Inspired Faith, Effective Action
Posted by: “Immigration raids are ineffective: . . . immigration raids . . . have placed all the burdens of a broken system onto immigrant families.” — from the Obama-Biden Campaign website
Yesterday in Bellingham, Washington, the first immigration raid of the Obama administration took place at an engine remanufacturing company. 28 persons–about one third of the company’s entire workforce–were arrested, with three women later released on humanitarian grounds (probably related to having children).
It would be a mixed metaphor to say that my heart fell–like combining “my face fell” with “my heart was heavy”–but that’s exactly how I felt when I saw the headline. It has been painful to see comprehensive immigration reform take a backseat to other issues lately. Fixing health care, the economy, the environment, and education are extremely important. But as long we can’t be passing comprehensive immigration reform, we should abstain in the meantime from raids that persecute hard workers whose sole crime is trying to secure a better life for their family.
Please call the White House at 202-456-1414 and tell President Barack Obama:
- The raid in Washington state is unacceptable, and hurts all of our communities.
- If you identify as a UU and feel comfortable using this language, we suggest saying: “I am a Unitarian Universalist–a person of faith/conscience–and my religious/ethical calling tells me to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of all people.”
- The Unitarian Universalist Association passed an Action of Immediate Witness in 2007 calling for a moratorium on raids.
- Obama must stop unjust raids, and we must pass humane comprehensive immigration reform.
For news coverage of the raid, see:
One of the few positives of the economic “stimulus” plan was the provision limiting the ability TARP recipients to hire foreign workers over American workers. Drafted by Senators Bernie Sanders and Charles Grassley, the provisions require only that a good faith effort be made to hire American workers over foreign workers, but the increased government scrutiny over the recipients of federal bailout money should give pause to any employer seeking to violate the spirit of this rule. Substantial research has shown that, despite an abundance of well educated domestic talent, employers often seek to hire foreign workers in an attempt to lower labor costs.
http://www.beyondthemargin.net/2009/02/immigration-reform.html