If we believe our current immigration policy is unfair and needs to be changed, there are a few simple things we can do:
- Improve our understanding of the issues by seeking out information (the resources listed below are a good place to start).
- Talk to all kinds of people, learn from them, and share our own knowledge and experience.
- Get involved in an organization working for immigration reform, immigrant rights, or worker justice.
The following is a list of suggested resources. If you know of additional resources to include, please write us at Get In Touch
Suggested readings:
Justin Akers Chacón and Mike Davis, No One Is Illegal (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2006), https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/834-no-one-is-illegal
David Bacon, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Boston: Beacon Press, 2009), http://www.beacon.org/Illegal-People-P690.aspx
David Bacon, The Right to Stay Home: How US Policy Drives Mexican Migration (Boston: Beacon Press, 2013), http://www.beacon.org/The-Right-to-Stay-Home-P1055.aspx
Aviva Chomsky, They Take Our Jobs!: And 20 Other Myths about Immigration (Boston: Beacon Press, 2007), http://www.beacon.org/They-Take-Our-Jobs-P638.aspx
Aviva Chomsky, Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal (Boston: Beacon Press, 2014), http://www.beacon.org/Undocumented-P979.aspx
Edwige Danicat, Brother, I’m Dying (New York: Vintage Books, 2008 paperback), https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/36739/brother-im-dying-by-edwidge-danticat/9781400034307/
Deepa Fernandes, Targeted: National Security and the Business of Immigration (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2006), https://catalog.sevenstories.com/products/targeted
Jennifer Gordon, Suburban Sweatshops: The Fight for Immigrant Rights (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005), https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674024045
Bill Ong Hing, Defining America through Immigration Policy (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004), http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1645_reg.html
Bill Ong Hing, Deporting Our Souls: Values, Morality, and Immigration Policy (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013 paperback)
Katy Long, The Huddled Masses: Immigration and Inequality (London: Thistle Publishing, 2014), https://www.thistlepublishing.co.uk/page373.html
Rachel Meeropol, Reed Brody, Barbara Olshansky, Michael Ratner, and Steven Macpherson Watt, America’s Disappeared: Secret Imprisonment, Detainees, and the “War on Terror” (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2005), https://catalog.sevenstories.com/products/americas-disappeared
Immanuel Ness, Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2005), http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1744_reg.html
Mae M. Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2104 updated edition), http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10241.html
Gabriel Thompson, Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won’t Do (New York: Nation Books, 2011), http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/paperback/working-in-the-shadows/9781568586380
Suggested films:
Abandoned: The Betrayal of America’s Immigrants, directed by David Belle and Nicholas Wrathall (55 min., 2000) Bullfrog Films: www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/aban.html
Enemy Alien, directed by Konrad Aderer (70 min., 2009) Life or Liberty: http://lifeorliberty.org/enemy-alien
Farmingville, directed by Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini (78 min., 2003) Camino Bluff Productions, Inc.: http://www.FarmingvilleTheMovie.com
H-2 Worker, directed by Stephanie Black (70 min., 1990) Valley Filmworks, Inc.: www.lifeanddebt.org/h2worker/
Harvest of Empire, directed by Peter Getzels and Eduardo Lopez (90 min., 2012) EVS Communications: https://www.twn.org/catalog/pages/cpage.aspx?rec=1329&card=price
Los Trabajadores/The Workers, directed by Heather Courtney (48 min., 2001) New Day Films: https://www.newday.com/film/los-trabajadores-workers
Made in L.A., directed by Almudena Carracedo (70 min., 2007) Independent Television Service (ITVS), P.O.V., and Semilla Verde Productions:
Resistance at Tule Lake, directed by Konrad Aderer (forthcoming in 2017) Life or Liberty: https://www.resistanceattulelake.com/
The Hand That Feeds, directed by Robin Blotnick and Rachel Lears (84 min., 2014) Jubilee Films: https://thehandthatfeedsfilm.com/
Uprooted: Refugees of the Global Economy, directed by National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) with Sasha Khokha, Ulla Nilsen, Jon Fromer, and Francisco Herrera (28 min., 2001) National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: http://www.nnirr.org/drupal/node/100
Organizations:
American Friends Service Committee (https://www.afsc.org/category/topic/human-mobility-and-migration): Has various local programs providing legal services, advocacy, and organizing assistance for immigrant and immigrant organizations.
American Immigration Lawyers Association (www.ailalawyer.com): A legal association for immigration attorneys with a membership of more than 14,000 immigration lawyers and law professors. AILA provides an immigration lawyer referral service on its website.
Border Action Network (www.borderaction.org) : A network of immigrants and border residents in Nogales, Douglas, and Tucson, Arizona, working to amplify the voices and power of those who are most impacted by border and immigration policies.
Coalición de Derechos Humanos (www.derechoshumanosaz.net): A grassroots organization working to promote respect for human and civil rights and to fight militarization, discrimination, and abuse of authority in the southern border region.
Detention Watch Network (www.detentionwatchnetwork.org): A national coalition addressing the crisis of immigration detention and helping detainees and their loved ones make their voices heard.
Families for Freedom (www.familiesforfreedom.org): A multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing and fighting deportation.
Farmworker Justice (https://www.farmworkerjustice.org/): An organization working to empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers by improving their living and working conditions, immigration status, health, occupational safety, and access to justice.
Global Workers Justice Alliance (www.globalworkers.org): A cross-border network of worker advocates and resources that combats migrant worker exploitation by promoting portable justice for transnational migrants.
Immigration Equality (www.immigrationequality.org): A national organization working to end immigration discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV-positive people, and to help win asylum for those persecuted based on sexual identity or HIV status.
International Labor Rights Forum (https://www.laborrights.org/): A human rights organization that advocates for workers globally.
Maquila Solidarity Network (www.maquilasolidarity.org): A labor and women’s rights advocacy organization promoting solidarity with grassroots groups in Mexico, Central America, and Asia, that works to improve conditions in maquiladora factories and export processing zones.
National Employment Law Project (www.nelp.org): Provides information and advocacy in defense of low-wage workers, including immigrant workers.
National Immigration Law Center (www.nilc.org): Provides information, policy analysis, and advocacy in defense of low-income immigrants and their family members.
National Immigration Project (www.nationalimmigrationproject.org): A project of the National Lawyers’ Guild, Inc. devoted to defending the rights of immigrants facing incarceration and deportation.
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (www.nnirr.org): A national organization bringing together immigrant, refugee, community, religious, civil rights, and labor organizations and activists from around the United States in defense of immigrant rights.
United Students Against Sweatshops (https://usas.org/): An organization of students and community members at over 200 campuses around the United States, supporting the struggles of working people and challenging corporate power.
“Know-your-rights” information for immigrants:
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights?topics=270
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC): https://www.afsc.org/category/topic/know-your-rights
Fair Immigration Reform Movement: http://fairimmigration.org/resources/know-your-rights/
Families for Freedom: http://familiesforfreedom.org/resources/know-your-rights
Homies Unidos: http://homiesunidos.org/resources/know-your-rights/
National Employment Law Project: http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/2015/03/Immigration-Status-and-Your-Rights-as-a-Worker.pdf
National Immigration Law Center: https://www.nilc.org/get-involved/community-education-resources/know-your-rights/
National Lawyers Guild: https://www.nlg.org/know-your-rights/