Immigration Policies Inconsistant with American Ideals

Immigration is a hot topic that invokes very strong feelings on both arguments of the issue. It is also very much a feminist issue. The majority of immigrants are now women and they are suffering the backlashes.

Yesterday, I attended an Immigration Reform Conference sponsored by the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) and the debate over immigration has many layers. The question arose of whether the U.S. is experiencing an immigration crisis or not. Perhaps it is not a crisis for those who enjoy U.S. citizenship, but for those undocumented "illegals", it is very much a crisis. There are an estimated 12 million undocumented persons living in the U.S. today who are exploited, discriminated against, and treated like second-class citizens who are denied the protection of the U.S. constitution.

Undocumented persons are denied their fundamental human rights and this practice clashes with American ideals. There is a huge gap between what the government preaches and what they actually practice. The very fabric of this country was built upon immigration, and American values preach the beauty of the melting pot and diversity. America was also built with the ideal that all human beings all created equal and therefore are all entitled to fundamental human rights. But this ideal is destroyed by our reality of "illegals" being treated like animals. The U.S. is constantly separating families, immigrant workers suffer from low wages, dangerous and harsh working environments. Immigrants are raped, murdered and made the target of other violent crimes because they are least likely to report crimes to police in fear of being deported.


It was suggested by one of the panelists at the conference that the immigration debate continues to surface during harsh economic times. The dialogue is used as a tactical poly by politicians in an attempt to single out a scapegoat and deflect attention from their own mistakes made in office. Immigrants are socially constructed as the "other" and their image is infused with negative perceptions as un-desirable and inferior. This fuels the grounds for discrimination against immigrants.

But it is important to note that not all immigrants are discriminated against equally. When one uses the word "immigrant", they are often referring to Mexicans and people from south and central America. Latino or Hispanic immigrants are hit the hardest by this discrimination and are the target of anti-immigration legislation. One only needs to look at the new Arizona immigration laws that encourage racial profiling and racism against Mexicans.

The misconception that fuels this discrimination against Latinos/Hispanics is centered around the premise that immigrants are taking jobs that belong to American citizens. However, this is simply not the case. Immigrant labor does not drain the economy, it fuels it. There are also strong historical ties between the U.S and Mexico/central America that keeps immigrants traveling to America, another fact that is constantly ignored.

Americans have mixed feelings about immigration, but there is absolutely no reason to discriminate against people who are fighting for a better life. Most immigrants are extremely hard-working, family oriented and share the ideals of the American Dream.

Thank You Thursday! 07/29/2010

We are excited to announce that we are adding a new weekly series of blog posts known as "Thank You Thursday!" Our "Thank You Thursday" posts will include a list of people who have done or said something pro-woman that we appreciate. We hope you enjoy seeing who is doing positive work!
This Thursday, we would like to thank:

• U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton for blocking several key passages of Arizona's new immigration law SB 1070
• Memphis City Council Member Janis Fullilove for supporting a proposed LGBT antidiscrimination policy even when faced with death threats
• ESPN Reporter Erin Andrews for advocating for the STALKERS Act
• Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for their efforts to get the Dream Act passed

• and a special thanks to everyone who help with the Pro-Choice Clinic Defense in Charlotte, North Carolina, last week!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!

New Years Resolution - Go Local and Organic!

I usually don't participate in New Year's resolutions because I know I most likely won't keep up with it. But after watching the film, Food Inc., I decided to make an exception.

I generally think of myself as someone who has a relatively good diet. I try to stay away from red meat and pork, and increase my consumption of fruits and vegetables. I try my very best to limit my fast food intake. From there, I thought I was doing a pretty good job. Then, I watched Robert Kinner's film and totally had a change of heart.

If you haven't seen this documentary yet, it is a must see!!! Thanks to campus organizer, T. Stewart, I am now a believer.

