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Response 1: That assumes the system works. The immigration system has not been reformed in decades to
meet the real needs we have as a country-as families, businesses or workers. When you have laws that don't
match reality-think about Prohibition!-then you have to change the laws. Imagine how it must feel to be a
mother who has to wait a decade to be with her child.
Response 2: The reality is that the laws we have don't make any sense, and they are not in sync with our real
needs as a country. We know, in the history of America, we've had times when we've had bad laws and have
needed to agitate to change them. Dr. Martin Luther King said "An unjust law is no law at all." And Gloria
Steinem said, "Law and justice are not always the same thing. When they're not, the first step is changing the
law."
The Facts: Our system is broken. We need reform so that our immigration laws match our values and
economic needs.
On families: Any system that keeps families separated for years - like a Filipino mother who won't be reunited
with her child for over a decade - is wrong. Spouses and siblings can wait years to join their loved ones in the
US. Our family values should mean strong families - not separated ones.
On jobs: Immigrants make up huge percentages of many of our critical industries. Our economy depends on
their work. But again, our system does not match the reality on the ground. The number of visas available
every year is out of balance- for example, 5,000 low-skilled visas are provided a year when 400,000 American
jobs requiring low-skilled workers are created annually.
On "cutting in line": It is only fair that immigrants earning legalization must wait in line behind people that
have been waiting in the legal backlog for years. We must address the backlogs as part of any comprehensive
immigration reform package.
"We have plenty of unemployment in the country today-if we got rid of immigrants, there would be more jobs
for Americans."
Response 1: We know it's a tough economic time for everyone. The reality, though, is immigrants do jobs that
are not necessarily jobs that laid-off American workers would take or in the same places where laid-off
American workers live. Someone who has lost their engineering or sales job probably won't want to take a job
picking apples. We need workers with lots of different skills and experiences to build our country together.
Response 2: The truth is that immigrant workers and their families, like all other workers, also create jobs by
contributing to the economy through consumption and creating demand for goods (which requires workers to
generate them); creating corresponding jobs whether that's supervisory positions at a poultry plant or
corresponding medical or research support staff for an immigrant scientist or the same kind of positions in the
community that we all need in daily life like teachers, grocers, day care helpers, or mechanics. And immigrant
workers are not responsible for the massive job loss that has been happening. We are in the middle of a global
economic crisis and everyone-immigrants and native born, in America and overseas- are feeling the effects.
The Facts: Immigrants-especially undocumented immigrants-are working in jobs and sectors of the economy
that natives have gradually left or may be reluctant to re-enter. Even in a recession, job competition shifts
slowly where the work is seasonal, far away or where there is limited ability to move up. Immigrants generally
have been more able to move across sectors of the economy (for example, from construction to agriculture).
Stephen Levy, Director and Senior Economist of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy,
has said that even as unemployment rises, there are not enough unemployed Californians to fill all jobs that
would be vacated if every illegal immigrant were fired.
"Our economy is in trouble. We can't afford to provide services to Americans-and immigrants just drain the
economy." OR "Immigrants don't pay taxes-they don't really contribute."
Response 1: Our economy is in trouble. And the fault in that lies with the big companies who didn't take care
of their workers and communities. Now, we need every single person to pitch in. Immigrants-like all of us-
buy things, live in houses, and drive cars. They are really contributors to the economy-all the research shows
that their contributions through taxes and spending are critical to propping up this tough economy.
Response 2: Immigrants - including most undocumented immigrants who get paychecks - have taxes
automatically deducted just like you. And everyone pays sales tax. Undocumented immigrants pay into Social
Security and Medicare - and are unlikely ever to claim those benefits. These social security tax contributions
are actually supporting the baby boomers who are now retiring. And if you're worried about tax fraud, there
are much bigger offenders committing tax fraud than immigrants-look at Bernie Madoff!
