Category: Immigration Justice

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Here’s a little bit of good news on the immigration reform front. Rep. Chris Smith, a Congressman representing the Fourth Congressional District (Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean County) has agreed to be the first Republican sponsor of HR-3590, a bill that would waive the one-year deadline for Indonesians who have experienced violent persecution.  With a Republican sponsor, HR-3590 can now be introduced in committee.  If this special legislation is passed quickly it could prevent the imminent deportation of hundreds of Indonesian Christians who were invited by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify themselves–and soon began receiving orders of deportation. If deported, these Christians would be returned to face almost certain persecution and possibly death.

This cause has been led by congregants and the pastor of the The Reformed Church of HIghland Park, and has been supported by the UULMNJ Immigration Task Force, under the leadership of members of the East Brunswick Unitarian Society.  Many UU congregations around the state joined with other religious organizations to write letters, make phone calls, visit Rep. Smith’s office, and leave voice messages, for more than a year.  We are encouraged to send a note of thanks to: Representative Chris Smith, Hamilton District Office, 1540 Kuser Rd. Suite A-9, Hamilton, NJ 08619.”

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At the Fall 2011 Issues Workshop, the Immigration Task Force agreed to take on the issue of Wage Theft this year, and to support A-3948 and S-3068.

Many workers in New Jersey, including undocumented workers, are being exploited by unscrupulous employers who fail to follow Wage and Hour Laws.  The Wage Protection Act, which is being introduced in the NJ Assembly (A 3948) by Annette Quijano, (D-20) and in the NJ Senate (S-3068) by Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-37), would strengthen the penalties for violating wage and hour laws and thereby discourage wage theft.  About 85-90% of immigrant workers report having not been paid what they were promised. This directly impacts all workers by bringing down wage levels.  Recommended resources were They Take Our Jobs, a Beacon Press book, which tells the history of “wage theft,” starting with slaves and showing how each generation has a pool of such workers (http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1855).  Another text, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants, by David Bacon, shows that the issue is one of global migration of labor, related to trade policies (http://dbacon.igc.org/IndexPS/news.htm).

The task force also focused on the issue of Detention at the Issues Workshop.  ChiaChia Wang, from the American Friends Service Committee, gave a detailed presentation on detention. Detention has been a major “solution” since 1950 and has recently expanded.  In 2001, the U.S. detained approximately 95,000 individuals, and by 2009 the number had grown to approximately 380,000.  The stated goal of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (I.C.E.) is to deport 400,000 non-citizens this year.  Items related to detention include whether the system encourages racial profiling, the immorality of the policy in general, and employers’ policies and practices.

In New Jersey there are five detention centers, four of them county jails, and one federal prison, in Elizabeth.  County jails receive approximately $100/day/detainee from the federal government, often more than double the cost of holding ordinary criminals. The Essex County Detention Center in Newark is proposing a major expansion, which is being opposed by immigration reform activists.  A portion of the proposed expansion would be privately operated; privatization of the prison/jail industry is growing, costing taxpayers billions of dollars and enriching individual owners at our expense.

An important resource for understanding the detention system is the Detention Watch Network (www.detentionwatchnetwork.org).  The UUA has a six-week curriculum, “Immigration as a Moral Issue,” available online. The Ridgewood congregation used an earlier UUA publication, “Welcoming the Stranger,” which is also useful.

UULMNJ’s Immigration Reform Task Force reports that many congregations are offering a variety of programs around this issue. A few examples:

Ridgewood: The Immigration Task Team is working on a program on the DREAM Act, to be presented on Friday evening, September 16, at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood.

Cherry Hill: Members of Cherry Hill’s immigration committee is working with an Interfaith group in the area to support the DREAM Act, including participation in a nationwide DREAM Act Sabbath being planned for September 23-25.

Joe Thomasberger of Montclair congregation has been active with the NJ Advocates for Immigrant Detainees in opposing the proposed expansion of the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, to add hundreds more beds for immigrant detainees. The bidding process for the new facility is mired in suspect bidding practices and other political shenanigans. The New York Times recently published a detailed article on the issue which is being picked up by some local press. For more information contact Joe (jthomasberger@yahoo.com) or Margaret White (marbwhite@aol.com). Senator Lautenberg has publicly opposed the expansion. People are hoping that Senator Menendez will soon speak out as well.

Princeton had a six week series on immigration issues in the spring, and Karen Siracusa reports they will reconvene in the fall to consider issues such as instate tuition, Secure Communities, detention, wage theft, education of immigrant children.

Other congregations are organizing film series and forums for the fall on these important topics.

Contact Margaret White (marbwhite@aol.com) for more info or to become involved with UULMNJ’s Immigration Reform Task Force.