WHEREAS:

Reforming our nation’s immigration policies, stymied after attempts to reach a bipartisan bill were abandoned in 2007, has emerged again as a front burner issue.  In April, the Arizona legislature passed, and Gov. Jan Brewer signed, one of the most strict immigration measures in decades.  In fact, in the absence of action in Washington, D.C., over 200 state-level immigrations bills have been signed into law each year from 2007 to 2009.  At least 22 other states are now considering legislation similar to the Arizona law; and

WHEREAS:
Among other provisions, the Arizona law requires police officers to ask for proof of legal status whenever they have a “reasonable suspicion” that someone they have stopped for some other purpose is an illegal alien.  It allows police to charge immigrants with a state crime for not carrying immigration documents.  It also allows Arizona cities to be sued if there is a belief that they are not properly enforcing the law.  This law follows an earlier law that requires public employees to report any violation of federal immigration law by applicants for state and local public benefits.  An employee failing to report and that employee’s supervisor can be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by a $750 fine and 4 months in jail; and

WHEREAS:
Police officials have condemned the law, fearing that if officers do not question people who look like illegal aliens, they and their departments can be sued for lax enforcement, which will unavoidably lead to racial profiling; and

WHEREAS:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies in Arizona as part of the “287(g)” program.  These agreements allow state and local police officers who have been trained by the federal government to engage in immigration enforcement activities.  Arizona will rely on these officers to enforce the new law.  The AFL-CIO and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights have called on DHS to terminate these agreements. Unless these agreements are terminated, the federal government will be complicit in racial profiling; and

WHEREAS:
Reaction to the Arizona law has been swift and heated, including demonstrations and calls for a boycott.  A number of cities and towns have resolved to boycott Arizona until the measure is repealed.  Many groups have canceled conventions.  The Republican National Committee is recommending that its 2012 national convention be held in Tampa, Fla., instead of Phoenix; and

WHEREAS:
The national outcry has brought the issue to life again in the U.S. Congress.  As in the past, there is agreement that the current immigration system is broken, but no consensus on how to “fix” it; and

WHEREAS:
AFSCME remains committed to protecting its members’ wages and rights on the job, as well as those same rights for its future members and workers throughout our country, because the ability of unscrupulous employers to exploit undocumented workers drives down the wages of all workers, citizens and immigrants alike; and

WHEREAS:
Our immigration policies have far-reaching impact on the U.S. economy, affecting the supply of labor, wage levels and working conditions; on the economies of other countries; on the demand for and costs of public services; on our national security policies; and on the very concept of who is an American and who is “entitled” to work and live in America. The fortunes and futures of all workers are linked regardless of immigration status, yet millions of hard-working people who contribute to their communities and workplaces are denied basic human rights because of their undocumented status; and

WHEREAS:
Currently, employers are able to exploit the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. by paying them very low wages, often even cheating them out of the wages they have earned, and denying them basic workplace protections; and

WHEREAS:
Immigrants and native-born workers founded the American union movement to fight exploitation and abuse and to improve working conditions and living standards for all working families. If the undocumented workers who are currently in the U.S. had legal status they could join unions. This would benefit all workers; and

WHEREAS:
As the AFL-CIO Department of Professional Employees noted in its report, Gaming the System, the panoply of guest worker programs are overly complicated, lack accountability, have lax tracking enforcement and a fallible reporting process.  The numbers of visas are arbitrarily set by Congress without regard to real labor market needs.  Employers claim false labor shortages to import workers.  The programs can depress wages for all workers in entire occupations and industries that employ large numbers of foreign workers; and

WHEREAS:
We need to protect and strengthen our borders but without permitting discrimination, racial or ethnic profiling, or other abusive treatment of immigrants.  It should be noted that, while this is important, it is not sufficient.  40 to 45 percent of unauthorized immigrants did not cross the border unlawfully, but overstayed visas. 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That Arizona’s law is an affront to American values and our constitution.  It is impractical, unenforceable and a waste of scarce public resources.  It undermines workers’ rights.  As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from a Birmingham jail: “An unjust law is no law at all. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” We cannot support politicians, like Gov. Brewer, who support such a ban.  We call on the U.S. Department of Justice to bring legal action against Arizona to stop implementation of this law; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME joins with the AFL-CIO and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in calling on the DHS to terminate all 287(g) agreements in the state of Arizona; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports realistic, comprehensive and compassionate solutions to our broken immigration system.  We support immigration reform legislation which provides for an earned path to legalization for the 11-12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S.; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME opposes any expansion of guest worker programs that would result in a continued downward pressure on the wages of all U.S. workers, especially those in occupations that employ similarly skilled workers.  Current guest worker programs should be depoliticized.  These programs should be reformed by the inclusion of more rigorous labor market tests, required prevailing wage levels and the involvement of labor unions in the labor certification process.  Their impact on the economy, wages and the workforce should be examined; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports strengthening our border security in a manner that does not result in abusive treatment of immigrants, and as one component of reform.  However, state and local employees should not be turned into immigration officials.
 
 
SUBMITTED BY: 
INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD

Victoria Mitchell, President
Carmen Rivera, Secretary
AFSCME Local 107, Council 1707
New York