April 14, 2006

The Honorable Harry Reid
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Fax: (202) 224-7327

Dear Mr. Minority Leader: 

On behalf of the Center for Community Change and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement – a nationwide coalition of grassroots groups who have been instrumental in developing the growing movement for immigrant justice that is sweeping the nation, I want to thank you for the courageous leadership role you are playing in the immigration debate and your ongoing support for comprehensive immigration reform. 

Although it was very tempting for all of us to move forward with compromise legislation last week, we applaud your steadfast demand that significant guarantees regarding both procedure and content were agreed upon before moving forward on immigration reform.  Immigrant communities, who bear the brunt of America’s broken immigration system, desperately need comprehensive immigration reform that meets our principles and adheres to our values. 

The April 10th National Day of Action demonstrated the tremendous grassroots support for comprehensive immigration reform and signaled the rising of a new awareness and sense of hope among all immigrants, but especially those who are undocumented.  April 10, and the many mobilizations that led up to it, have clearly caused a sea change in the politics of immigration. 

The Center for Community Change supports a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.  To this end, we are encouraged by the lively Senate debate on immigration, and look forward to working towards a pathway to earned citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants who contribute to our nation while at the same time preserving the civil liberties and due process protections that reflect the best in American values.

We are particularly concerned with proposals that would overturn Supreme Court decisions that prohibit the indefinite detention of immigrants, facilitate the deportation of immigrants, even asylum seekers, without any judicial due process, treat minor offenses as so-called “aggravated felonies,” which would trigger harsh mandatory detention and deportation proceedings, and that would impose the enforcement of complicated immigration laws on local police, which would undermine community policing and crime prevention efforts.

We strongly urge you to continue to fight for a comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes:

• An earned path to citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants

      currently in the U.S. and for future immigrant workers;

• Strong workplace and civil rights protections, including guarantees of due process for all;
• Family reunification, so that immigrants who are separated from their families can be together; and
• The DREAM Act, which would enable thousands of undocumented immigrant youth to pursue avenues of higher education and the American dream.

Immigrant communities would be better served by a comprehensive approach that meets these principles than by a bad compromise bill that undercuts the energy and spirit of the movement.

Leader Reid, we look forward to working with you to move true comprehensive immigration reform through the Senate to final passage.  By working together with all of America’s communities, I am confident that we can make this happen.

Sincerely,

 
Deepak Bhargava
Executive Director
Center for Community Change
Fair Immigration Reform Movement