Alza tus voces: Todas y todos somos Arizona

Día Nacional de Acción contra la SB1070

La Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados al lado de Arizona por la justicia y los derechos humanos!

El 29 de mayo, los ojos del mundo estarán sobre Arizona cuando decenas de miles de miembros de las comunidades de Arizona, incluyendo a los pueblos indígenas, jornaleros, sindicatos, pueblos de color, mujeres, gente LGBTQ, trabajadoras y trabjadores, la juventud, estudiantes y de otras partes del país, convergerán en Phoenix para el Día Nacional de Acción contra la SB1070. La SB1070 es la nueva ley anti-inmigrante, de detenciones raciales del estado de Arizona, que permite a la policía interrogar a cualquier persona sobre su condición migratoria, encarcelarla y entregarla a la migra, ICE, para ser deportada.

La Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados (NNIRR, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights) y su membresía estarán presentes en Arizona y en acciones de solidaridad alrededor del país el 29 de mayo para estar al lado de los pueblos de Arizona en la lucha para restaurar nuestros derechos y contrarrestar al odio racial.

El 29 de mayo y más allá, la Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados hace un llamado a todas y todos sin importar su condición social de exigir la derogación de la ley SB1070 y el fin a la colaboración de la policía local con el control migratorio. Este es un momento nacional significativo para comprometernos a eradicar todas las formas de la discriminación racial y las intolerancias. Nos fortalece y da ánimo ver cómo tantos y diversos grupos y sectores se han unido para oponerse a la SB1070.

Este apoyo amplio es muy necesario para impedir la expansion continua de programas federales de colaboración policiaca en el control migratorio que permiten a leyes como la SB1070 y otras medidas de control migratorio y fronterizo que ponen en peligro la vida, perpetuan los abusos y el odio racial, socavando la salud de las comunidades.

Ya antes del 29 de mayo en Arizona la Red Nacional de Jornaleros con el Movimiento Puente están preparando un boicott nacional de Arizona, especialmente contra compañías y productos cuyos dueños han contribuido fondos que han permitido el florecimiento de leyes y políticas anti-inmigrantes. La Red de Jornaleros y Puente también están planeando una campaña de desafío a la SB1070 que se implementará en julio.

La Coalición de Derechos Humanos (DH), trabajando con comunidades fronterizas y no-fronterizas, iniciará su quinta anual “Marcha sobre el Sendero de las y los Migrantes” – una caminata de 75 millas desde Sásabe, Sonora hasta Tucson, Arizona para expresar solidaridad con migrantes mujeres, niñas y niños, ancianos y hombres que han caminado por este sendero y perdido sus vidas. El trabajo de DH contra la militarización EEUU del control migratorio y de comunidades fronterizas es un llamado profundo de ligar nuestras comunidades a través del país para desmilitarizar la frontera y defender el derecho a la vida, la libertad y la salud de todas y todos.

Más allá del 29 de mayo, la Red Nacional NNIRR continuará urgiendo a la Administración de Obama que:

• Tome todos los pasos necesarios para impedir la implementación de la SB1070. Obama tiene que denunciar el clima de odio racial e investigar y castigar a todas y todos los oficiales estatales, munipales y locales que están violando los derechos civiles de comunidades enteras;

• Replegar y poner fin a los programas del 287(g), Comunidades Seguras y todas las formas de programas de colaboración policiaca en el control migratorio

• Suspender todas las detenciones y las deportaciones e investigar los abusos cometidos contra inmigrantes en la frontera y en el interior del país.

• Desmilitarizar el control migratorio y las comunidades fronterizas y poner alto al despliegue de tropes de la Guardia Nacional. En lugar, el gobierno de EEUU debe emitir suficientes visas y proveer opciones para que las familias puedan reunificarse y vivir, trabajar, orar, estudiar y recrearse con sus derechos integralmente protegidos. El gobierno federal tiene que invertir en la creacion de comunidades sostenibles y promover políticas de comercio justo que proveerán estabilidad y desarrollo;

• Busque en serio reformas migratorias basadas en la justicia social que proveen legalización integral que defiende los derechos civiles y laborales de todas las personas.

