WILPF stands in solidarity with the immigrant community in our country. We hold to the idea that when people cannot find employment in their country of origin to support themselves and their families, they have right to find work elsewhere in order to survive, regardless of their legal status. A powerful economic nation such as ours has the right to protect and control our borders on behalf of our citizens, but we also have an obligation to develop a rational, humane and comprehensive immigration reform plan. Neither the House nor the Senate has proposed adequate legislation.

Before WWI there were few restrictions and no such thing as “illegal immigration.”  Of the 25 million immigrants who landed at Ellis Island, only 1 % was excluded, mostly for health reasons. Then, as now, immigrants provided cheap, unskilled labor, while U.S. born citizens complained that newcomers stole jobs, were ignorant and criminal. Our European ancestors also faced discrimination and xenophobia, at the same times they were building our country and creating wealth for others.

The conservative climate that existed after WWI imposed quotas, for the first time created the U.S. border patrol, and eliminated the statute of limitations on deportations. Even with these new restrictions, hundreds of thousands of mostly European illegal immigrants became legal. In 1965, the U.S. repealed racial restrictions against Europeans and Asians, but also imposed quotas for the first time on Western Hemisphere Countries, which created illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America. The 1986 Immigration Reform legalized nearly 3 million undocumented workers while calling for increased enforcement against employers of undocumented workers. However, this didn’t stop the flow of immigrants, it just made it more dangerous to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

Today, with an estimated 12 million undocumented people in the U.S., Congress is being pressured to increase immigration restrictions even more. In order to justify regressive and punitive measures, many myths are being foisted upon an uninformed and fearful post 9/11 public. Little, if any, of this discourse involves identifying root causes or proposing long-term solutions.

In this age of global corporation and free trade agreements, U.S. neo-liberal economic policies rob countries of the ability to develop and sustain their own economies. For more than two decades, under pressure from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and U.S. banks, the Mexican government has encouraged foreign investment and ownership on the one hand, while cutting expenditures intended to raise rural incomes. There has also been a dramatic rise in the price of subsidized necessities like gasoline, electricity, bus fares, tortillas, and milk. The sale of Mexican government enterprises to private investors led to layoffs and the destruction of unions. These economic reforms were deeply unpopular, and millions of Mexicans are now challenging their government’s support for the rich and big corporations by organizing for political change and participatory democracy. In time, these changes would make it possible for people to make a living in their own country, instead of migration to the U.S.

Opponents of immigration use the argument that immigrants are breaking the law and therefore are criminals. Our response is to ask WHY, and to counter with the question, “How many laws have employers broken in the exploitation of immigrant workers?”

Migrants and their families enter the U.S. to survive by finding jobs. Eighty percent find employment and by doing so, they help our economy.  Immigrants pay about $90 billion a year in taxes, and use about $5 billion in public benefits. Mexicans in the U.S, often working for poverty wages, are sending home $10 billion per year.

WILPF joins with other immigrant, labor, faith, civil rights and community groups in calling for immigration reforms that greatly expand the number of visas to match actual labor demands, and which grant the undocumented who have been living here for a number of years permanent residency. In addition, we support their being issued “green cards”, as opposed to a “guest worker” status which works to keep wages down. Those presently here should not be subject to deportation unless they have committed a crime. Lastly, issuing drivers licenses is a means of registering everyone here, thereby giving the undocumented legal identification, which in turn, would aid them in obtaining green cards and permanent resident status.

WILPF’s long history and commitment to the social reform movement began with Jane Addams, founder of Hull House in Chicago (1899), giving not only refuge to the poor, but getting involved in statewide policy battles for immigrant rights. To do so again, at this critical time, is to stand on the side of justice and civil and human rights for everyone in our country.

Background piece thanks to the Pajaro Valley (CA) WILPF (LIMPAL*) branch.

* Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad