Re: anti-immigrant sentiment and migrant health

February 7, 2006

Tina, I too am both personally and professionally concerned. While word

on the street seems to be that it is unlikely the Senate will pass a

similar version of the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal

Immigration Control Act of 2005 (HR 4437) that was passed on Dec. 16,

2005, by a vote of 239 to 182, I am still stunned that such a draconian

bill passed and we have heard relatively nothing about it. In fact I

found the silence eerie. I was further distraught to learn that

vulnerable Democrats were threatened into voting for this bill for fear

of loosing campaign funding from the Democratic Congressional Campaign

Committee (DCCC), the House Democrats’ campaign operation. Listed below

is a summary of what this bill calls for.

This bill and overall attitude just seems to just exemplify the current

atmosphere. Aside from being outrageous, what I want to know, however,

is where is the evidence that this political strategy brings in votes?

In my area, local businesses (not to mention service providers and

clinicians) are in an uproar that our generally moderate, fairly

pro-immigrant Republican Congressman voted from. Last night I saw on the

news that a Guatemalan construction worker was robbed and murdered as he

took a lunch break from building a house in a family neighborhood. All

of the neighbors interviewed talked about how hard he worked. And that

he was just trying to make a living….

The anti immigrant sentiment is coupled with a drastic dismantling of

health care/social service programs for the poor. Does the general

public really want this? I am not so sure. So my personal opinion is

yes, we need to marshal our forces to be much better advocates. These

are bleak times…

Amy K. Liebman, MPA

These are my personal opinions only.

*Bill Summary…*

* Make conviction of unlawful presence in the U.S. an aggravated

felony, which could make millions of undocumented immigrants

permanently ineligible for any legalization program.

* Make unlawful presence in the U.S. a crime — a shortcut to

authorizing state and local police to enforce federal immigration

law. Expand detention of non–U.S. citizens in removal proceedings.

In other words it would….*Deny Federal Funding to local Police

Departments* who, in the course of carrying out routine law

enforcement duties, refrain from assisting or cooperating with

Federal immigration law enforcement.

* Expand the definition of criminal “alien smuggling” in such a way

that anyone who assists an undocumented person to live or remain

in the U.S. could be charged with a criminal offense. In other

words…it would *C**riminalize Social Service Workers, Government

Officials, Clergy, and Legal Immigrant family members* for

“transporting, moving, harboring, concealing, or shielding from

detection a person outside of the United States knowing or in

reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien”

* Require the expedited removal of noncitizens (except for Mexicans,

Canadians, and Cubans) apprehended within 100 miles of the border

within 14 days of their arrival in the U.S.

* Gut due process protections and access to judicial review for

immigrants.

* Create a phone and Internet–based employment eligibility

verification system (EEVS) that not only all employers would be

required to use, but also those who recruit or refer individuals

for employment, including labor agencies and nonprofit group

* Dramatically expand passport and document fraud provisions and

penalties, expand mandatory detention to apply to more categories

of immigrants, broaden the aggravated felony definition, and

create new grounds of admissibility and deportability.

· Dramatically expand passport and document fraud provisions and

penalties, expand mandatory detention to apply to more categories of

immigrants, broaden the aggravated felony definition, and create new

grounds of admissibility and deportability.

· Require the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

· Authorize state and local police to enforce federal immigration law.

· Withhold funds from state and local governments deemed to have

policies preventing their cooperation with federal immigration law

enforcement.

· Enter certain immigration information into the National Crime

Information Center database.

· Prohibit the use of Border Patrol uniforms made in Mexico.

· Eliminate the diversity visa program.

· Require that foreign embassies be notified when citizens of the

countries they represent have renounced their allegiance to foreign

countries and sworn allegiance to the U.S.

· Delay indefinitely applications for adjustment of status or other

immigration benefits if fraud by the applicant is alleged.

