November 20, 2013
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Take into Account What’s Best for Children
We need immigration reform now
M arian W right E delman
the ch ild population.
N ine-year-old Jaim e
im m ig ra n t p o p u la tio n s
G ordillo V illa w as bom
are diverse, but m any chil-
in the U nited States and
dreninim m igrantfam iliesface
is a good student w ho
s ig n ific a n t c h a lle n g e s to
has gotten aw ards for
th eir h ealth and w ell-being,
both good grades and
including poverty, lack o f
behavior. H e w ants to
health insurance, low edu-
be a law yer w hen he grow s up to c atio n al a tta in m en t, su b sta n d a rd
help m unigrants and others w ho need housing, and language barriers. A ny
h e lp H e says he d o e sn t w a n t long term solution to o ur im m igra-
p eople to su ffer fo r th ings they
B I ............~
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d id n ’t do.
H is fam ily know s about suffering
since com ing to the U nited S tates to
by
start a new life. Jaim e adored his big
brother. T hey studied and play ed
grants— the m ajority o f w hom are and th e ir fam ilies. P ro tec tin g a
U.S. citizen s— w ill continue to suf- c h ild ’ sh u m an rights should include
fer from traum a and fear o f deporta- ensuring children receive legal rep-
tion w hich can lead to costly health resentation before all im m igration
consequences in their adult lives,
authorities and, fo r all unaccom pa-
T he C h ild ren ’s D efense Fund has nied children, the appointm ent o f an
jo in e d w ith m any child and fam ily independent child advocate from
advocates supporting a set o f key the m om ent o f detention through-
principles forchildren we hope C on- out the course o fa n y im m igration or
gress and the A dm inistration w ill other related court proceedings,
incorporate in im m igration reform
Third, w e need to ensure enforce-
w ithout m ore delay. L im bo is a very m ent efforts have appropriate pro­
bad place fo r children to live.
lections for children In all enforce-
...... • ...
.....
......
Any pathway to citizenship must be
open, affordable, safe, and accessible to
children in need o f status...
soccer and video gam es together.
B ut w hen his b ro th er w as detained
by im m igration officials his fam ily
had to spend so m uch m oney on
law yers to try to keep h im here that
they lost their hom e. A nd then his
tion system m ust take into account
w hat is best fo r these children.
First, w e believe there m ust be a
direct, clear, and reasonable path-
m ent actions, including those along
the border, the best interests o f the
b ro th e r w as d e p o rte d a n y w a y .
Ja u n e s afraid his m o th er o r fath er
m ig h t be next if they are c au g h t by
the police and he m ight lose them
Fam ily-focused im m igration re-
formwouldresultinbetterchUdhealth.
O ur current immigration policies push
families apart and children into illness
w ay to citizenship. A ny path w ay to
citizen sh ip m ust be open, afford-
able, safe, and accessible to chil-
dren in need o f status, including
child should be a prim ary consider-
ation and children m ust be given the
benefit o f the doubt during any in-
v e stig a tio n o r d e te n tio n . T h e re
t0 ° A ,
. ,
. . .
and poverty. A recent report from
A s the debate on im m igratio n H um an Im pact Partners finds that if
reform continues in C ongress, m il- current policies rem ain unchanged,
lions o f children have so m uch at 43,000U .S.citizenchildrenw illexpe-
s ' e r ° ne in f0Ur children in
rience a decline in health status,
U.S. lives in an im m igrant fam ily, 100,000 will develop signs o f w ith-
representing about 18.4 m illion chil- drawal, and over 125,000will go hun-
dren. C hildren o f im m igrants repre- gry in the next year.
sent the fastest grow ing segm ent o f
C hildren o f undocum ented im m i-
Ì
beneficiaries o f D eferred A ction fo r should be appropriate and account-
C hildhood A rrivals, undocum ented able training policies for interacting
children u n d er the age o f 21, and with and screening children that re-
unaccom panied im m igrant children, fleet a hum anitarian and protection­
Second, o u r im m igration system oriented approach, prohibit the use
m ust uphold ch ild re n ’s basic hu- o f force with children, and create
m an rights and ensure access to reasonable and safe conditions for
critical public services, program s, children.
and econom ic supports fo r children
Finally, w e m ust keep fam ilies
together. A ll policies regarding a d ­
m issibility, enforcem ent, detention,
and deportation o f children and their
parents m ust co n sid er the best in ­
terests o f children, including e n ­
abling im m igration ju d g es to e x er­
cise discretion in adm ission and
rem o v al d ecisio n s based on the
hardship to U.S. citizen and law ful
perm anent resident children.
T he im m igration system m ust be
updated by resolving current b ack ­
logs and ensuring fam ily-based im ­
m igration channels are adequate for
future m igration w ithout lengthy
fam ily separation.
A s the youngest and m ost vul­
nerable m em bers o f o u r society,
e v e ry c h ild w ith in o u r b o rd e rs
should have access to the services
and resources they need to survive,
grow , and thrive.