¡Todas y todos somos Arizona | We are all Arizona!

CDH Calls for Border Demilitarization on National Day of Action against SB1070

Coalición de Derechos Humanos

For Immediate Release May 28, 2010 Contact: Derechos Humanos (520) 770-1373 Communities Condemn Obama Administration's Decision to Further Militarize the U.S. - México Border We must stand together on May 29, 2010 to show our resolve against injustice Tucson - The Coalición de Derechos Humanos along with groups across the country, condemn Tuesday's announcement that the Obama Administration will send 1,200 National Guard troops to Arizona and will request an additional $500 million to "secure" the Mexican border. The decision by Obama to "up the ante" on the militarization scheme of over 16 years, not only follows his administration's record of continued attacks on immigrant families across the nation since he became President but his own DHS 800 ICE agent military-style assault on the communities in Arizona on April 15, 2010. Last year, President Obama also sent more than 700 new federal agents to the border, at that time responding to cries of non-existent "spill-over violence," feeding the continued growth of the militarization and of the anti-immigrant sentiment. "Our communities have borne the consequences of border security policies implemented since the mid-1990's-thousands of migrants who have been funneled to their deaths along the Arizona-Sonora border, dangerous spikes in xenophobia and the growth of hate groups, negative economic impacts and other tensions for border communities, the eventual election of anti-immigrant politicians and the enactment of anti-immigrant laws," stated Isabel Garcia, member of Coalicion de Derechos Humanos. "Now this new decision will be felt increasingly and devastatingly across the country." In July of 1994, Doris Meissner, then Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released the "Border Patrol Strategic Plan: 1994 and Beyond," which clearly shows that their predicted effects of increased militarization would lead to the current political conditions in the state of Arizona. "Those of us who knew that Arizona was 'chosen' to become the laboratory for the anti-immigrant policies back in 1994, now hope that we can finally reframe the immigration debate by demanding that President Obama and the Congress engage in a dialogue that includes an analysis of our foreign and economic policies, such as NAFTA and the Merida Initiative (and the resulting migration), a review of our immigration laws and policies that have encouraged unauthorized migration, and an acknowledgement of the vast contributions made by immigrants," stated Garcia. "We must tell the U. S. public the truth about immigration. But if we follow the same framework and continued increases in police and other enforcement/prosecution measures such as Operation Streamline, we will continue the negative consequences as well, including the unprecedented expenditures." The decision to send military troops into civilian communities is also extremely dangerous. On May 20th, 1997, the nation was horrified by the murder of a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil by the military. Eighteen year-old Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., who was tending to the family's goats on his family's ranch in Redford, Texas was stalked for twenty-one minutes and then shot and killed. The U.S. Marines, part of Joint Task Force Six, an INS/Department of Defense unit working along the border, worried that they had killed an innocent civilian and watched Esequiel dying for approximately twenty minutes before calling in to report the incident. A House Judiciary Sub-Committee subsequently made damaging findings, including accusations of obstruction of investigation, and clearly illustrates the dangers of placing military troops in civilian communities. Derechos Humanos and allies across the country call on each one of us to take responsibility to learn the truth about the immigration issues and to engage in dialogue in our own communities and families. While those in power focus on pitting us against each other, worker against worker, Big Oil and Wall Street get a free pass. We must not allow the attacks on our communities. We demand that the Obama Administration reverse his decision to send national guard troops to our border and the request for half a billion dollars to "secure the border." Our country needs real security - jobs, health care, quality education, housing, healthy communities - not measures that bring pain, division, hate and destruction.

Coalición de Derechos Humanos P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702 Tel: 520.770.1373 Fax: 520.770.7455 http://ww.derechoshumanosaz.net

Todos Somos Arizona | We Are All Arizona: New Era of Fight for Racial Justice & Equality

"I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until the end of my days."
-- Nelson Mandela

By Monami Maulik

As the state of Arizona passed one of the worst racial profiling laws in U.S. history, these words spoken by Mandela decades ago take on a new relevance and call on us here in the U.S. as social justice advocates.