Filmmaker, Kinner, does a phenomenal job of revealing the secrets behind our national food industry. In this film, you will learn about the monopoly only a few corporations have over the so-called variety of food products we look for at our local grocery stores. What's really sad is the debilitating impacts they have on local farmers and immigrant workers who are, in most cases, recruited from Latin American countries illegally to work in very inhumane conditions. In addition, bacteria that was once considered foreign and rare, has infiltrated our food supply. Even the foods that we generally think about as the healthiest are often contaminated (remember the E. coli found in spinach leaves and salmonella in peanut butter?).

You would think the federal government would not allow this to happen. Think again! In fact, government agencies such as the USFDA employed top representatives who are or once were executives at these companies, leaving very little room for objective governance when it comes to our most sacred resource.

Today, Huffington Post had a very interesting article about most food purchased in the US are packaged and come from factory farms, the breeding grounds for deadly pathogens that are making their way to our dinner tables.

Well, with all of this in mind, I thought to myself, what could I do to reduce my health becoming impaired by what I eat and not participating in how these companies treat their workers and contracted farmers. Luckily, at the end of the film, there's a listing of recommendations of how every day citizens can make a difference:

• Buy locally grown foods
• Support farmers markets and ask them to accept food assistance programs such as EBT or food stamps
• Go organic (though costly, the higher the demand, the likelihood of prices to drop - your buying power is your vote!)
• Start a community garden

These simple actions also got me to think about how our current administration is approaching health care reform. I'm all for uninsured Americans to be covered under this possible new law (hell, I'm looking forward to the day when we'll have universal coverage. I'm still crossing my fingers). But I would really like to see our country take a huge leap forward and not only reform health care insurance, but also our very health and well-being, which is completely tied to what we eat and often our lifestyles. Though I don't expect nor want our government to legislate our lifestyles, more can certainly be done to give us healthier choices and incentives in both providing and making those choices.

In order to achieve true health care reform, we can not leave out the need to do a serious overhaul of our food industry. Because what's the point of promoting preventive care (though we should definitely continue to do so) if the veggies or eggs most Americans buy are covered with deadly bacteria?

Well, until we get it all figured out, I've made a commitment. I will try my very best to go local and organic! Wish me luck!

CDC ends HPV vaccination requirement for immigrant women

In July 2008, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) implemented a mandate that immigrant women ages 11 to 26 who were seeking permanent resident status, must get the HPV vaccine. The mandate was considered discriminatory because it is costly and gender specific. Also, there isn't currently any requirement that American women must get the vaccine, so why should women seeking citizenship be required?

Well the CDC decided that effective December 14th, young women who are seeking legal permanent resident status in the United States will no longer be required to be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The Federal Register notes,"while HPV may be an age appropriate vaccine for an immigrant applicant, HPV neither causes outbreaks nor is it associated with outbreaks...Further, HPV has not been eliminated, nor is in the process of elimination, in the United States. Therefore, because HPV does not meet the adopted criteria, it will not be a required vaccine for immigrant and adjustment of status to permanent residence applicants."

It's about time! Immigrant Rights and other social justice organizations have actively opposed the mandate and have organized against it since it became policy last year. The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, have been leaders in insisting that the HPV vaccine mandate be repealed. It was another giant barrier on the already path to legal immigration.

HPV Vaccination Immigration Requirement Rescinded

Effective December 14th, young women who are seeking legal permanent resident status in the United States will no longer be required to be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). According to the Federal Register, "while HPV may be an age appropriate vaccine for an immigrant applicant, HPV neither causes outbreaks nor is it associated with outbreaks...Further, HPV has not been eliminated, nor is in the process of elimination, in the United States. Therefore, because HPV does not meet the adopted criteria, it will not be a required vaccine for immigrant and adjustment of status to permanent residence applicants."

The requirement was originally implemented in July 2008 and was mandated by the Federal Immigration Authorities. It applied to immigrant women ages 11 to 26 who were seeking permanent resident status. Women's and immigrant rights groups argued that the requirement, which is gender-specific and costly, is discriminatory.

