Immigration news and views. UALE Immigration Task Force members can contribute to the discussion.

"The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) is a national organization composed of local coalitions and immigrant, refugee, community, religious, civil rights and labor organizations and activists. It serves as a forum to share information and analysis, to educate communities and the general public, and to develop and coordinate plans of action on important immigrant and refugee issues. We work to promote a just immigration and refugee policy in the United States and to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status." The site contains news, events, resources, and other useful information

" Our mission is to protect and promote the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their family members. NILC staff specialize in immigration law and the employment and public benefits rights of immigrants. We conduct policy analysis and impact litigation and provide publications, technical advice, and trainings to a broad constituency of legal aid agencies, community groups, and pro bono attorneys."

The Forum is dedicated to embracing and upholding America’s tradition as a nation of immigrants. The Forum advocates and builds public support for public policies that welcome immigrants and refugees and are fair to and supportive of newcomers to our country.

MIRA is a diverse, statewide coalition of over 100 organizations and more than 50 individuals working to promote the rights and opportunities of immigrants and refugees.

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO is both a social movement and a labor union. Our immediate constituency is migrant workers in the agricultural industry, but we are also involved with immigrant workers, Latinos, our local communities, and national and international coalitions concerned with justice.

This page of the website of the Social Science Research Council contains numerous good articles about the immigration policy debate

Articles, fact sheets, exercises, links to other useful web pages and more

The website of IME has lots of information about and for Mexican immigrants to the US. Most of it is in Spanish, but there are also many articles in English. Scroll down the page to "Investigaciones Académicas" to find them.

Southern Poverty "The Southern Poverty Law Center created the Immigrant Justice Project in 2004 to address the unique legal needs of migrant workers, a group particularly vulnerable to workplace abuse." SPLC's excellent report on the abuses of Guest Worker programs, "Close to Slavery" is downloadable from this site.

"Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the entire nation. The Center does not advocate for or take positions on policy issues."

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research arm of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF). IPC was established in 2003 with the mission to provide policymakers, academics, the media, and the general public with access to accurate information about the effects of immigration on the U.S. economy and society. The IPC website has concise fact sheets on a number of immigration-related topics, as well as research and policy information. IPC is producing state-by-state snapshots to complement their nationwide analysis of the economic and political power that Latinos, Asians and immigrants bring to their home states.

AFL-CIO's position on immigration and related articles

Here are the immigration reform principles that Change to Win unions are united on.

Immigration Reform/SEIU. Includes "Immigration Reform: Our System is Broken", "Myths vs. Reality" and current articles

UE Policy Statement: "Stand Up for the Rights of Immigrant Workers"

Testimony of the UFCW before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law, May 24, 2007, regarding Labor Movement Perspectives on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

“The Boss Can’t Do That, Can He?” The UMass Labor Extension Program’s Worker Rights Curriculum is based on Massachusetts law, but can be adapted for use in other states. It can be used as an organizing and community education tool for new entrants to the workforce, young workers, and immigrant workers, documented or undocumented. Topics include an intro to basic worker protections, how to read a pay check, minimum wage, workers under 18, overtime, discrimination, health and safety, FMLA, unemployment insurance, temp work & day labor, and unions and the right to organize. The curriculum is approximately 13 to 15 hours long when all parts are used, but it can be broken up into smaller pieces (individual modules range from 45 to 150 minutes). Participants’ materials are available in Spanish.

This project done by the New York Times includes a wealth of resources including three interactive maps, videos, graphic illustrations and slide shows, as well as reporting on immigrants in various aspects of life. The maps detail where foreign born workers are from by occupation; where immigrant groups have settled from 1880-2000; and demographic changes in education searchable by county and state.

On-Line resources from UE