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National
Statement
The National Network for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights has prepared this statement for International
Migrants Day, and we hope that your organization will
endorse this statement.
List
of organizational endorsements for statement
NATIONAL STATEMENT FOR DECEMBER 18,
INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY
Today, on December 18th, 2003, in observance
of the 4th United Nations International Migrants Day,
we stand together to call upon the U.S. government to
uphold the human rights of all immigrants and refugees.
December 18 is a day to recognize the huge contribution
that migrants make to all countries of our world. Migration
is a growing, global phenomenon, and there are over
185 million migrants living, working, and building communities
in places outside their country of origin. Migration
policies and practices, however, often fail to protect
the human rights of migrants, and in many cases, abuse
migrants’ human rights.
We call for an immigration policy built
on the principles of dignity, justice, and equality
that uphold the civil and human rights of all people,
regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, national
origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, immigration
or citizenship status. We call on the global community,
including the United States, to ratify the UN International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families, which establishes
a comprehensive framework to uphold the rights of migrants.
We applaud the nations who have ratified this Convention
and enabled it to come into force this past July 1st,
2003.
With the continued scapegoating and intensified
law enforcement against immigrants in the U.S.’
War on Terrorism, we have continued to witness the devastating
effects of fear, racism, and xenophobia on our immigrant
and refugee communities, all in the name of national
security. Law enforcement continues to use immigration
procedures in the name of anti-terrorism, denying the
most basic of civil and human rights protections to
non-citizens. The criminalization of immigrants has
deepened as the U.S. government has entrusted immigration
enforcement to the Department of Homeland Security,
an agency that leaves little chance for equal protection
or due process of immigrants at a time when detention
and deportation have become leading strategies in the
defense of national security.
We believe that the U.S. must fulfill
its commitment to uphold the human rights of all members
of our country and globe. As part of the international
human rights community, we decry the death, displacement
and creation of new migrant and refugee populations
as a result of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Security for all means a commitment to the protection
of all communities to live free of fear, racism, and
xenophobia, and the support for human rights of all
communities.
If your organization would like to endorse
this statement, fill out this
endorsement form, and email to crajah@nnirr.org
Read NNIRR's
2002 International Migrants Day statement
Read NNIRR's 2001
International Migrants Day statement
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Migrant
Rights are Human Rights!