The Facts: Immigrants are estimated to contribute over $133 billion in taxes every year, and former Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that our social security system would collapse without the contribution
of immigrants. Undocumented immigrants contribute at least $7 billion every year to programs they can't
claim benefits from. In the state of Washington it's estimated that immigrant households paid $1.48 billion in
state taxes in 2007.
Response: Jobs don't have names on them. The question isn't about whose jobs, it's about more jobs. We
need more jobs, better jobs and worker retraining, rather than arguing over who is taking the limited, low-
wage jobs that exist right now.
The Facts: Our workforce needs immigrant labor. Our workforce is highly educated and increasingly older,
which means fewer native-born workers. Our economy won't be able to maintain more than a 3% annual
growth rate in the next decade without growing the labor force with immigrants.
The other need is to raise the minimum wage so that the jobs that immigrants are taking pay better and can
attract native-born workers. Right now, immigrants largely take jobs that native-born workers won't do at the
current wages.
Response 2: The US economy would grind to a halt without the labor of undocumented immigrants, but their
status leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous employers, and that does drive down wages.
We need to legalize undocumented workers so they will have full rights and protections on the job - and to
crack down on unscrupulous employers who pay poverty wages. If there is a class of workers in this country
who are afraid to go to the authorities to report crimes (including problems at work) it affects all of us at our
jobs, the same way that not reporting a robbery can make it more difficult for the police to solve a string of
robberies.
The Facts: Immigrants are not the cause of low wages - an increasingly corporate-friendly Congress which has
not made meaningful progress to ensuring that American workers make living wages is what is driving down
all our wages. Undocumented immigrants are the most vulnerable, because they lack full worker rights and
labor protections.
Response: Immigrants want to learn English - without English, a trip to the store, reading mail, or talking to
their children's teacher becomes much more difficult.
Response: Actually immigrants are learning English. Today's immigrants are transitioning to speaking English
more quickly than immigrants at any other time in U.S. history.
The Facts: English is the dominant language in the United States - and immigrants want to learn because they
know it will improve job prospects and let them communicate in our society. The real problem is that English
language programs are dramatically underfunded and hard to get into. There are over 90,000 new immigrants
on language class waiting lists across the country, and over 3,000 in King County. If we want new immigrants
to learn English, we need to give them the opportunity.
Response: Immigrants, including most undocumented immigrants, have taxes automatically deducted just
like you. And everyone pays sales tax. Those taxes pay for schools and roads, and go into Social Security -
which undocumented immigrants will never be able to collect. Especially in this economic climate, social
services funding continues to be cut. We should be talking about a bigger pie, not fighting over the scraps of
a shrinking one.
The Facts: Studies have shown repeatedly that immigrants provide a net economic benefit-calculated to be as
much as $10 billion every year. A 2009 study in Washington found that immigrant families consumed less
public assistance than native-born families, except for food stamps.
"Immigrants raise crime rates."
Response: Immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than Americans. Immigrants settling in a
neighborhood have often been responsible for revitalizing a neighborhood and consequently lowering crime.
In fact, America is getting safer. During the same period that immigrants began to settle in new spots across
the US violent crimes and property crimes across the nation decreased.
The Facts: Numerous studies show the rate of crime among immigrants is lower than that of native-born
Americans.
Response: Do you know what Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said? "You show me a 50 foot
fence and I'll show you a 51 foot ladder." There are twice as many border patrol agents today, and ten times
as much money being spent than in 1995 - and immigrants still come to this country. That says our system is
broken, and building a wall won't fix it.
The Facts: Recent economic and foreign policies have contributed significantly to the causes of migration
worldwide. For example, following the passage of NAFTA, undocumented immigration rose 60% as more than
1.3 million Mexican farmers were driven out of business because of US subsidies that under-priced Mexican
agricultural products. Similarly, the U.S. war on Iraq has created over two million refugees who now have no
choice but to migrate.