Tina Castañares wrote:

> Dear friends and colleagues,

> This is a message of personal concern. The national anti-immigrant

> sentiment seems to be growing, gaining in strength once again. All

> three so-far-declared Republican candidates for Oregon governor (in my

> neck of the woods) have this month made a major issue to the press of

> " the need to crack down on illegal immigration. " This is but one of

> many examples, of course.

> Are others involved in our movement to serve migrant farmworkers with

> their health care needs as concerned as I am? What can we do to be a

> voice of reason? I find myself wondering whether there will be efforts

> to classify WIC and food bank services and perhaps even C/MHC services

> as off limits to " non-qualified immigrants, " just as Medicaid and

> TANF have been since the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Is there reason

> to feel reassured or unconcerned on this score, or do we need to

> marshall our forces to be better advocates?

> I would invite dialogue in these listservs on the subject rather than

> responses sent only to me.

> Sincerely,

> Tina Castañares, MD

> 637 Highway 141

> White Salmon, WA 98672

> 509 / 493-1600 voice

> 347 / 412-0087 fax

> tina.castanares@... <mailto:tina.castanares@...>

>

> To Post a message, send it to: Groups

>

> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:

> -unsubscribe

>

February 9, 2006

Tina and Amy,

You are right it is not just your state that is moving in this direction. I

received the e-mail below from Rust last week with a very worrisome

legislation that is moving through the Georgia legislature currently. If

anyone on the listserve knows of any influential individuals in Georgia

please give a call.

Ed

Ed Zuroweste MD

Medical Director

Migrant Clinicians Network

878 North Street

State College, PA 16803

(814) 238-6566 (office/fax)

(814) 571-7395 (cell)

kugelzur@...

Dear friends,

I’ve been approached by some wonderfully passionate / compassionate medical

students for help in getting Georgia’s legislature not to pass a very

hurtful piece of legislation that would deny any publicly-funded form of

healthcare to undocumented immigrants, and would also force all of us to

provide proof of legal status in order to receive such care.

I’m sharing this with you to see if you have ideas or advocacy tools that

have worked in blocking similar legislation in other states, and also to let

you know that if it passes here, it’s likely to become a model for

legislation in other states as well.

Hope you all are well – I think of you fondly, even though I don’t see you

often enough.

Rust, MD, MPH

Professor of Family Medicine and

Deputy Director / Interim Director

National Center for Primary Care

Morehouse School of Medicine

720 Westview Drive

Atlanta, GA 30310

Phone: 404-756-5740

Fax: 404-756-5767

e-mail: GRust@...

----- Original Message -----

From: " Amy K Liebman " <aliebman@...>

< >

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 12:58 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] anti-immigrant sentiment and migrant

health

> Tina, I too am both personally and professionally concerned. While word

> on the street seems to be that it is unlikely the Senate will pass a

> similar version of the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal

> Immigration Control Act of 2005 (HR 4437) that was passed on Dec. 16,

> 2005, by a vote of 239 to 182, I am still stunned that such a draconian

> bill passed and we have heard relatively nothing about it. In fact I

> found the silence eerie. I was further distraught to learn that

> vulnerable Democrats were threatened into voting for this bill for fear

> of loosing campaign funding from the Democratic Congressional Campaign

> Committee (DCCC), the House Democrats’ campaign operation. Listed below

> is a summary of what this bill calls for.

>

> This bill and overall attitude just seems to just exemplify the current

> atmosphere. Aside from being outrageous, what I want to know, however,

> is where is the evidence that this political strategy brings in votes?

> In my area, local businesses (not to mention service providers and

> clinicians) are in an uproar that our generally moderate, fairly

> pro-immigrant Republican Congressman voted from. Last night I saw on the

> news that a Guatemalan construction worker was robbed and murdered as he

> took a lunch break from building a house in a family neighborhood. All

> of the neighbors interviewed talked about how hard he worked. And that

> he was just trying to make a living….

>

> The anti immigrant sentiment is coupled with a drastic dismantling of

> health care/social service programs for the poor. Does the general

> public really want this? I am not so sure. So my personal opinion is

> yes, we need to marshal our forces to be much better advocates. These

> are bleak times…

>

> Amy K. Liebman, MPA

> These are my personal opinions only.