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB1070, proclaiming racial profiling the law of the land and overturning decades of civil rights struggle. SB1070, if it takes effect as mandated on July 29, 2010, will require all police officers to stop anyone who 'looks' like an immigrant, ask them to show identification, and arrest and jail them if they are unable to do so. This law undoubtedly will affect most of the large immigrant population across Arizona, whether undocumented or not, but will also have a parallel chilling effect on all communities of color across the state.

As the National Immigration Law Center describes it, "Were this new bill to be enacted, Arizonans of all backgrounds would suffer a major blow to their civil rights. Arizona Senate Bill 1070 would require local authorities to racially profile the men, women, and children in their jurisdictions. All people of color would be at risk for being detained. This means that a mother taking her children to school, members of a family walking to church, or a man making a quick trip to the convenience store could be arrested for not carrying their birth certificates."

Moreover, the law will allow any civilian or organization to file suit against police officers if they are not profiling and making arrests under this law.

The consequences of SB1070 are chilling, not just for the people of Arizona, but also for the whole nation. SB1070 has ushered in a new era of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation -- this time based on race and immigration status. The racist hate mongering of the Klu Klux Klan has been replaced by the anti-immigrant vitriol of the Minute Men. The core issue of race has been expanded now to 'immigration status'- the new code word for race in small towns and big cities across the country.

Yet, the extreme move to the right in immigration law has sparked a concurrent national movement led by young people and families across many communities that is full of inspiration and hope. High school students led the way again by conducting massive school walkouts and protests across Arizona, just as in 2006 after the introduction of the similar Sensenbrenner bill in Congress.

Scores of young leaders are emerging as they chain themselves to the doors of the Arizona state legislature to usher in a new era of civil disobedience and non-compliance hearkening to the days of the freedom rides and struggle across the South. Only this past week, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a new law banning ethnic studies in Arizona public schools. Without a doubt, this new law is targeting the thousands of young activists and leaders emerging from this movement. The law would also ban African-American and Native American studies in many schools. Last Wednesday, the Coalición de Derechos Humanos protested in Tucson. Fifteen people, almost all students, were arrested protesting this new law outside the state education offices in Tucson.

Scores of civil and immigrant rights organizations, Latino, African-American, Arab, Muslim, South Asian communities are expressing their strong solidarity and condemnation of the law. The city of San Francisco passed a resolution in protest of SB1070. National legal, immigrant rights, labor, civil rights, and other organization have issued statements denouncing the law and calling for national pressure to the Obama administration to overturn SB1070. The ACLU, Mexican American legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Immigration Law Center have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of SB1070. Communities across the country are joined by elected leaders such as Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona who is calling on the Obama administration to turn his verbal condemnation of the law into a federal legal intervention to prohibit the law from taking effect. Even celebrities like Shakira have vocally joined the movement to end SB1070.

This new spark to the movement for immigrant rights again brought millions across the country out into the streets again on May 1st for real legalization. Here in NYC, over 20,000 marched from Union Square and thousands gathered with labor unions in Foley Square. DRUM led local New York City support in calling for unity with Arizona and caution in the call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposals that can result in many more Arizona's across the country. Last week, DRUM traveled to Washington D.C. with our members for the Rights Working Group national meeting. We met with Senators Schumer, Grijalva, and others to discuss challenging the Arizona law and to pass immigration reform that does not include harsh enforcement measures, as Schumer's current proposal does. Nationally, we have also worked with South Asian organizations to take a stand in solidarity and issued a national statement in support.

Coincidentally, on April 16th, days before the Arizona Governor signed SB1070, DRUM and VAMOS Unidos, two New York organizations, united Latino and South Asian immigrants here in New York on Arizona's border laws by bringing Isabel Garcia of the Coalition de Derechos Humanos from Tucson to speak at Judson Memorial Church. The event was entitled, "The Border and the Movement: A New York City Forum on Immigration Reform" and brought together diverse communities (Latino, Muslim, Sikh) in a joint dialogue with border communities on the need to end racial profiling and anti-immigrant enforcement programs spreading here in New York City such as Secure Communities (which place immigration agents in jails) and '287g' programs that deputize local police as immigration agents.

