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Context We are a Planet on the Move

• Between 1960-2017 the overall number of migrants in the world has tripled • Today 3.4%, or 1 in every 29 people lives in a country different from that of their birth • This migration is changing elections, culture, cities • By mid-century, migration will account for 72% of the population growth in the US, 78% in Australia and the U.K. • Never before has there been so much human movement; and never before has there been so much organized

resistance to human movement • Not since WWII have there been more refugees and displaced people all around the world

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “International Migration Outlook, 2018 UN Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 13 states “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own and to return to his country.”

• Article 14 gives everyone the right to political asylum in another country • Article 15 gives everyone the right to a nationality and the right to change that nationality.

(There is no direction governing how settlement of immigrants in a different country should happen. That is left to each nation to decide). The US is Experiencing a Rise in Refugees due to Multiple Factors

• In 1980 US passed the Refugee Act, raising the number of refugees allowed annually to 50K That year, 3.5% of all asylum petitions came from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador In 2000, the percentage increased to 11.3. In 2006 it was 26.4; and in 2015 it was 33.8%.

Office of Immigration Statistics, US Dept. of Homeland Security (January 2018)

“They are Here Because We Were There” --As a result of colonialism and war, 40% of all the national borders in the world were drawn by just two countries: Britain and France, Tribal conflicts around the world have been an enduring result of these decisions.

(Alesina, Eastery, Matuszeski, “Artificial States.” Journal of the European Economic Association,April 2011, pp. 246-277) --American settlers migrating west and settling in land claimed by Spain and Mexico resulted in conflicts and war. The resulting treaties regarding land, culture, language and governance have been compromised and broken and compromised over time. (1948 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and others)

Cuahtémoc Cárdenas: Enrique Krauze, “Will Mexico Get Half of Its Territory Back?” (April 6, 2017). --The United States has had business interests in Mexico, and Central and South America which have been a strong driver behind US activity and policy. Wilkerson, “U.S. Empire and Latin America”, (April 17, 2019)

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Some of the Underlying Causes of Our Immigration Crisis Driving Forces Resisting Forces A). Predatory Extractive Capitalism

I). Amnesia/Ignorance of US Policies

B). Undermining Democratically Elected Governments: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, Iran

J). Outmoded Immigration Law

C). Exporting Guns, Arms and Gang Members

K.) Fear of “Non-White” Majority

D). Arms Industry Driving Military Intervention

L). Systemic/ Cultural Racism

E). US Market for Drugs Supports Cartels

M). Under-Funded Court System

F). Climate Crisis

N). Distracted Electorate

G). Exploitation of Cheap Labor With Strong Work Ethic/ little concern for education, training, well-being

O). Technology Replacing Jobs

H). Strong Extended Family Ties P). US “Exceptionalism”

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A) Predatory Extractive Capitalism • US companies mine

minerals, extract oil for US consumption

• Cash crops for export replace local agriculture

• Corporate colonialism is the “New Colonialism”

• Since 1980 $16.3T has gone from developing to rich countries = GDP of US

Hickel,“Aid in Reverse”,Guardian(2017)

B) Weakened or Compromised Governments

• US covert actions removes governments opposing US business interests

• Civil wars deplete resources for social care

• Gangs and military rule Wilkerson, US Empire and Latin America, (April, 2019) Gleijeses,Shattered Hope:The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States 1944-1954,(1991).

C) Exporting Guns, Arms and Gang Members

• 2007 Chiquita Brands pleaded guilty to giving $1.7M plus AK-47s to a paramilitary org. to fight union organizers

Matt Apuzzo, Assoc. Press, Mar 2007 • Young flee massacres, settle in

US, form gangs for protection,, then are deported back home to set up parallel gov’t

Lind, “MS-13 Explained,” Vox (May 21,2018)

D) Arms Industry Driving Military Intervention

• School of the Americas as training ground

• NRA opposes control of international disbursement of guns

• 2014—of 15,397 firearms seized by Mexican govt, 11,061 traced to US

Firearms Tracing System Data 2012-2017

E) Expansive US Market for Drugs Supports Cartels/Violence

• 1980’s agreement between Cartels and Gov’t of Mexico to export drugs rather than sell in Mexico

