Friday May 25, 2007 SGN.org |
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Volume 35 Issue 21 |
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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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Border and immigration reform to fail LGBT immigrants |
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| Border and immigration reform to fail LGBT immigrants | ||
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New York, May 21---- A handful of Senators announced on May 17 a bi-partisan comprehensive immigration deal. The deal comes after a three month long closed door negotiation process between key Republican and Democratic Senators and the White House. The bill titled "Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2007" if passed will mark a major shift in the nation's immigration policy from "family based immigration" to "merit based immigration", and supposedly will create a path for "legalization" for the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants. The Bill has very harsh border control and employer verification programs, along with a renewed guest worker program which are all heavily opposed by major unions. The Bill calls for an expansion of detention capacity, calling for up to 27,500 detentions per day per year. Any bill that calls for an expansion of detention is bad for especially Transgender and gender non-confirming immigrants. Transgender and gender non-confirming immigrants are routinely denied hormone treatment and face sexual violence in detention facilities. HIV+ detainees are routinely denied life saving medications while in detention. The Bill also known as BSIRA calls for "stiffening of laws and penalties" related to passport, visa, and immigration fraud, including marriage fraud. This provision will also harshly impact LGBT immigrants; given several LGBT people fleeing persecution often enter the country with little or false documents. Furthermore, many Queer couples who are unable to sponsor their partners for immigration are forced to enter into "pre-arranged marriages" in order to remain in the US legally. The "Z Visa" which promises a path to legalization, calls for steep fees of up to $5000 and has restrictions on sponsoring family members, leaving poor LGBT immigrants with no other options but to live in the shadows. Queers for Economic Justice estimates 1.2 million LGBT undocumented immigrants who currently live in the US and are waiting for an easy, less bureaucratic path to legalization. There is no indication in the bill that the HIV inadmissibility bar will be waived for those applying for permanent residency through the "Z program", leaving thousands of HIV+ undocumented immigrants with no other options but to remain undocumented. Finally of utmost disgust is the "back door deals" that Senate Democrats engaged in with Senate Republicans and the White House. This process is clearly an indication of the continued rightward shift of the Democratic process. This process should serve as a warning for national LGBT rights organizations who are working to push legislations such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Those bills are bound to meet with similar rightward shift in the Congress. Even worse the Congress in a push to win the LGBT community in support of it s controversial immigration bill might be amenable to passing the employment discrimination legislation, a trend lately occurring in Western European nations. Queers for Economic Justice opposes the BSIRA bill (based upon initial examination of the summary), since it fails to meet the basic points of unity that LGBT immigrants across the country has agreed upon. We demand the following: Enact genuinely progressive immigration legislation at the state level that respects the human rights of immigrants. We call for all states to opt out of the Real I.D. Act, reinstate in-state tuition fees for undocumented immigrant students, and not pass legislation that will disallow undocumented immigrants from accessing public benefits. Repeal the HIV ban immediately. End the one year deadline for applying for asylum End the heightened policing and criminalization of immigrant communities, including the increased militarization of the border, the construction of any wall around the US-Mexico border, and/or the use of city and state government agencies to enforce federal immigration law. End the indefinite and mandatory detention of non-citizens and ensure the safety and self-determination of all people, regardless of national origin, race, gender or sexuality. Strengthen labor laws and protections for all workers, native and foreign born, and end guest worker proposals that would continue the exploitation of many low-wage workers. Repeal the Real I.D. Act. Support efforts to create and affirm the broader definitions of family and kinship patterns in which LGBT people already live. We urge the passage of the Uniting American Families Act. But this is only a first step in the direction of the expansion of the definition of "family." A truly fair immigration system should recognize all families in our LGBT and immigrant communities, including non-immediate relatives and non-traditional families of our choice. We call for the end of immigration reform based on the notion of conjugality and instead support efforts to broaden definitions of "family" and end inequality. Support easy and non-punitive path to legalization for all immigrants. Queers for Economic Justice is a progressive non-profit organization committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation. Our goal is to challenge and change the systems that create poverty and economic injustice in our communities, and to promote an economic system that embraces sexual and gender diversity. We are committed to the principle that access to social and economic resources is a fundamental right, and we work to create social and economic equity through grassroots organizing, public education, advocacy and research. We do this work because although poor Queers have always been a part of both the Gay rights and economic justice movements, they have been, and continue to be, largely invisible in both movements. This work will always be informed by the lived experiences and expressed needs of Queer people in poverty. A Queers for Economic Justice press release |
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copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2007