A s o u r n a tio n ’s le ad e rs, h o p e ­
fu lly , m o v e fo rw a rd w ith th e im ­
p o rta n t ta sk o f re fo rm in g fe d e ral
im m ig ratio n law s, I hope they w ill
tak e in to a cco u n t the u nique need s
o f children. P lease urge y o u r m e m ­
b er in th e H o u se o f R e p re s e n ta ­
tiv e s to ta k e actio n on im m ig ra ­
tio n re fo rm th a t p ro m o tes c h ild
w e ll-b e in g by e n su rin g fa m ilie s
stay to g e th e r an d g iv es all c h il­
d re n the o p p o rtu n ity to g ro w an d
th riv e . T h e S e n a te has acted . T he
H o u se m u st v o te — now .
Marian Wright Edelman is presi­
dent o f the Children's Defense Fund.
MM
Supporting this Bill is the Right Thing to Do
"W
-f
•
Job protections
for all of our
brothers, sisters
R ev . L eonard B . J ackson
Y o u p ro b a b ly
d o n ’t think tw ice
a b o u t s h a r in g a
photo o f your loved
ones at w ork o r talk­
ing w ith cow orkers
a b o u t v a c a tio n
p la n s w ith y o u r
family. B utforsom e
A m ericans, these sim ple acts put
their jo b s and livelihoods at risk.
H e re ’s w hy. T hough eight out o f
10 A m ericans d o n ’t know it, in m ost
by
states you can still be fired for being
le s b i a n ,
g a y , b is e x u a l, o r
transgender (L G B T ).
In N evada, w here I live, w e p ro ­
tect L G B T people from em ploym ent
discrim ination. B ut too m any o th er
states have yet to take that sim ple
step. T here are no state law s p ro ­
tecting L G B T A m ericans against
w orkplace discrim ination based on
sexual o rientation in 29 states and
no state law protections for gen d er
identity in 33 states.
T he S enate recently took a m ajo r
step to w ard ending this kind o f d is­
crim in atio n by passing the E m p lo y ­
m en t N o n -D iscrim in atio n A ct (co ­
sponsored by Sen. Je ff M erkley,
D -O re.) E N D A w ould m ake it
illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or
refu se to pro m o te em ployees
b ecau se o f th eir sexual o rien ta­
tion o r g en d er identity — no
m atter w hat state you happen
to live in.
I certain ly d o n ’t w ant to see
m y L G B T brothers and sisters being
fired fo r som ething that has nothing
to do w ith how well they do their jo b .
A nd n eith er d o A m ericans across
the country.
R ecent p olling finds that close to
70 p ercent o f voters favor a federal
law protecting L G B T people from
w orkplace discrim ination.
M aybe th a t’s because I, like m ost
o f us, grew up being taught the
“G olden R u le” — that basic idea,
found in faith teachings and secular
traditions alike — that w e should
treat others as w e ’d like to be treated. issue — it’s an urgent m oral issue. w orkplaces and com m unities, and
I w as taught to h o n o r and respect I t’s a clear question o f right and on what M artin Luther King Jr. called
others, even if they m ight be a little w rong, o f opp o rtu n ity and fairness ‘the content o f their ch aracter.’”
different from me.
versus discrim ination.
S upporting this bill is sim ply the
H ere ’ s w hat I w asn ’ t taught: Treat
The S enate has done the right right, m oral thing to do. All o f us
others as you w ould like to be treated, thing by passing E N D A. N ow it’s should encourage o ur legislators to
unless they are gay. W hat I w a sn ’t the H o u se’s turn.
s ta n d u p f o r th e s e c r i t i c a l ,
taught w as to fight discrim ination,
A s President B arack O bam a re­ com m onsense protections.
unless so m eo n e is transgender.
cently w rote, in o u r country “people
Rev. Leonard B. Jackson is asso­
A s a C hristian m inister, I ’m tired should be ju d g e d on the m erits: on ciate minister at First AM E Church
o f h earing m istru st and fear cloaked the contributions they m ake in their o f Las Vegas.
in the language o f religion.
H e re ’s w hat I can tell you about
m y faith. M y faith tells m e that I
should w ork tow ard prom oting unity
and ju stic e fo r all people. M y faith
tells m e that w hen I see a w rong, I
should w ork to right it. M y faith tells
me, in the w ords o f M ark 12:31: “You
shall love y o u r n eig h b o r as y o u r­
self. T h ere is no oth er co m m an d ­
m ent g reater.”
T h u s, I shall treat o th ers with
dignity, resp ect, and love.
A nd th a t’s w hy I feel called to­
d ay to sp eak o u t in su p p o rt o f
Portland:
(503) 244-2080
E N D A. L ike m any o th er issues I ’ve
Hillsoboro:
(503) 244-2081
w orked on, from m ass incarceration
Facsimile:
(503) 244-2084
to civil liberties for all, em p lo y m en t
Email:
Sweeney @ PDXLawyer.com
discrim in atio n is not ju s t a policy
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sw eeney, P C
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon