Elana Levin

Testify! (on making NYC a leader on immigration)

While people all over the country are taking to the streets over anti-immigrant legislation some people in NYC need to spend some time in their seats. Their seats in the NY City Council's hearing on immigration that is.

Yesterday I attended the NY City Council's Immigration and Civil Rights Committee meeting along with DMI's Amy Traub who'd been called to testify for a City Council bill condemning Congressman Sensenbrenner's Immigration Bill which passed the house this winter. We've been speaking out against the Sensenbrenner Bill since it reared its ugly head. This dangerous and unenforceable legislation would undermine the current and aspiring middle class (and obviously immigrants as well). Amy rocked City Hall yesterday but many council members didn't come to or stick around for the hearing.

Now I know what you're thinking- that the NY City Council can't do anything about the bad immigration legislation that the Congress seems amped to pass. That a Council resolution condemning the Sensenbrenner Bill won't stop the Congressman Peter Kings of this world from voting for backwards bills. Well sit back down for a second here.

In fact there are things that the city could be doing right now to address the contributions of and reality of immigrants in our workforce. Better enforcement of workplace safety laws especially in construction jobs would be a great place to start and that's just one example.

New York could be a leader in terms of ideas on immigration policy because of the diversity of the city and our deep understanding of the importance of workers' rights. The rest of the country could be looking to NY for inspiration on how to address the presence of undocumented workers in the labor market and how to promote the contributions they make (topics we explore in our immigration policy report). The City doesn't have to be a helpless victim of bad policy directives coming out of Washington. A city like New York where every street is an illustration of the contributions immigrants make to our economy and culture must be the place to show the way to better policy and compel our state's Congressional Delegation to vote against bad immigration bills like this one.

Progressives have been silent on this issue for too long, trapped by false either/or choices that hold that pretend we must choose between supporting the human rights of immigrants or supporting the needs of low income American workers). It is time for New York and other localities that consider themselves progressive to get smart on immigration policy and change the debate to one that addresses the needs of most people, immigrant and native alike.
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Because you may have been legitimately trapped behind a desk yesterday you can read Amy's testimony here.

Posted by Elana Levin at March 30, 2006 01:01 PM