What became clear from this event is that Arizona has intentionally been created as a testing ground for passage of the worst immigration enforcement laws in the last two decades, which are then exported to the rest of the country. It is clear that all of us must keep our eyes open and stand in solidarity with communities in Arizona because what happens today there can surely happen tomorrow here.

People across the U.S. are being asked to support the campaign to boycott Arizona. Many people will travel to Arizona and hold local events on May 29th to end SB1070. Yet, we know that our efforts must continue long after May 29th and must inform our day-to-day local education and organizing locally. Arizona's racist SB1070 has shown us that the U.S. is at a critical juncture on one of the biggest civil rights struggles of our times. It is our task as advocates for social justice in this moment to expand community organizing in every part of our city and nation to hold our leaders to task and win the real changes we need. Organizing is even more vital than ever.

For more information on how to take action and get resources, visit:

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Coalición de Derechos Humanos/The Human Rights Coalition

Alto Arizona

Monami Maulik's essay first appeared in the North Star Fund's Blog:

http://northstarfund.org/blog/2010/05/todos-somos-arizona--we-are-all-arizona.php

---

Monami Maulik is the Executive Director of DRUM-Desis Rising Up & Moving, a South Asian immigrant and workers rights organization in New York City and is member of the boardof directors of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. She can be contacted at monami@drumnyc.org

Todos Som@s Arizona | We Are @ll Arizona: Bay Area Activities for May 29 National Day of Action | Area de la Bahia dia nacional de accion 29 de Mayo

Three actions for immigrant justice & human rights in Arizona & here

|

Tres acciones para la justicia y los derechos del inmigrante aquí y en Arizona

 

 

1. TODAY: President Obama will be in San Francisco today, Tuesday May 24, at 4:00 pm Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street in San Francisco, CA 94108. Come to raise your voices against anti-immigrant laws & demand justice. Tell him:

• Restore and protect the civil and labor rights of all persons, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status
• Demand an end to all immigration-police collaboration:

NO to SB1070; NO 287 g, NO to Secure Communities – decriminalize immigration status!

• Suspend all detentions & deportations:

Investigate the abuses in the interior and at then border

• Demilitarize immigration and border control: no more deaths!
• Legalization with rights for all

 

2. In Oakland Saturday May 29 | En Oakland Sábado 29 de Mayo:

 

Tod@s somos Arizona | We are all Arizona!

 

Action in solidarity with Arizona against SB1070

Acción en solidaridad con Arizona contra la SB1070

 

May 29, 2010, 12:00-3:00 p.m. at the Fruitvale BART Station Plaza

29 de mayo, 2010, de 12:00 a 3:00 p.m. en la Plaza de la estación Fruitvale de BART

 

Contact | Contacto

Mujeres Unidas y Activas ariana@mujeres unidas.net

 

3 In San Francisco, May 29:

 

PROTEST THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS! [Sigue en español]

Repeal SB1070 in Arizona!

Repeal the Ban on Ethnic Studies!

Unconditional amnesty in all 50 states!

 

March & Rally in San Francisco

Date: Saturday, May 29th

Time: Assemble at Embarcadero at 4:00pm. March begins at 4:30pm.

Arrive at AT&T Park at 5:15pm. Game begins at 6:05pm.

[ spanish flyer | english flyer ] 

facebook :http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119480261403433&ref=ts

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks are coming to town and we must take a stand against SB1070 and send a message to Arizona's lawmakers as well as to the federal government.  Join the May Day 2010 Coalition to protest the Diamondbacks and to march on the nationwide Day of Action on May 29th.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

PROTESTA CONTRA LOS DIAMONDBACKS DE ARIZONA!

Derogación de la SB1070 en Arizona!

Restablecemiento de Estudios Étnicos!

Amnistía Incondicional en todos los 50 estados!

 

Marcha y Mitín en San Francisco

Fecha: Sábado, 29 de mayo

Punto de Encuentro y Hora: Embarcadero, 4:00pm. Marcha inicia, 4:30pm.

Llegada al AT&T Park, 5:15pm. El partido comienza, 6:05pm.

