National Immigrant Rights Research & Advocacy Organizations Presented By, Steven Bae Alison Dang Barbara Escobar Kevin Jay

Advocacy Organizations in the Making Bracero Program (1943) ◦ Response to U.S. labor needs ◦ Opened doors for massive immigration ◦ Used in favor for agricultural employer’s advantage ◦ Agricultural employers became dependent on immigration labor (documented and undocumented) ◦ Thus, it is a violation of worker rights Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) ◦ Employer sanctions ◦ Granted permanent residency to immigrants if they resided in the U.S. for 5 years ◦ Special Agricultural Workers ◦ In the end it failed because it lacked resources, it failed to enforce it and employers took advantage of cheap labor

Advocacy Organizations and their Goals American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ◦ Wants to undermine national ID system Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) ◦ Pushes for legalization reform National Council of La Raza (NCLR) ◦ Pushes for modification of employment opportunities Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) ◦ Pushes for permanent residency, social services National Immigration Law Center (NILC) ◦ Wants to pass the Dream Act ◦ Against homeland security and Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement

Relationships Between Advocacy Organizations and Coalition Buildup Advocacy groups focus on broad issues Naturalization, legalization and entitlement to rights Draws strengths from local and state communities Federal government turned the immigration issue over to state government Garnered Support for federal bills, but was mainly unsuccessful DREAM Act

Guest Workers Programs/National ID’s Guest Worker Program ◦ Introduced by the Bush administration ◦ Acknowledged the necessity of the migrant workforce ◦ Requires strong employer efforts ◦ Advocacy intervention Advocacy intervention National Worker ID Cards Photograph and fingerprint requirement- harder to falsify Prospective speculations Split opinions among advocacy organizations Currently Congress has not passed a true guest worker program nor National Worker ID Card

Dream Act of 2007 and Advocacy Response Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act Eligibility ◦ Minimum of 3 years in U.S. high school ◦ Good moral character ◦ Under the age of 30 ◦ Have resided in U.S. for 5 years prior to enactment of bill ◦ Meeting this requirements will entitle them to temporary residency for max. of 6 years Advocacy Response CHIRLA & NILC supports it Strong support because it is a milestone for a path to legalization Expands Plyler v. Doe