Chicago, Ill.
Many national organizations, including several affiliated unions of the AFL-CIO, have signed on to the following statement of principles on immigration reform and have forwarded the statement to the AFL-CIO for our endorsement. The statement calls for a fair and realistic process to provide an adjustment of status for undocumented workers and opposes the expansion of existing temporary non-immigrant worker programs or creation of new programs.
June 6, 2003
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to express our views on immigration reform. In the wake of September 11th and the reorganization of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Administration and Congress have a new opportunity to remake immigration policy. There are numerous issues to consider, but we want to make our positions clear on two pressing issues.
Central to any immigration reform effort is a fair and realistic process to provide an adjustment of status, or legalization, to undocumented workers who have been law-abiding contributors to the American economy and to our society. These workers deserve the same rights and should bear the same responsibilities as other immigrants. Any such program also should provide the opportunity for these immigrants to unify their families.
However, we oppose expansion of existing temporary non-immigrant worker programs or the creation of any new such programs at this time. Current foreign worker programs contain many of the same shortcomings as the notorious bracero program, which began in 1943 as a wartime emergency program but continued amid great controversy until 1964. Legally and practically, guestworkers have never been afforded the same workplace protections as domestic workers, and, as non-immigrants, they have been denied the democratic rights and economic bargaining power of immigrants and citizens. The vulnerability of these workers inescapably leads to severe and frequent instances of employer abuse and government neglect. The current guestworker programs should be reformed to provide essential labor market and workplace protections for both immigrant and non-immigrant workers, as well as a path to adjustment of status and citizenship.
The legislative path to immigration reform is a complicated one, especially in 2003. However, enabling undocumented workers within our borders to adjust their status would enhance national security, public safety, and economic security. On the other hand, expanding or creating new guestworker programs would add another shameful chapter, like the bracero program, to our nation's history.
Thank you for your consideration of these views.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
United Food And Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), AFL-CIO
Food and Allied Service Trades, AFL‑CIO (FAST)
Farmworker Justice Fund (FJF)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union
(BCTGM), AFL-CIO
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU)
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE),AFL-CIO
International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), AFL-CIO
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO
Minority Coalition of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union National Employment Law Project (NELP)
United Latinos of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF)
School For All
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
Union of Needletrade Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE)
Sisters of Mercy U.S. Province
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
National Employment Law
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
Mexico Solidarity Network
C.A.S.A. del Llano (Communities Assuring a Sustainable Agriculture)
The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center
Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
Growing Power
Agricultural Resources Center/Pesticide Education Project
Young Korean American Service and Education Center (YKASEC)
Oxfam America
Agricultural Missions, Inc.
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
National Family Farm Coalition
Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI)
Rural Opportunities, Inc.
Jewish Labor Committee (JLC)
Practical Law Office Technology for Solos and Small Firms
Jobs with Justice
National Farm Worker Ministry
National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
Tennessee Justice Center
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local No. 17, Minnesota
North Carolina Farmworker Project
Immigrant Rights Network of Iowa & Nebraska
Oregon Law Center
Catholics for Justice (Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph)
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE), Ohio
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3354
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc. (CRLAF)
Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network, Idaho
Farmworker Coordinating Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc.
Immigrants Legal Assistance Project, North Carolina Justice and Community
Development Center
Tennessee Immigrant Rights Coalition
Border Agricultural Workers Center
CAUSA, Connecticut
PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste),Oregon
Conference of Social Justice Coordinators of Southern California
Farmworker Association of Florida, Inc.
San Joaquin Valley Center for Immigrant and Worker Rights
Latino Community Development Center (North Carolina)
Equal Justice Center (Texas)
Nebraska Appleseed
Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Friends of Farmworkers (Pennsylvania)
Minnesota Food Association
Rural Vermont
Past Regents Club of the Diocese of Rochester, New York
Hispanic Farmers Association of El Paso
Farmworker Women’s Institute (New York)
CITA (Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agricolas)
Comite de Apoyo Para Los Trabajadores Agricolas (Farmworkers Support
Committee, New Jersey and Puerto Rico)
El Centro, Inc. (Kansas)
El Pueblo, Inc. (North Carolina)
Hispanic Farmers Association of El Paso
Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS)
The AFL-CIO endorses the foregoing statement except that with respect to agriculture, the United Farmworkers Union and other farmworker advocates have been negotiating with agricultural growers on a mutually agreeable change in policy, which would ensure an adjustment of status and worker protections through an immigrant adjustment program. The AFL-CIO and its member unions will support any mutually agreed upon legislative proposal in the agricultural industry that advances the rights of farmworkers.