[volante en español | volante en inglés]

 

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119480261403433&ref=ts

 

Email: may1st.sf@gmail.com :: Teléfono: 415.678.0114 (Español) :: 415.572.4112 (Inglés)

 

 

4. To see list of cities participating national day of action & in solidarity with the communities of Arizona and against SB1070, visit: http://www.altoarizona.com

5. Para ver la lista de ciudades participando en el día de acción nacional en solidaridad con las comunidades de Arizona y contra la SB1070, visite: http://www.altoarizona.com

 

_____________________________________________________

Arnoldo Garcia

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados

310 8th Street Suite 303

Oakland, CA 94607

Tel (510) 465-1984 ext. 305

Fax (510) 465-1885

http://www.nnirr.org

http://nnirr.blogspot.com

 

READ NNIRR's latest human rights report Guilty by Immigration Status

 

Show your support for justice & human rights!

 

Follow NNIRR on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/NNIRRnetwork

 

Media Advisory -- Resistance Against SB1070 Escalates: Massive National Mobilization in Phoenix on May 29, 2010, New Boycott Targets Unveiled

REGISTER FOR THE MAY 25 TELEBRIEFING ON SB1070 AND THE NATIONAL MARCH ON PHOENIX, 10AM PST/1PM EST: http://bit.ly/May29briefing

MEDIA ADVISORY

Press Contacts:

Sarahi Uribe 202-285-9673 sarahiuribe@gmail.com

B Loewe 773-791-4668 bloewe@onpointconsortium.org

Resistance Against SB1070 Escalates:

Massive National Mobilization in Phoenix on May 29, 2010

And New Boycott Targets Unveiled

What: Media Briefing Call on SB1070 and National March on Phoenix

Speakers on the call will share plans for the mega march on May 29^th, present the latest list of confirmed national and local speakers, announce solidarity actions throughout the country, and unveil new boycott targets.

When: Tuesday May 25^th, 1:00-2:00pm EST

Where: Telebriefing - Register here: http://bit.ly/May29briefing

Who:

Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director, National Day Laborer Organizing Network

Salvador Reza, Organizer, Puente Movement in Phoenix, Arizona

Dr. Warren Stewart, Sr., Pastor, First Institutional Baptist Church

Antonio Bustamante, Civil Rights Attorney, Phoenix, Arizona

Alfredo Guitierrez, Chair of Arizona Boycott Committee and Founder of Lafronteratimes.com

Alma Mendonza, worker and neighborhood defense committee leader

Why: Phoenix, Arizona – In the last month, local, national, and international pressure has grown with vigils, fasts, protests, high school walkouts, boycotts, and civil disobedience—all in repudiation of SB1070, a law that creates 21^st century apartheid in the United States.

From Phoenix to Mexico to South Africa — the eyes of the world are watching an atrocious human rights crisis while President Obama and his administration fail to act.

On May 29, 2010 people of conscience from throughout the United States and Phoenix will march in the tens of thousands to the State Capitol to demand justice in the face of state-sanctioned discrimination and hate. They will demand that President Obama stand on the right side of history and take immediate and concrete action to stop SB1070.

Register here for the Telebriefing: http://bit.ly/May29briefing

###

_____________________________________________________

Arnoldo Garcia

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados

310 8th Street Suite 303

Oakland, CA 94607

Tel (510) 465-1984 ext. 305

Fax (510) 465-1885

www.nnirr.org

READ NNIRR's latest human rights report Guilty by Immigration Status

Show your support for justice & human rights!

Follow NNIRR on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/NNIRRnetwork

Honoring the Fallen: Demanding an End to U.S. Border Miltiarization

520 Weeks of Witness to Human Rights Crisis

Coalición de Derechos Humanos Celebrates Ten Years of Raising Voices for Justice and an End to Border Militarization

The human rights crisis that exploded after Arizona Governor Brewer signed into law SB1070, which gives local police the power to stop and arrest individuals for their immigration status, is over sixteen years in the making. SB1070 is the offspring of U.S. border security and immigration control policies that deliberately funnel migrants through the state's deadliest and desolate regions.

Thursday, May 20, 2010, marks the 520th consecutive week of a Thursday night community vigil organized by the Coalición de Derechos Humanos at El Tiradito shrine in Tucson, Arizona, to remember and honor the thousands of individuals who have perished on the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of U.S. militarization of immigration and border control.

