August, 2006

The Jewish community is heir to and bearer of an immigrant tradition.  Jews have been a diasporic people for almost two thousand years.  In that time, in Europe, Africa, parts of Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, Jews created a living civilization which is one of the treasures of the world. 

 The Jewish people migrated from place to place for various reasons. At times we were “economic” migrants escaping poverty.  At times we were “political” refugees escaping oppression and death.  The migration pattern was almost always the same.  A vanguard came and found some semblance of physical security and economic viability.  Once an initial settlement of Jews communicated that there was a safe harbor, a larger wave of migration followed.  This is how the Jewish community moved from Persia/Babylonia to North Africa to Spain to Turkey to Egypt and to the Land of Israel.  This is how the Jewish community moved from the Land of Israel to Italy to France to Poland and Germany, to the United States and then to Israel. And so on…

 While we did not choose the path of migration and Diaspora, it has been a life force for Jewish tradition, and an impetus to our intellectual and cultural creativity and material betterment.  Jews have historically lived in two languages and two cultures.  And our migrations have contributed greatly to the cultures and civilizations in which we found refuge: who can deny the important Jewish contribution to Moslem Spain, to the Enlightenment in Western and Central Europe, to Europe’s socialist tradition, or to 20th Century American culture and our nation’s political and legal institutions.

 This history lays a claim on us.  We know that borders can mean life or death.  We are aware of the permeability of the lines on the map that separate prosperity from poverty, security from oppression.  Our history commands us to recognize the humanity of migrants and the underlying reasons for their migration.

 Our tradition also teaches us that cities must be communities of obligation.  A citizen is defined as someone who is obligated to the welfare of others.  While our religious tradition places limits on those who are obligated to help—one must live in a city for three months before being required to contribute to the welfare fund, for example— it does not place any residency requirements on those who are entitled to receive help.  Even if a person is passing through a city, she is eligible to draw from the welfare fund or the soup kitchen if the necessity arises.

Our tradition informs our vision of what constitutes a just and compassionate America, one that reflects the best of what we are and what we can be as a country. This is why the Progressive Jewish Alliance looks with alarm at the xenophobia and mean spiritedness that color much of the current debate over immigration reform. As we respond to the challenge of reforming our immigration policies, we must not succumb to the false solutions of nativism and scapegoating, but acknowledge the underlying economic and social causes of the immigration phenomenon and seek a comprehensive, humane solution.
 
 Many proponents of immigration law reform are attempting to insulate citizens from our social obligations.  The most abhorrent of these proposed policies is the current effort to criminalize undocumented status, and to circumscribe the obligation of all citizens to help those undocumented persons who are in need by also criminalizing such help.  This violates everything that our tradition teaches and our history demands.  We are heartened, however, to find new voices who now advocate humane immigration policies that would be written with an eye to our obligations—without trivializing the practical need for secure national borders and clear and transparent, constitutionally sound immigration controls.

 Jewish tradition, texts and history articulate a profound understanding of what it means to be an immigrant. Because of our own stories of immigration to the US and because of the biblical exhortations to “honor the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,” American Jews well understand the promise America holds for immigrants yearning for safety, security and a better life for themselves and their children.  And we know that immigration is one of the key ingredients to the success of the American Experiment. This country was built by generation after generation of immigrants, making support for immigrant communities fundamentally patriotic. As a nation of immigrants, our diversity is, indeed, our strength.
 On account of these fundamental principles and considerations, the Progressive Jewish Alliance is committed to the following:
1) Recognition that the large-scale immigration of documented and undocumented workers and their families to the United States is a complex historical, global and economic phenomenon that has many causes and does not lend itself to simplistic or purely reactive public policy solutions;
2) Recognition that current border controls are outdated and inhumane, resulting in border-crossing deaths without decreasing attempts to cross the border, and that the complete militarization of our borders is an indefensible approach to immigration control;
3) Strong support for legislative proposals that (i) ensure fundamental fairness and equity and (ii) recognize and confront the complex economic and political causes of this large-scale migration, including the economic stagnation and widespread poverty in Latin America and around the world, and the role that the United States, the World Bank and other international institutions play in contributing to these problems. 
Such legislative proposals must include:
 a) A reasonable path toward earned permanent legal status for undocumented immigrants (and their families) who work hard in this country and contribute to the economic well-being of our nation;
b)  A program that would take into consideration the future flow of workers and close family members, including (but not limited to) an increase in family visas, reduction of backlog, and increase of workers visas both for skilled and unskilled migrants;
 c) Programs to help remediate the poverty and economic dislocation occurring outside our borders that contribute to the immigration problem, including reconsideration of U.S. foreign trade and investment policies;
 d) An end to U.S. support for oppressive, non-democratic regimes in Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere;
 e) Improved worker protection standards in the United States, including living wage requirements, coupled with meaningful penalties and stronger enforcement mechanisms that are designed to deter inside-outsourcing (the relative ease with which U.S. employers can create third-world living standards in the U.S. by exploiting immigrant labor) and end the widespread low wage system that prevents workers in the U.S. from earning enough to support their families. This would include enforcement of the rights of workers to organize in unions, and the removal of restrictions placed on the application of labor rights laws to undocumented immigrants;
 f) Access to essential public services and benefits for all workers and their families, including the right to obtain drivers licenses and access to higher education;
g) Programs to help immigrants integrate into US society, become self sufficient, and participate in civic life;
h)  Civil rights and due process protections in immigration proceedings.
In addition, the Progressive Jewish Alliance firmly and unconditionally opposes any legislative proposals that would criminalize undocumented status and outlaw humanitarian efforts by religious and other organizations to help protect immigrants from violence and destitution or to provide needed services to immigrant communities.  Progressive Jewish Alliance also stands with our coalition partners to oppose all racist and xenophobic responses to the immigration challenge.