious and non-punitive road to citizenship for these workers and their families.
  

   We also oppose all workplace discrimination based upon immigration status and oppose any and all guest worker programs because they not only exploit the workers
involved but also undercut all workers’ rights to secure humane wages and working conditions, especially in the service and agricultural sectors.


      DSA is a member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee rights and  participates  in the global struggle for equitable economic development and labor rights to reduce the forces that push desperate people to emigrate. We understand that massive migrations of workers, refugees and asylum seekers is a consequence of a global political and economic system that works for the benefit of transnational corporations at the expense of the vast majority of the peoples of the world.
See prior post.  A Working Class View of Immigration Reform. David Bacon.


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