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 Faithfully seeking justice with workers in the Memphis area

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   There is no denying that the immigration system in the United States is broken.
   The legal status of immigrant workers must be addressed, with 12 million undocumented
   people living and working here. Without legal status, immigrant workers are victims
   of every kind of labor abuse and cannot protect their rights without fear of deportation.
   The continuation of a debased class of workers, whom unscrupulous employers can
   and do underpay, overwork, and exploit in legal and illegal ways also contributes to
   a downward push on wages and working conditions for all workers in the United States.

    The answer is comprehensive reform that protects the rights of all workers. A reform package must
    include:
    - a plan to regularize the status of most undocumented workers in the U.S.
    - halting deportations that separate parents from children and husbands from wives
    - strong enforcement of all employment and labor laws
    - elimination of guest worker programs - programs that bring in temporary workers with few
      or no rights - unless they include full workplace protections or provide a path to
      permanent residency and citizenship.
    - addressing structural issues created by trade and aid policies driving current immigration.

    Barriers to Legal Immigration

    Obstacles to legal immigration are much higher today than at other times in U.S. history.
    Family slots allow documented immigrants already in the U.S. to bring their family members here.
    Immigrants must wait for years, and in some cases decades, to enter the U.S. this way, and many
    people do not qualify for the family slots.

     Because “employment” is defined so narrowly, few workers can enter through the employment
     visa process.

    There are strict limits on the number of visas that are issued for legal immigration in each year.
    For example, only 5,000 visas are issued for unskilled workers to enter the U.S. annually.

    The Only Ways of Gaining Legal Status
    Persons on each of these paths to legal immigration face long waiting lists, sometimes
    up to 10 years:
     - Have a sibling, spouse, or parent who has a green card or is a citizen
     - Can prove they will suffer persecution if returned to their home country
     - Have job skills that are in demand by employers and that U.S. citizens are not able to provide.

   Video: Memphis Workers Join the national immigration reform March for America