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Updated 05.01.08
Why is this a civil liberties issue?
History shows that laws passed targeting
immigrants are eventually extended to all citizens. It is for this
reason that basic civil liberties, like the right to due process, must
be protected for everyone.
Every time the government wants to expand its power and take away
individual rights it begins by taking away the rights of immigrants –
imposing onerous surveillance, identification requirements,
registration, police stops, and detention.
Immigration has historically been used as a political weapon to exclude
whatever group is currently in disfavor – and it has often been based on
a racist and xenophobic rationale. History is rife with examples:
- During the depression of the 1840s, mobs hostile to immigrant Irish Catholics burned down a convent in Boston and rioted in Philadelphia.
- In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of our nation's first immigration laws, to keep out all people of Chinese origin.
- During the "Red Scare" of the 1920s, thousands of foreign-born people suspected of political radicalism were arrested and brutalized. Many were deported without a hearing.
- In 1942, 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent had their homes and other property confiscated, and were interned in camps until the end of World War II. During the same period, many Jews fleeing Nazi Germany were excluded under regulations enacted in the 1920s.
What are immigrants’ basic rights?
According to the U.S. Constitution, ALL individuals living in the U.S.
are guaranteed certain rights.
It is true that the Constitution does not give people the right to enter
the U.S. But once here, it protects them from discrimination based on
race and national origin and from arbitrary treatment by the government.
It is not by accident that the U.S Constitution and Bill of Rights
delegate certain rights that apply to all persons, rather than all
citizens.
Click here for a pamphlet on immigrant rights.
Click
here for a Spanish version.
 What’s Happening Nationally
Congress and the nation have been debating the need for
comprehensive immigration reform for the last couple of years, and it
doesn't look like the problem will be resolved anytime soon.
No matter how we get there, the ACLU believes that America must not
accept anything less than reform that respects civil liberties. The
problem today is our broken immigration system, not the hard working
individuals who come to this country seeking a better life for
themselves and their families.
To that end, the ACLU opposes any policies that include the
following:
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mandatory detention and/or deportation of anyone that an
immigration officer thinks is an undocumented person
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requiring or encouraging local authorities to enforce federal
immigration laws
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indefinitely detaining an undocumented person who cannot be
returned to his/her home country of origin for political or other
reasons
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removing constitutional due process protections and access to the
courts for immigrants
-
requiring employers to stand in the place of immigration agents by
verifying worker eligibility using federal databases
Read more about legislation impacting immigrants on the
national ACLU website.
What’s happening in Ohio
Ohio, like many states, is struggling with the lack of
immigration reform at the federal level.
Several bills targeting immigrants have been proposed in the Ohio
General Assembly. One such bill is HB 477, which makes English the
official language of the state of Ohio.
Read ACLU of Ohio Staff Attorney Carrie Davis'
5/1/2008 testimony to an Ohio House Committee in opposition to HB
477.
In September 2007, the Ohio Attorney General issued an opinion
advising that Ohio law permits county sheriffs to enter into
agreements with the federal government to enforce
criminal violations of immigration law,
but Ohio law prohibits sheriffs from enforcing civil violations of immigration law. Read the opinion
here.
What You Can Do
Join or start an organization in your community to address these
problems.
Volunteer your time to teach an English as a Second Language (ESL)
class, to help new immigrants adapt to American life.
Reach out to your elected officials. Tell them that immigration should
be fixed, but not at the expense of taking away basic civil liberties
for us all.
Tell others that no person is “illegal.” Even if an immigrant is
undocumented, that is not a crime. It is a lesser kind of violation,
like a traffic offense.
Resources
Know your rights if you are contacted by
the authorities.
Click
here for a wallet-sized card containing your rights and
responsibilities. Click
here for the Spanish version.
FAQs: The ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project and Why the ACLU Advocates on
Behalf of Immigrants
Myths and Facts in the Immigration Debate prepared by the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.
Pew Research Center provides public interest information on a
variety of issues.
American Immigration Law Foundation works to increase public
understanding of immigration law and policy and the value of
immigration to American society.
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights promotes a just
U.S. immigration and refugee policy.
Read press releases and news articles related to immigration in our
News Center.
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