Ten years ago, the Coalición de Derechos Humanos (DH) began a vigil to recognize all victims of U.S. border security policies. In 2000, DH reported the recovery of 136 human remains solely on the Arizona border region. Now, from October 1, 2009 to February 28, 2010, DH reports an astounding 110 human remains recovered on the border over five months.

Since 1994, when the current border security strategy was implemented by the Clinton Administration on the entire U.S.-Mexico border region, more than 5,000 migrants deaths have been recorded on the U.S. side of the Mexico border.

Please join or support the Coalición de Derechos Humanos at the 520th weekly vigil Thursday, May 20, 2010, 7:00pm, at El Tiradito Shrine (Cushing and Main Streets) Tucson, AZ

In addition, May 20th marks the 13th year anniversary of the killing of 18-year old Esequiel Hernandez, Jr. by U.S. Marines in Redford, Texas as the young man tended the family's goats:

Esequiel Hernandez, Jr.* May 14, 1979 - May 20, 1997

Join DH to commemorate the fallen on the 520th weekly vigil, a pledge to bear witness to the deadly border and its victims.

Background to the Human Rights Crisis in Arizona

NAFTA Border Control of Migrant Labor

Why are migrants dying and disappearing in the deserts and mountains of Arizona and in parts of California New Mexico and Texas?

The U.S. deliberately "funnels" migrants into the most dangerous and desolate regions of the border to supposedly dissuade them from coming to the U.S. This strategy was implemented as the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, was being negotiated and signed. NAFTA, instead of addressing the displacement of workers caused by "free" trade policies, put the costs of NAFTA on Mexico and specifically undermined the rights of migrant workers.

Border security and control strategies have been the policy of how migrant workers are integrated into the U.S. labor force. NAFTA and subsequent U.S. border security policies have made migrant workers, including Indigenous people and other people of color communities on the border, more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. SB1070 is the latest form of labor control policy based on anti-immigrant racial profiling and discrimination.

"Prevention through Deterrence" means Migrant Deaths

Called "prevention through deterrence," the U.S. government implemented the current border security and immigration control strategy in 1993 on the El Paso, TX-Ciudad Juárez sector of the border as "Operation Blockade." The strategy was then extended to the entire border in 1994, as Operation Gatekeeper in California, Operation Safeguard in Arizona and Operation Rio Grande in south Texas.

Operation Blockade was implemented in September 1993 by then Border Patrol Sector Chief Silvestre Reyes that consisted of placing one Border Patrol agent with a Bronco jeep about every thousand yards across the entire width of the El Paso-Juárez metropolitan region on the borderline. BP Sector Chief Reyes under then-INS director Doris Meisner piloted the strategy that is responsible for causing the death, disappearance or, if they survive the ordeal, immense suffering and damage to the health of thousands of migrants.

The U.S. implementation of the border security strategy was part of the U.S. pact under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that was signed and ratified by Congress in November 1993.

The goal of the now 17 year old U.S. border security strategy was to force migrants who chose to cross without authorization or inspection through the desert and out of the safer urban areas. Instead of offering options to enter legally, the U.S. offered migrants choose between not crossing or risking their lives and health to reunite with their families and seek work to survive.

How to End the Human Rights Crisis at the U.S.-Mexico Border

The human rights crisis at the border is the result of U.S. immigration and border control polices, practices and strategies that criminalize status, militarize immigrant and border communities, link immigration enforcement and services to the politics of national security. Ultimately, the U.S. border reflects the imposition of "free" trade policies and economic development that forces workers to move to find work -- in many cases into involuntary international migration -- and makes them vulnerable to hate and exploitation.

Communities have to learn each others histories and find common ground to roll-back the hate and end the policies that foment and bolster the anti-immigrant climate.

At the heart of this is building long-lasting and durable relationships between border and non-border communities, immigrants, Native American peoples, communities of color and working people. This relationship is strategic to expose, prevent and stop the current trading of rights that is central to "comprehensive immigration reform." Rights trading means that the rights of communities are negotiated away as part of the deal-making for immigration reform. The rights of border and immigrant communities have always been offered head first to satisfy the xenophobia and calls for "border security."

