Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition Statement in Support of

The Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcement Act of 2004, or SOLVE Act

CLRA Documents Civil Liberties Affirmative Legislative Proposals An Agenda To Restore Civil Liberties

More than any event in recent U.S. history, last year’s Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride (IWFR) showed the depth and breadth of support across the nation for immigrant rights and comprehensive reform of America’s failed immigration policies.

The introduction of the SOLVE Act within months of the Freedom Ride is a welcome sign that elected officials are listening to the voices of labor, civil rights and immigrant rights groups, clergy, students and others who have called for comprehensive immigration reform for many years. The IWFR Coalition will work with our partners and with others to turn the SOLVE Act into the law of the land.

The latest in a series of legislative and executive initiatives addressing immigration policy, the SOLVE Act comes closer than any previous proposal to embodying the goals of the IWFR.

When enacted, the SOLVE Act will:

• Reward work by establishing pathways to legalization, lawful permanent resident status, and eventually citizenship for undocumented immigrants whose participation in America’s economic, cultural, political and social life makes them indistinguishable from their taxpaying and law-abiding co-workers and neighbors.

• Help re-unite families separated for far too long by outdated and unresponsive laws and procedures. By addressing one of the principal causes of distress for immigrants already in the United States, the SOLVE Act will also diminish the ‘perverse incentive’ that encourages family members abroad, frustrated by unjustifiably long separations, to enter the country by any means possible.

• Respect labor rights, regardless of a worker’s immigration or citizenship status. Eliminating the “second class” employment status of undocumented immigrants will be a significant step toward enabling all workers to stand on common ground in defense of their right to organize and fight for better wages and working conditions.

We call on elected officials to step forward and support the SOLVE Act in the same bi-partisan spirit that many are already doing with the AgJobs and DREAM Act bills. Both these measures should and can be enacted this year to put our nation firmly on the path toward the truly comprehensive changes contemplated by the SOLVE Act.

At the same time, the IWFR Coalition recognizes that immigration reform will not simultaneously address the serious assault on the civil rights and civil liberties of immigrants, one of the Freedom Ride’s major objectives. To this end, we will support the Civil Liberties Restoration Act (CRLA) while working to prevent passage of the CLEAR Act.

© 2003 Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union