• Competition between cartels creates violence in Mexico

Mehta, This Land is Our Land, (2019) p.92

F) Climate Crisis • Drought, fires, storms,

floods make farming / fishing unviable

• UN predicts by 2050, ‘ 17 M people will be displaced in Latin America

• Need to plan for migration Watts, “Water Shortages Could Affect 5 Billion People”, Guardian, 2018

G) Exploitation of Cheap Labor with Strong Work Ethic

• US Companies, corporations, individuals want low cost labor

• Workers willing to do all jobs and work long hours

• Workers form loyalty bonds

H) Seeking a Better Life, and Wanting Extended Family to

Settle Nearby • Fleeing violence • Looking for viable work • Seeking education and

healthcare • Drawn to democracy • Interdependent

relationship with family • Sending back support $

Driving Forces

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O) US “Exceptionalism” Interpreted as Beyond International Law

• US Passports honored differently • US does not submit to authority of

International Court Sean D. Murphy, The United States and the International Court of Justice: Coping with Antinomies in THE UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS (Cesare Romano, ed., 2008).

K) Fear of a “Non White” Majority

• Hate crimes in US jump 5 % in 2016

• Deprecating language used, “the horde”, “aliens”, “illegals”

• Hatred has been taught in order to feed fear

Berman, “Hate Crimes in the US Increased Last Year, the FBI says, Washington Post, (Nov 2017)

N) Distracted Electorate • News focus on symptoms rather

than causes or solutions • Social Media consumes time/

attention and scatters attention, compromises reflective thinking

• Multiple urgent causes competing for attention

• Little focus on full fabric approach to reform immigration policy

L) Systemic / Cultural Racism

• Brand immigrants as enemy

• Don’t recognize numbers of immigrants who serve in the military

• Don’t recognize economic dependence on immigrant labor

M) Under-funded Court System • 2017—300 Immigration Judges,

542,411 cases pending • Funding for courts lags behind

funding for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Cuthbertson, “Chronic Shortage of Judges Clogs Immigration System”. Epoch Times, (March 20, 2017)

J) Outmoded Immigration Law • Patched together over time • Politicians fight over parts

rather than working from analysis of current assets and needs

• Current law creates abusive practices

I) Amnesia / Ignorance of US Policies/Corporate Action • News focus on current

events • US-centric news focus • Limited public access to

information concerning covert actions and corporate strategies

Resisting Forces

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Immigration is A Gift and A Challenge to the USA

Immigrants Support Our Aging Population

• US has decreasing birth rate • Young workers support

Social Security system Population Reference Bureau, “What is Driving Decline in US Population Growth, 2012

Our Economy Depends on an Immigrant Work Force

• 56.8% of Farmworkers • 89% of Restaurant Workers • 5-7% of Armed Forces • 16% of Medical Personnel • 20-25% STEM Workers

USDA, Economic Research Service analysis of data from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2016. Pew Research Center Migration Policy Institute

Challenge Needed Aid to Border Cities/ Towns

where Disproportionate Number of New Immigrants Settle

• School Systems • Hospitals • Social Services

Challenge: Provide Increased Support for All

High School Students • Insure graduation with skills/abilities • Prevent dropping out and dependency

on low-skilled jobs

Supportive Programs for New Arrivals Makes Possible

Immigrants’ Contribution to Economy.

• Annual Cost to all levels of gov’t $57B • Second generation contributes $30B

annually through taxes • Third generation contributes $223B

Source: National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine,

“The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration, 2017

Migration Abroad of US Citizens • Quality Education • Job Opportunities • Assigned by Companies / Org • Access to Health Care • Work Benefits • Pace of Life

Support of Immigrants Through Education Makes

Possible Upward Economic and Social Mobility

• Mowing lawns to owning restaurants

• Child care worker to teacher • EMT to doctor

Immigration is Integral to our Nation’s Economic Growth

• Avoid stagnation due to aging population

• Boost capacity for innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological change

• Source: National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine, “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration, 2017

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Facts to Add to The Narrative About Immigrants

Sources

Stuart Anderson, “55% of America’s Billion-Dollar Startups Have an Immigrant Founder.” Forbes (Oct 25, 2018). Ian Hathaway, “Almost Half of Fortune 500 Companies Were Founded by American Immigrants or Their Children”, Brookings Institution Report (Dec 4, 2017) .“The Contributions of the Children of Immigrants to Science in America.”National Foundation for American Policy (March 2017. Goss et al. “Effects of Unauthorized Immigration on the Actuarial Status of the Social Security Trust Funds,” Social Security Administration Office of the Chief Actuary (April 2013). Özden, World Bank Development and Research Group. World Bank Report. Migration and Remittances Data, 2017

2. Immigrants have won one third of the Nobel Prizes awarded to Americans

4. Bill Gates stated before Congress that for every tech worker that the country welcomes, five American jobs are created.

