Oregon Action Supports Immigrant Rights
Why everyone should care about immigrant rights.
- Immigrants play a vital role in the economy of our state and the nation.
According to a University
of Georgia study, Latinos contributed almost $4 billion to the Oregon
economy in 2002.
- Immigrants reflect the values and aspirations that are at the foundation
of American society. Immigration has enhanced our national identity and
created it, not weakened it.
- If immigrant workers are treated badly, it lowers the bar for all workers
- Civil rights are not rights if they don't apply to everyone. The minute
we decide some people have rights and others don't, our rights become privileges.
There are several bills in the Legislature that will have a profound effect
on Oregon's immigrants. Most of them will have a negative effect, but there
is one positive bill that Oregon Action supports.
Senate
Bill 10, introduced by Senator
Peter Courtney (D-11, Salem,Woodburn), is called the DREAM Act. SB 10
would give undocumented students who have gone to high school in Oregon
for 3 years and received a HS diploma or equivalent to be charged in state
tuition and not out of state tuition. E-mail
Senator Courtney to thank him for his leadership on this bill. Victory
in the Senate. Unfortunately, the House passed a weakened version that we
could not support and the bill failed.
Oregon Action opposed the repeal of Oregon's "181 Laws"
VICTORY! There were several bills that would undermine
or repeal the “181” laws. As far as we know, none of the
bills were supported by any law enforcement agency or association. These
bills would have undermined the community trust that law enforcement needs
to be effective. We strongly opposed all three bills because they would eliminate
important protections for all people who live in Oregon. Although one bill
passed, it was amended to address our concerns.
ORS 181.575 – Protects Against Police Spying on Innocent People
and Organizations:
The law prohibits law enforcement agencies from collecting
or maintaining information about the political, religious, social views,
associations or activities of any person or group unless that information
directly relates to a criminal investigation. In the past, police agencies
have spied on local nonprofits, as reported in the Portland
Tribune. Files were kept on such groups as the Quakers, Ecumenical Ministries
of Oregon, Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Rape Relief Hotline and
many more. Oregon Fair Share, OA's predecessor, was one of the organizations
they spied on, so we have a personal stake in maintaining this law.
ORS 181.850 – Allows State & Local Law Enforcement to Focus
on Oregon Priorities :
- This law prevents state and local law enforcement agencies
from targeting people based on their race or ethnic origin when those individuals
are not suspected of any criminal activity.
- Local law enforcement is prohibited from using resources
to apprehend people whose only offense is a federal immigration violation.
The law allows state and local law enforcement to contact the INS
after they have arrested someone. The law also permits state and local
police to request information from the INS that may help solve a criminal
case.
- This law does not prevent local law enforcement from working
with federal law enforcement to investigate threats of terrorism.
Oregon Action Opposes Senate Bill 742
You have to read
Senate Bill 742 to believe it.
VICTORY! This bill never left committee. SB
742 creates the crime of “terrorism” and defines it so broadly
that individuals would be subject to life in prison by participating in strikes,
rallies, marches, demonstrations — even food fights in the cafeteria
— if any other participant intended it to disrupt commerce, transportation,
educational, or governmental institutions. To put it simply, exercising our
First Amendment freedoms of speech and assembly would be the crime of terrorism
punishable by life in prison. It would also allow state and local law enforcement
to ignore both “181” laws if investigating “terrorism.”
This basically unravels the protections that these laws provide!
Oregon Action opposes anti-immigrant driver's licence bills.
HB
2578 and SB
586, the "Driving While Hispanic" bills, would prohibit immigrants
who are not legal residents or citizens from getting or renewing a driver's
license or identification card. Oregon Action opposes these bills because
the denial of drivers' licenses to non-citizens and non-residents does nothing
to provide increased security to Oregonians, but instead stands out as a blatantly
anti-immigrant piece of legislation that will only lead to an increase in
unlicensed, uninsured drivers on Oregon's roads. VICTORY!
Oregon Action supports amnesty.
Oregon Action recently signed an Open
Letter to Congressional Leaders supporting an adjustment of status, or
legalization, to undocumented immigrants who have been law-abiding contributors
to the American economy and to our society. We believe they should be afforded
an opportunity to have legal protection, as well as the rights and responsibilities
of other immigrants. We also
opposed expansion of existing temporary non-immigrant worker programs ("guestworker
programs") and the creation of any new such programs.
Oregon Action, working with many other organizations across the country,
succeeded in restoring food stamp benefits to legal immigrants. Under the
Welfare Reform Action passed five years ago, food stamp and other income support
benefits were denied to legal immigrants even though they pay the same taxes
everyone else pays. This violates American values of equality and respect
for all.
This victory is not the end of the campaign. Immigrants are still denied
other income support benefits such as TANF, housing and child care assistance.
We are working to restore these benefits in the current TANF (Welfare) reauthorization
bill in Congress right now. Please check out our Income
Security page for more information on TANF reauthorization.
In August, Oregon Action and CAUSA held a joint
rally at Senator Smith's office urging his support for fair and helpful
welfare reform.
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In July, Oregon Action sent Portland Chapter member
Yolanda Flores and our Office Manager Rachel Ebora to Boise, Idaho to
speak at a plenary on Immigrant Rights - in particular, the importance
of restoring safety net benefits such as housing, childcare and TANF
to legal immigrants.
While there, they and the other conference participants participated
in a rally at the National Governors' Conference demanding restoration
of benefits to legal immigrants.
Left, Yolanda Flores addressing the 2002 NWFCO Summer Conference
participants on immigrant rights. |
| Rachel Ebora, OA Office Manager also spoke at the the immigrant
rights plenary at the NWFCO Summer Conference.
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