United We Dream Lays Down Markers for Immigration Reform With 20 Point Plan

Here’s the press release from UWD:

Today, on a telephonic press conference, immigrant youth leaders with United We Dream released 20 specific policy principles for immigration reform, laying out a common-sense agenda for change and demanding a path to citizenship in less than 7 years without any unreasonable or unfair requirements.  As the immigration reform debate kicks into high gear, UWD’s principles are the first community-based marker in the debate, following last week’s release of a bipartisan Senate framework and President Obama’s proposal.  With this plan, the immigrant community has begun to outline exactly what we expect from our leaders in Washington.

Members of the United We Dream network from 24 states unanimously ratified a political platform in November 2012 at the UWD National Congress in Kansas City, which immigrant youth leaders have developed into specific policy principles (full list available here).   DREAMers are defining the terms of the immigration reform debate by presenting Congress and the nation with these 20 key points that must be included in any immigration reform proposal, including:

1. Individuals who came to the U.S. as adults should be eligible to apply for temporary immigration status immediately, eligible to apply for lawful permanent resident status within 2 years of the bill’s  passage and qualify for citizenship after another 5 years – consistent with current law.
2. LGBT individuals must be allowed to petition for their partners just like any other family.  Immigration reform should not codify discrimination.
3. In immigration proceedings, judges should be directed to take into consideration family ties and the best interests of children.
4. The three- and ten-year bars that keep families apart for many years must be eliminated, and immigrants must be permitted to adjust to lawful permanent resident status from within the U.S.
5. The artificial quota of 400,000 deportations per year must be eliminated immediately.
6. To maintain labor and worker rights, no federal mandate of E-verify should be created.
7. Border state Governors with a history of engaging in anti-immigrant politics should not decide when the roadmap to citizenship begins.

The policy principles are another example of the DREAMer strategy of combining aggressive grassroots action with careful policy development.  In the lead-up to President Obama’s announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in June 2012, immigrant youth not only organized and rallied across the country, but also crafted policy suggestions for White House officials and dove into the details of potential policies – suggestions which closely resemble the DACA program that they won.  Now, the network is once again crafting a serious and detailed legislative plan for what immigration reform should look like, including a swift and fair path to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., changes to policy with an emphasis on family unity, and a paring back of aggressive, costly enforcement. The network will engage in an unprecedented grassroots campaign to ensure that the voice of the immigrant community is heard in the debate and that the community wins an immigration reform proposal that our community and our nation is proud of.

“UWD leaders will fan out across Capitol Hill to over 70 Congressional offices today with our 20-point plan for what immigration reform must look like, making a clear case to legislators that we are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our families and fighting for our communities,” said Lorella Praeli, Director of Advocacy & Policy at United We Dream.