3. One third of Siicon Valley workers are immigrants

5. In 2016, 83 % of the winners in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair were children of immigrants

6. Undocumented immigrants paid $13B in payroll taxes in 2010 and received $1B in benefits.

7. Immigrants take jobs that locals don’t want or can’t fill. Unskilled migrants tend to have no impact on

local wages and employment nor to increased wages and employment.

8. In 2015 Immigrants in the US sent $25.68 billion to their families in Mexico; $16.23 billion to China; $11.74 billion to India; $9.65 billion to the Philippines, and $7.3billion to Vietnam. These amounts sustain families preventing further poverty.

1. One out of every four US tech companies established since 1995 was founded by an immigrant.

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1. Get in touch with local Congressional representatives urging more humanitarian treatment of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers 2. Work to affect immigration policy through Hannah Graf Evans, working with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, part of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. ---Encourage elected officials to divest from policies that lead to detention and deportation of immigrants and to invest in a humanitarian response

---Congress will need to make funding decisions by Sept 30, 2019

---Encourage elected officials to attend meetings at your church to advocate for policy change.

• Do not provide increased funding for immigration detention or enforcement

• Do not militarize the border • Allocate money for humanitarian needs • Demand immigrant children be reunited with families, and in

the interim be placed in small scale residential care • Advocate for using strong diplomacy to provide assistance to support

Programs • Propose specifics for integrated Immigration Law • Call for resettling 95,000 refugees in US in 2020

3. Work with local groups v Educate yourself/ Help to shift the narrative about the value of immigrants v Visit those being held in detention v Educate immigrants on knowing and defending their rights v Accompany immigrants and asylum seekers as they go to their court hearings v Become part of a rapid response team (deportations) v Work with city-wide efforts to prepare settlement plans and support services

Recommended Response to Immigration Crisis PC (USA) Office of Immigration Issues. www.pcusa.org

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What We Can Add to the Present Narrative About Immigrants Input that represents a brainstorm during First Presbyterian Church Santa Fe, “Acts II” Adult Learning Session

Sept 1, 2019

We as the Church need to declare our stance that we are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. The Church is a sanctuary and we can demonstrate these values in what we propose as our country’s policy, in what we say in conversations, as well as what we do in mission. What we can say in conversations: “We were all immigrants at one time.” And we can share our family stories of arrival, survival, and the help that others made possible. We can state how, as citizens, we are dependent upon the immigrant population for work that is essential to our well-being; and that our social security system is now dependent upon the young labor provided by immigrants. We can act out our stance in mission projects that help immigrant families establish themselves in a safe environment during the fragile years of transition. Such projects will be the Vacation Bible School to be initiated on the South Side in the summer of 2020 and the “house/plumbing ‘fix-it’ initiative to be launched 2019-2020. We can propose to interfaith local, state and national bodies the following points to include in an revised US Immigration Law as well as needed actions to deal with the present immigration crisis.

For Revised Immigration Law Supportive Actions 1. Invest in Latin America (including Central America) along with other countries in a “Marshall Plan” for economic and social recovery in fragile nations

1. Abundantly fund the court system and hire judges that staff the Asylum Courts.

2. Tighten regulations against gun trafficking across international borders

2. In the US pay fair wages and sanction wage theft

3. Examine US government regulations governing US Corporations doing business abroad

3. Declare border cities as “international development zones” Federally funded to provide social services (schools, hospitals, food programs, training programs, housing) to newly arrived immigrants.

4. Create a legal system that allows workers to work in the US and send money back home (such as Bracero Act)

4. Provide support for all high school students in the US to effectively be educated in skills and understandings critical to success in the US and global society.

5. Create path to citizenship for Dreamers (DACA) 5. Register voters; do voter education and encourage voting.

6. Determine immigration quotas based on skills needed for present US economy (rather than on country/race/religion)

6. Provide relief to those who are suffering.

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