Provides a clear and earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, with full labor and civil rights
Clears immigration backlogs, so that millions of family members who have filed legal applications can be
processed and reunited
Ensures a future flow of workers that has full labour protections and worker rights
"Pero ellos vinieron aqu ilegalmente!"
Respuesta 2: La realidad es que las leyes que tenemos no tienen ningn sentido, y que no
estn en sintona con nuestras necesidades reales como un pas. Sabemos que, en la
historia de Amrica, hemos tenido momentos en los que hemos tenido malas leyes y
hemos necesarios para agitar para cambiarlos. El Dr. Martin Luther King dijo: "Una ley
injusta no es ley en absoluto." Y Gloria Steinem dijo, "Ley y la justicia no son siempre lo
mismo. Cuando no estn, el primer paso es cambiar la ley."
Los hechos: Nuestro sistema est roto. Necesitamos una reforma para que nuestras leyes
de inmigracin coinciden con nuestros valores y necesidades econmicas.
En las familias: Cualquier sistema que mantiene a las familias separadas durante aos -
como una madre filipina que no se reuni con su hijo durante ms de una dcada - que
est mal. Los cnyuges y hermanos pueden esperar aos para unirse a sus seres
queridos en los EE.UU.. Nuestros valores de la familia deben traducirse en familias
fuertes - no los separados.
El "corte en lnea": Es justo que los inmigrantes que obtienen la legalizacin deben esperar
en fila detrs de las personas que han estado esperando en el retraso legal durante
aos. Debemos hacer frente a los retrasos como parte de cualquier paquete de
reforma migratoria integral.
Respuesta 2: La verdad es que los trabajadores inmigrantes y sus familias, como todos los
trabajadores, tambin crean puestos de trabajo, contribuyendo a la economa a travs
del consumo y la demanda de bienes (que obliga a los trabajadores para generarlos);
creando correspondientes puestos de trabajo ya sea puestos de supervisin en una
planta de aves de corral o personal de apoyo mdico o de investigacin
correspondiente para un cientfico inmigrante o el mismo tipo de posiciones en la
comunidad que todos necesitamos en la vida diaria, como los maestros, tenderos,
ayudantes de cuidado infantil, o la mecnica. Y los trabajadores inmigrantes no son
responsables de la prdida masiva de empleos que ha estado sucediendo. Estamos en
medio de una crisis global econmica y todos-inmigrantes y nativos, en Amrica y
exterior- estn sintiendo los efectos.
Los hechos: Los inmigrantes indocumentados -en especial los inmigrantes estn
trabajando en empleos y sectores de la economa que los nativos han dejado
gradualmente o pueden ser reacios a volver a entrar. Incluso en una recesin, la
competencia laboral se desplaza lentamente donde el trabajo es estacional, lejos o
donde hay una capacidad limitada para moverse hacia arriba. Los inmigrantes han sido
en general ms capaz de moverse a travs de los sectores de la economa (por
ejemplo, desde la construccin hasta la agricultura). Stephen Levy, Director y
Economista Senior del Centro para el Estudio Continuo de la Economa de California, ha
dicho que, aun cuando el desempleo aumenta, no hay suficientes californianos
desempleados para llenar todos los puestos de trabajo que liberar a partir de si todos
los inmigrantes ilegales fueron despedidos.
Respuesta 1: Nuestra economa est en problemas. Y la culpa recae en el hecho de que las
grandes empresas que no cuidan de sus trabajadores y las comunidades. Ahora,
necesitamos que cada una de las personas que arrimar el hombro. Inmigrantes como
todos nosotros a comprar cosas, viven en casas, y conducen coches. En realidad son
contribuyentes a la economa-toda la investigacin muestra que sus contribuciones a
travs de los impuestos y el gasto son fundamentales para apuntalar esta economa
difcil.