After the announcement Friday, Rocio Cordoba, Executive Director of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, said in a statement, "We commend the CDC for recognizing that all women and girls--regardless of their immigration status--must be treated with dignity in the context of any medical procedure, including the HPV vaccine. As reproductive justice advocates, we strive to ensure that women and communities have valuable information, coupled with the resources and power to make well-informed and uncoerced decisions about their bodies."

California Latinas for Reproductive Justice worked in coalition with the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health to work against the requirement. Additionally, more than 140 related organizations signed on to a letter against the requirement sent to Center for Disease Control Director Thomas Friedan, MD.

Source: Feminist News

Image Credit: Sarah G... on flickr.com

But What Will I Do Without My Daily Dose of Racist Biggotry?

Oh, if only this sign were true and CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs was like an imaginary friend (and like most imaginary friends, we could have given up on his existence when we started pre-school and started making real friends.)

Unfortunately, that reality will never be, but we have a close second for Utopia: Yesterday, Lou Dobbs abruptly announced that, starting today, he will no longer be hosting Lou Dobbs Tonight, vaguely citing the pursuit of "new opportunities" as his rational.

So, as an early holiday gift to all those feminists out there, grab some popcorn, sit back and watch the premature resignation happen all over again.








Yes, I understand that this level of schadenfreude may be a hit to my karma, but I do not stand alone in thinking Dobbs' tactlessness on "illegal" (always Mexican) immigrants shouldn't land him a place in equality's Hall of Fame.

Just ask Geraldo Rivera, who described Dobbs to the Huffington Post as "a man who was an accomplished journalist, and who left to start his own venture in the digital media… and then came back to CNN, and nobody was watching his program. He discovered that one of the ways he could get people to watch was to make of the image of a young Latino trying to get into this country a profoundly negative icon. Lou Dobbs is almost single-handedly responsible for creating, for being the architect of the young-Latino-as-scapegoat for everything that ails this country."

Anyone who is feeling abandoned by Dobbs and looking for counseling, leave a comment. I'm sure FMLAs will start a support group to get through this loss.

Today in History: Ellis Island Closed

This day in history Ellis Island closed its doors in 1954. Through this passage, somewhere between 15 and 20 million people were admitted into America by way of the sea. Lending to this country's rich and diverse culture... a true melting pot.

BBC described the new immigration policy after Ellis Island’s closure as “would-be US citizens will be free to enter the country without inspection on arrival.” Clearly this policy is not the current standard... For more information on current immigration policy visit the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services website: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis.

In 1961 the site was put up for auction, but with no hefty offers it was declared a national monument by President Lyndon Johnson. Since becoming a national monument, Ellis Island has become a popular New York tourist attraction that tourists (like me, thank you Mom & Dad) and non-tourists still visit today.


Photo Credit: Jeff_B on flickr.com

California's Occupational Health and Safety Agency Sued

California's recent budget cuts have certainly been making the headlines from cutting funding on education and employment, to the shocking 100% cut of funding for domestic violence programs. However, it seems that California should be investing in employment, as United Farm Workers (co-founded by Dolores Huerta and Cezar Chevez) has recently sued California's occupational health and safety agency for employee health negligence with heat related illnesses.

UFW has suggested that California's laws regarding worker health in 2005 were too minimalistic. These laws required that employers provide water and rest time for farm workers, particularly those who work in temperatures upwards of 100 degrees. UFW argues that at least 11 farm workers have died in California since 2005 due to heat illness, and many more have been hospitalized. Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the Department of Industrial Relations, claims that "We have done more enforcement this year than we have over all in past years" (NYT article).

It has been said that more is being done to help workers, although many are hesitant to take water breaks as they are un-paid during this time. The legal status of many of the workers might also prevent workers from standing up to their bosses for fear of being fired, or deported. For more information on this topic, visit the United Farm Workers website.

Photo courtesy of rippo on flickr