Immigrant Rights and the 2008 elections

As the Democrats and Republicans come together in their conventions and formally nominate their respective candidates for the November presidential election, advocates, organizers, community leaders and members from across the political spectrum are promoting their issues and strategizing on post-election campaigns.

Immigrant rights grassroots groups, advocates and lobbyists are among those looking towards the next few years and beyond for opportunities to address our critical issues.

For the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, our agenda includes:

• An immediate end to the immigration raids, detentions and deportations. These immigration law enforcement operations violate the human rights of tens of thousands of men, women and children and are devastating to the well-being of our families, neighborhoods and communities; and

• The passage of fair and just immigration reforms that ensure human rights and labor protections for all immigrants, provide broad opportunities to adjust immigration status, expand legal immigration visas, de-militarize border regions, restore and ensure due process, fairness in refugee and asylum processes, among other needed policies and programs.

NNIRR has recently released a statement reaffirming its vision and principles for immigrant rights, as we near the November election.

More than 20 years has passed since the last major immigration bill was passed – the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). While providing for the legalization of millions of long-time undocumented residents, IRCA also led to a “criminalization” of immigrants, especially the undocumented – policies that deepened after 9/11. Various avenues for the undocumented to adjust status have also been practically eliminated. Now ICE raids are rounding up hundreds of immigrant workers, arresting and detaining them on felony charges of identity fraud.

Over the next few months leading up to the November elections, our immigrant rights movement needs to continue to raise its voice for fairness and justice for all immigrants. A new presidential administration must turn away from the repressive and mean-spirited policies and practices that are being played out against immigrant workers, families and communities, even as hundreds of thousands of people turn to the elections seeking political change.

The following resources are shared to provide information, perspectives and tools to advance our messages for immigrant rights leading up to the November elections and beyond. These resource pages will be periodically updated.

1. Candidate Positions on Immigration
2. Immigration and the Democratic National Convention (DNC)
3. Immigration and the Republican National Convention (RNC) -- will be updated!
4. News Articles
5. Op Eds
6. NNIRR Position Statement (Versión en Español aquí.)