In 2007, NNIRR worked with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) to bring an African American and black immigrant delegation to the Arizona border to see first-hand the devastating results of the U.S. militarization of immigration and border control policies, practices and strategies.

In 2006, NNIRR with the Coalición de Derechos Humanos brought a national delegation of grassroots community groups and leaders to meet with their counterparts in the Arizona border region and dream a different border based on justice and human rights. These are were our recommendations to solve the human rights crisis at the border :

Implement routine programs of legalization that expand access to visas and provide access to permanent residency including future flows. Systematic legalization programs – recognizing human, labor, environmental, and civil rights – will ensure that migrants have options to unite with their families and avoid mortal danger.

End the deadly border enforcement strategies; instead protect the human rights and constitutional liberties of all immigrants and communities on the U.S.-Mexico border. This includes but is not limited to issuing sufficient visas so that all migrants that wish to can enter the country legally and safely and are not forced to choose between risking their lives crossing through the desert and mountains or subjecting themselves to inhumane violations of their rights and abuse just to reunite with their families and find work to survive.

Demilitarize the U.S.-Mexico border and cease all enforcement policies, practices, measures, laws, and strategies that criminalize migrants forcing them into crossing through the most dangerous areas in the mountains and deserts where hundreds die every year. And, prevent the initiation of policies, laws, practices and measures to militarize the U.S.-Canada border;

Address the backlog and facilitate family reunification by increasing visas and more legal options allowing migrants to cross safely and not risk their lives at the hands of smugglers, unscrupulous employers, or immigration officials who act with impunity and jeopardize public safety;

Repeal draconian federal criminal laws that prosecute and incarcerate migrants for merely crossing the border without inspection.

End the deportation of permanent residents, including ending indefinite detention or its expansion, preserving due process rights and restoring access to the courts and meaningful judicial review for all immigrants.

Develop bi-lateral migration policies and practices that uphold the human rights of migrants, which are accountable to independent, civilian community-based monitoring and oversight;

Restore the civil rights, civil liberties and human rights of border communities and immigrants everywhere.

Grant unrestricted crossing rights for members of Indigenous nations and communities living on both sides of the border.

Enhance the safety of border communities and protect migrants by demilitarizing the borders, including tearing down the walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, and establishing accountability mechanisms for independent civilian and community-based monitoring and oversight;

Clearly and publicly declare its opposition to private vigilante groups and the hateful acts they perpetrate, and prosecute any criminal activity against immigrants and others;

Create an independent monitoring and accountability mechanism that directly engages impacted communities in holding the Department of Homeland Security accountable for its immigration enforcement and detention policies and initiatives;

Transfer federal spending from border militarization to genuine “border security” programs including health care, housing, education, living wages, social security and fair trade between communities straddling the border and other nations;

Stop collaborating with other countries targeting migrants for arrest and detention and cooperate with neighboring nations to implement economic and social policies that effectively resolve problems of unsustainable development caused by “free” trade policies, which are the root cause of forced displacement and involuntary international migration;

End and reverse the privatization of border control and national security operations, which is rewarding private security contractors that have abysmal human rights records and corruptive practices in Iraq, Palestine, New Orleans and elsewhere;

Abandon all plans to militarize the U.S.- Canada border, virtually and physically, as contemplated in recently passed Congressional legislation calling for a “study” of the militarization of the northern border, including the high technological surveillance of the U.S.- Mexico border.

De-link the policies and politics of national security and the “war on terror” from all immigration services and enforcement and give priority to “human security,” fulfilling the human rights, economic well-being, civil liberties, labor protections, health, safety and freedom from fear and instability, for all communities and individuals regardless of their citizenship or immigration status; and,

Transfer all border and interior immigration services and enforcement functions now under the Department of Homeland Security back to the Department of Justice, including the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Border Protection and Customs, and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, previously under the Immigration and Naturalization Services.

Address the root causes of involuntary migration and forced displacement in sending countries by ending “free” trade and other structural adjustment programs imposed on the global south by U.S.-controlled international financial institutions. Support sustainable economic development instead.

Make the United States a true partner in international cooperation by ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.