>

> *Bill Summary…*

>

> * Make conviction of unlawful presence in the U.S. an aggravated

> felony, which could make millions of undocumented immigrants

> permanently ineligible for any legalization program.

> * Make unlawful presence in the U.S. a crime — a shortcut to

> authorizing state and local police to enforce federal immigration

> law. Expand detention of non–U.S. citizens in removal proceedings.

> In other words it would….*Deny Federal Funding to local Police

> Departments* who, in the course of carrying out routine law

> enforcement duties, refrain from assisting or cooperating with

> Federal immigration law enforcement.

> * Expand the definition of criminal “alien smuggling” in such a way

> that anyone who assists an undocumented person to live or remain

> in the U.S. could be charged with a criminal offense. In other

> words…it would *C**riminalize Social Service Workers, Government

> Officials, Clergy, and Legal Immigrant family members* for

> “transporting, moving, harboring, concealing, or shielding from

> detection a person outside of the United States knowing or in

> reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien”

> * Require the expedited removal of noncitizens (except for Mexicans,

> Canadians, and Cubans) apprehended within 100 miles of the border

> within 14 days of their arrival in the U.S.

> * Gut due process protections and access to judicial review for

> immigrants.

> * Create a phone and Internet–based employment eligibility

> verification system (EEVS) that not only all employers would be

> required to use, but also those who recruit or refer individuals

> for employment, including labor agencies and nonprofit group

> * Dramatically expand passport and document fraud provisions and

> penalties, expand mandatory detention to apply to more categories

> of immigrants, broaden the aggravated felony definition, and

> create new grounds of admissibility and deportability.

>

> · Dramatically expand passport and document fraud provisions and

> penalties, expand mandatory detention to apply to more categories of

> immigrants, broaden the aggravated felony definition, and create new

> grounds of admissibility and deportability.

>

> · Require the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

>

> · Authorize state and local police to enforce federal immigration law.

>

> · Withhold funds from state and local governments deemed to have

> policies preventing their cooperation with federal immigration law

> enforcement.

>

> · Enter certain immigration information into the National Crime

> Information Center database.

>

> · Prohibit the use of Border Patrol uniforms made in Mexico.

>

> · Eliminate the diversity visa program.

>

> · Require that foreign embassies be notified when citizens of the

> countries they represent have renounced their allegiance to foreign

> countries and sworn allegiance to the U.S.

>

> · Delay indefinitely applications for adjustment of status or other

> immigration benefits if fraud by the applicant is alleged.

>

> Tina Castañares wrote:

>> Dear friends and colleagues,

>> This is a message of personal concern. The national anti-immigrant

>> sentiment seems to be growing, gaining in strength once again. All

>> three so-far-declared Republican candidates for Oregon governor (in my

>> neck of the woods) have this month made a major issue to the press of

>> " the need to crack down on illegal immigration. " This is but one of

>> many examples, of course.

>> Are others involved in our movement to serve migrant farmworkers with

>> their health care needs as concerned as I am? What can we do to be a

>> voice of reason? I find myself wondering whether there will be efforts

>> to classify WIC and food bank services and perhaps even C/MHC services

>> as off limits to " non-qualified immigrants, " just as Medicaid and

>> TANF have been since the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Is there reason

>> to feel reassured or unconcerned on this score, or do we need to

>> marshall our forces to be better advocates?

>> I would invite dialogue in these listservs on the subject rather than

>> responses sent only to me.

>> Sincerely,

>> Tina Castañares, MD

>> 637 Highway 141

>> White Salmon, WA 98672

>> 509 / 493-1600 voice

>> 347 / 412-0087 fax

>> tina.castanares@... <mailto:tina.castanares@...>

>>

>> To Post a message, send it to: Groups

>>

>> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:

>> -unsubscribe

>>

February 9, 2006