Just Migration Reform

Mission:

Migration has been part of the human experience throughout history, and the number of migrants is growing worldwide. For those migrants finding themselves in situations of vulnerability, we have a mission to:

Examine ways and means to overcome the obstacles existing to the full and effective protection of the human rights of all migrants at all stages of migration

Elaborate recommendations on strengthening the promotion, protection and implementation of the
human rights of all migrants

PURPOSE:
This Committee is responsible for being a representative in The Northern California Coalition For Just Immigration Reform (NCCJIR) which came together in 2021 when the US Congress and the Biden Administration appeared committed to passing Immigration Reform as one of their top, policy priorities. Various, Bay Area community-based organizations and unions came together and created a platform which includes:

Papers For All
No expansion of Guest worker programs
No E-Verify
Shut down the detention centers and stop the deportations

In 2022, the NC Coalition joined a national network coordinated by the Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) to organize around the "Registry Bill," a bill which would have allowed approximately 8 million undocumented people to apply for residency if they lived continuously in the country for seven years. Again, the NC Coalition organized Congressional visits, public mobilizations, and other activities. Worker members traveled to Washington D.C. to share their testimonies with federal elected officials.

This year, the NC Coalition will continue to build worker power and to insert the leadership of
undocumented workers in the continuation of the Registry Bill Campaign.

The Dignity Campaign is a network of more than 40 immigrant rights and community organizations, unions and churches, including ours, that has crafted an immigration reform proposal based on “human, labor and civil rights for all.” The campaign’s member organizations support a progressive alternative to current immigration proposals in Congress. Current immigration proposals in Congress consist in getting some legalization in trade for guest worker programs and increasing border and workplace enforcement. The consequences of this immigration policy, which is based on producing a labor supply for employers,
is the break-up of families, displacement of communities and vulnerability of immigrant workers to
extreme exploitation. A progressive alternative immigration proposal would include immediate
legalization of the undocumented, de-criminalization of immigrants, equal rights, reunification of
families, an end to temporary worker programs, and an end to trade and foreign policies that cause the dislocation of people.

Both groups believe that, despite the make-up of the current Congress, it continues to be important to organize at the grassroots level in order to build leadership among undocumented workers and to create a political climate wherein just Immigration Reform is truly possible.

This ad hoc will plan to financially support the 40-mile March happening Aug.5-7 from Petaluma to the Federal Building in San Francisco and continue being a representative and support the activities of the NCCJIR to meet our mission