Los Datos : Los inmigrantes se estima que contribuyen ms de $ 133 mil millones en
impuestos cada ao, y el ex presidente de la Reserva Federal, Alan Greenspan, dijo que
nuestro sistema de seguridad social se derrumbara sin la contribucin de los
inmigrantes. Los inmigrantes indocumentados contribuyen al menos $ 7 millones de
dlares cada ao para programas que no pueden reclamar los beneficios de. En el
estado de Washington, se estima que los hogares de inmigrantes pagan $ 1.48 mil
millones en impuestos estatales en el ao 2007.
Los hechos: Nuestra mano de obra necesita mano de obra inmigrante. Nuestra mano de
obra es altamente educada y cada vez mayor, lo que significa un menor nmero de
trabajadores nativos. Nuestra economa no ser capaz de mantener ms de una tasa
de crecimiento anual del 3% en los prximos diez aos sin crecer la fuerza de trabajo
con los inmigrantes.
La otra necesidad es la de aumentar el salario mnimo de manera que los trabajos que los
inmigrantes estn tomando paga mejor y pueden atraer a los trabajadores nativos. En
este momento, los inmigrantes quitan puestos de trabajo en gran medida de que los
trabajadores nativos no van a hacer en los salarios actuales.
Los hechos: Los inmigrantes no son la causa de los bajos salarios - un Congreso cada vez
ms favorables a las corporaciones que no ha hecho progresos significativos para
garantizar que los trabajadores estadounidenses hacen salarios dignos es lo que est
impulsando hacia abajo todos nuestros salarios. Los inmigrantes indocumentados son
los ms vulnerables, ya que carecen de derechos de los trabajadores y la proteccin
que de mano de obra.
Respuesta: En realidad, los inmigrantes estn aprendiendo Ingls. Los inmigrantes de hoy
estn haciendo la transicin a hablar Ingls con mayor rapidez que los inmigrantes en
cualquier otro momento de la historia de Estados Unidos.
Los hechos: Ingls es el idioma dominante en los Estados Unidos - y los inmigrantes
quieren aprender porque saben que va a mejorar las perspectivas de empleo y dejar
que ellos se comunican en nuestra sociedad. El verdadero problema es que los
programas de ingls son dramticamente fondos y difcil de conseguir. Hay ms de
90.000 nuevos inmigrantes en clase de lengua listas de espera en todo el pas, y ms de
3.000 en el condado de King. Si queremos que los nuevos inmigrantes a aprender
Ingls, tenemos que darles la oportunidad.
Los datos: Los estudios han demostrado repetidamente que los inmigrantes proporcionan
un beneficio econmico neto calculado para ser tan tanto como $ 10 mil millones cada
ao. Un estudio de 2009 en Washington encontr que las familias inmigrantes
consumen menos asistencia pblica que las familias nacidos en el pas, a excepcin de
los cupones de alimentos.
Los hechos: Numerosos estudios muestran que la tasa de criminalidad entre los
inmigrantes es menor que la de los americanos nativos.
Respuesta: Sabe usted lo que dijo la secretaria de Seguridad Nacional, Janet Napolitano?
"Me muestras una cerca de 50 pies y te mostrar una escalera de 51 pies." Hay el
doble de los agentes de la patrulla fronteriza de hoy, y diez veces ms dinero se gasta
que en 1995 - y los inmigrantes siguen llegando a este pas. Eso dice nuestro sistema
est roto, y la construccin de un muro no va a solucionarlo.
Los hechos: las polticas econmicas y exteriores recientes han contribuido de manera
significativa a las causas de la migracin en todo el mundo. Por ejemplo, tras la
aprobacin del TLC, la inmigracin indocumentada aument 60% con ms de 1,3
millones de agricultores mexicanos fueron conducidos fuera del negocio debido a los
subsidios estadounidenses que bajo precio de los productos agrcolas mexicanos. Del
mismo modo, la guerra estadounidense contra Irak ha creado ms de dos millones de
refugiados, que ahora tienen ms remedio que migrar.