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immigrant rights
Amidst broader threats to civil liberties in the aftermath of recent
terrorist actions, U.S. rulers are attacking the rights of immigrants.
Using the events of September 11th as a pretext and the recent wave of
xenophobia and racism toward Arabs and Muslims as a base of popular support,
the Justice Department has sought to expand already draconian powers to
detain and deport immigrants at will.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that he was submitting
legislation that would allow the INS to arrest foreigners and deport them
with no evidence if they are deemed terrorists by the Justice Department.
These measures would in effect rob all immigrants of any pretensions of
having rights under the law.
Mike Maggio, an immigration lawyer, told the Washington Post, "This proposed
legislation is basically making a doormat of the Constitution, it would
permit the INS to serve as prosecutor, judge and jury with no judicial
review.”
The Justice Department has already detained 75 people in connection to
alleged immigrant violations. The FBI has also amassed a list of 190 people
wanted for questioning.
The recent attacks on immigrants comes in the wake of a growing immigrant
rights movement based on the social power of the primarily working class
immigrant communities across the country. This movement has included mass
mobilizations sponsored by the AFL-CIO. On May Day of this year thousands
marched in several cities throughout the U.S, including Chicago, Boston, and
New York. Thousands of workers marched in May and June of this year in
several demonstrations in Southern California demanding that immigrants have
the right to receive driver’s licenses, which many workers need for their
jobs.
In response to the pressure of this movement, politicians in Washington have
proposed granting legal status for some immigrants. In early September
Mexican President Vicente Fox visited Washington to discuss the possibility
of granting legal status to Mexican born immigrants. President Bush has
said that he is open to granting partial amnesty for certain immigrants as
well as implementing a “guest worker” program that would grant work visas
for Mexican workers while providing them little to no legal rights.
This “guest worker” program is designed to legalize the already widely
accepted practice of super-exploitation of illegal immigrants in sweatshops
in America. U.S. bosses often hire illegal immigrants because of their lack
of legal rights, which makes it more difficult for workers to organize and
fight back in response to the horrible conditions they are forced to endure.
While this practice makes bosses subject to penalties that in truth amount
to a slap on the wrist, they are rarely prosecuted. Conversely, immigrants
are often detained and deported when they attempt to organize into unions.
The “guest worker” program would in effect eliminate the threat of penalties
for employers while granting no legal rights for workers.
Immigrant right groups have opposed these measures, and responded with calls
for unconditional legalization of all immigrants. While the movement has
had some success in pressuring politicians to respond to their demands, the
recent attacks in New York and Washington have set back the movement.
Already politicians have withdrawn proposals to expand immigrant rights.
Democratic representatives have withdrawn legislation in the Illinois State
House that would have granted driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
Citing the anti-immigrant backlash, Democratic politicians have responded by
ducking for cover. It seems the Democrats’ platform for defending
immigrants from racism and xenophobia is to retreat and join the right in
promoting a climate of hate and fear.
This exposes the Democrats real character and it also underscores weaknesses
in the immigrant rights movement. Many immigrant right groups, including
the bureaucratic heads of the AFL-CIO, believe they can pressure the
Democratic Party, and even the Republican Party into accepting legalization
of immigrants.
However, it was both the Democrats and the Republicans who supported and
passed the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
that according to the ACLU allows “the INS to deny bond, asylum and other
immigration relief to non-citizens based on evidence kept secret from them.”
In addition the twin parties of capitalism and racism passed The 1996
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in response to the Oklahoma
City Bombing that created a special “Star Chamber” court that was granted
the right to deport even lawful permanent residents based on secret evidence
that they were “terrorists”. This, despite the fact that the Oklahoma
bombing was found by the U.S. to be the work of a right-wing militia member!
In times of reaction against the civil liberties of both citizens and
immigrants alike such as this one, it is all the more important to recognize
the bankruptcy of both the Democratic and Republican parties. Only
independent mass mobilizations based on the social power of the working
class can defend our civil liberties.
This article was written by Chicago YSAer Dave Bernt.
