Repeal Arizona's Anti-Immigrant Law

Passed by the Socialist Party USA People of Color Commission April 29, 2010
http://socialistparty-usa.org/statements/repealaz420.html

The Socialist Party USA calls for the immediate repeal of the “Support Our
Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” (SB 1070) in Arizona. This law
sanctions racial profiling and gives cover to the repressive actions of
officials such as the racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Further, we call for an
immediate moratorium on all police raids of immigrant communities; we
demand the closure of the immigrant detention camps and an end to the
militarization of the US-Mexico border.

Arizona has become the epicenter of struggle for the rights of immigrants.
The state offers the clearest example of the abject failure of the current
immigration policies in the United States. These policies rely on the use
of force – ICE raids and the border police – backed up by an equally
brutal labor discipline that traps the undocumented in low-wage dead-end
jobs. The results are well known – the splitting up of families, the death
and criminalization of migrants and a race-to-the-bottom for work
conditions and wages. A 2009 mass march in Phoenix, Arizona led by young
people who had been separated from their undocumented parents and families
highlighted the terrible human costs of these systematic attacks on
immigrants. SB 1070 seeks to take this process a step further by
transforming Arizona into the equivalent of a police state where anyone
with brown skin becomes a suspect. In response, immigrant communities and
their allies, all across the country, are mobilizing to demand an end to
the repression.

Such fervor has not, however, made it to Washington, where Democrats are
preparing reform legislation that amounts to more of the same. Much like
the recent healthcare reform, immigration reform has been watered down to
suit the needs of Republicans and employers. This is no surprise since, as
a candidate, now President Barack Obama never fully distanced himself
from the Republican's positions on immigration: the border wall, more
military presence on the border, and building more detention camps.
Despite this, he still gained the support of mainstream immigration reform
groups who slowed down a vibrant May 1st Immigrant Rights movement. The
now disarmed movement was left without any commitments from Democratic
candidates and with no plans to mobilize after the elections.

The current legislation under consideration will do little to address the
problem. Bills such as “the Dream Act” of 2009, which would provide
conditional permanent residency to a few immigrants who entered the
country as minors or have “good moral character,” will not break the
crisis in Arizona. Instead, such reforms attempt to paper-over the demands
from immigrant communities in order to continue the cycle of
militarization, repression and wage slavery.
Socialists have something significant to offer to the immigration reform
discussion. We call for an unconditional amnesty program for all
undocumented people. This demand is based on our desire to create a world
in which everyone will be able to move freely across borders, to visit, to
work and to live wherever they choose. Amnesty will also allow workers,
documented and undocumented, to begin to advance serious demands for wages
and benefits. Amnesty will move us out of the current immigration crisis
and towards a society based on freedom.
Defeating SB 1070 is an urgent first step in this direction and the
Socialist Party USA encourages our members and allies to join in this
struggle.

¡No somos criminales, somos trabajadores internacionales!
¡Que viva la justicia y la dignidad de los migrantes unidos sin fronteras!"


Upcoming event:

Rally for Rights :: Manifestación para los Derechos Civiles
May 1, 2009
12:00pm - 2:30pm
Location: National Civil Rights Museum :: Museo Nacional de los Derechos Civiles

Contact us to join the Memphis SP at the rally!
memphissocialist@yahoo.com

See you there!