Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Walking with the Stranger:

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "Walking with the Stranger:"— Presentation transcript:

1 Walking with the Stranger:
Your Part in the Immigration Debate Saulo Padilla, Tammy Alexander cogdogblog/Flikr

2 Biblical mandate to welcome the stranger
“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34) I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matthew 25:35)

3 What does this mean? How do we welcome the stranger?
Direct assistance Advocacy Education

4 Immigration Education

5 Educate yourself Resources Back table immigration.mcc.org
washington.mcc.org

6 Educate others Forums Small group classes Sermons

7 Major issues Why do people migrate – root causes The law Economics
Enforcement

8 Why do people migrate? Root causes

9 International Organization for Migration, 2010, retrieved 2011-06-30
Q: Approximately how many people were in migrant status in 2010? 214 million World Migration Report The Future of Migration: Building Capacities for Change, International Organization for Migration, 2010, retrieved

10 Why do people move? Basic needs Safety Opportunities
famine poverty Safety war/violence political persecution Opportunities lack of economic and educational opportunities Freedom of expression religious persecution Exploitation/environment mining deforestation U.S. policies NAFTA/subsidies -- cheap U.S. food drives Mexican farmers out of business

11 Root causes: economic Q: What is the per capita income for the United States? $38,000 Mexico? $7870 Guatemala? $2640 Haiti? $480

12

13 Root causes: U.S. policies
Free Trade Agreements NAFTA

14 Root causes: U.S. policies
How much do we subsidize U.S. corn farmers? $3.5 billion/yr (2010) $77.1 billion from (Environmental Working Group)

15 NAFTA: Corn 1994 (NAFTA’s 1st yr): Corn prices dropped 25%
72% of corn farmers in Mexico are small-scale farmers NAFTA exposed corn grown by Mexican farmers to direct competition with American-grown corn Farmers couldn’t compete – left farms to look for jobs in the cities and in the U.S.

16 Immigration The Law

17 The Law Romans 13 Matthew, Leviticus
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities…” Matthew, Leviticus Care for those in need Love the “alien” as yourself

18 What would you do? To feed your child? To care for a sick parent?
Move away to find work? Cross a desert? Break the law? Quality of life choices Life and death choices

19 A broken immigration system?
What do we mean when we say the immigration system is broken?

20 Q: When were immigration quotas last revised?
1965

21 The immigration process
U.S. Citizens: Child/spouse/parent: 3-4 years Adult children: years

22 The immigration process
No Family? No “skills”? No green card

23 Immigration Economic Effects

24 Economic effects Costs Public school Emergency services
Public spaces – use roads, sidewalks, parks, etc.

25 Economic effects Costs
Do immigrants get public benefits such as food stamps and welfare? Undocumented immigrants are NOT eligible (though, their U.S. citizen children may be) Documented immigrants must wait until they have been in the U.S. for 5 years

26 Economic effects Contributions Taxes? Sales taxes Gas taxes
Property taxes through home ownership or rent Income taxes majority of undocumented immigrants pay federal, state and local income taxes also pay Social Security & Medicare Net gain: $6-7 billion/yr ($520 billion through 2005) (when is the last time you were asked for proof of citizenship at the grocery store or gas station)

27 Economic effects Contributions vs. costs
National studies (including one from CATO) show large net positive benefit State studies as well show immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits Texas Iowa Colorado

28 Immigration Enforcement

29 Enforcement How much does the U.S. spend on border security each year?
$10 billion $4 billion since 2007 building almost 700 miles of border fencing and walls Waived over 30 laws Endangered Species Act Safe Drinking Water Act Native American Graves Repatriation Act

30 Enforcement How many people did the U.S. deport last year (2010)?
Almost 400,000 Families separated Many of these are parents of U.S. citizen children 4 million U.S. citizen children in mixed-status families

31 Enforcement How many detention beds are available? Over 30,000
Mostly in private facilities run by CCA, GeoGroup Multi-billion dollar industry Representatives from private detention companies helped write Arizona’s SB1070 law

32 Enforcement: deaths in the desert
U.S.-Mexico border, 1998-present: 4,000+ Berlin Wall, : 136+

33 Next Steps Learn more Share
Talk with your parents and children about your family’s immigration stories

34 Immigration Advocacy

35 Advocacy: Federal Congress DREAM Act eVerify Border security

36 Advocacy: Federal Obama administration Family separation
“Let My People Stay” campaign Interfaithimmigration.org DREAM students

37 Immigration State-level Advocacy

38 State resources: washington.mcc.org
State Advocacy State resources: washington.mcc.org

39 Alabama Requires police to check immigration status with “reasonable suspicion” Public schools must collect data on immigration status of students Undocumented migrants cannot attend college Criminalizes transporting or renting property to undocumented migrants

40 Indiana SB 590

41 Racial profiling, fear

42 States: pro-immigrant
Compacts Utah guest worker program Maryland – in-state tuition

43 Immigration Direct Assistance

44 Mennonite Central Committee
Documentation services in U.S. South FL NY California Development keep people in their home communities

45 Your church / community
ESL (English as a Second Language) classes Basic needs Documentation services / education MCC immigration training – Sept.

46 FINAL Questions / Thoughts?

47 mcc.org us.mcc.org washington.mcc.org facebook, twitter
Immigration.mcc.org © 2011 Mennonite Central Committee


Download ppt "Walking with the Stranger:"

Similar presentations


Ads by Google