The FIRM and FIRM Action Vision

The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) & our political engagement arm FIRM Action, a national coalition of 44 grassroots organizations from 32 states that fights for the civil & human rights of all immigrants, is driven by these values & principles.

FIRM/Action is fighting for an America that is UNITED and FREE for all people. No exceptions.

To be UNITED we must respect everyone. Everyone means everyone, no matter their income, place of birth, race, gender, where they worship or who they love. This means creating a fair immigration process that keeps families together, integrates newcomers into the fabric of our society and treats each person with dignity. We are the United States of America–we must also be the United People of America if we are to fulfill the promise of our country.

To be FREE we must respect the rights of people who bravely conquer all odds to come here seeking safety and a better life for their families. We must end forced separation and detention, honoring the rights of people living at our Southern borders and keep our communities free of military installments, barricades and restraints on their freedom. People move here today as they have throughout time with the hopes of providing a brighter future for the next generation. We must all work together to make these ideals real in people’s lives.

VALUES IN ACTION

FIRM/FIRM Action’s Values in Action

Americans support progressive changes to the current immigration system. In fact, a significant majority of Americans support the policies we are advocating. We are a country that understands our immigration laws are outdated and need repair.

We call on our elected champions to seize the momentum and work with us to create and actualize our new vision: One of exciting, progressive ideas that are truly transformational in moving the nation forward and living up to our highest ideals. Therefore we must:

Undo the damage. It is not enough to end family separations. Families torn apart by detention and deportation across the country must be reunited and made whole.Bring our deported loved ones home.

We need MORE not FEWER immigrants in America. America is a beacon of hope for those seeking to make better lives for themselves and their families. Our strength as a country has always been greater when we open the circle rather than close it. We need immigrants to continue building a country that can truly thrive–they contribute to our communities as our neighbors and coworkers, taxpayers and innovators.

Immigrant workers contribute to America’s economic well- being and must qualify for labor protections, including from wage theft and wage and hour laws.

Celebrate and expand the road to full citizenship. Immigrants make us stronger and more diverse. For many seeking a life here, the roadmap to citizenship is already generational. We must expand the roadmap to citizenship to ensure that it is realistic, achievable and fair for all families.

TRANSFORMATION

We are fighting at every level of society and government to ensure the transformation of our immigration system is rooted in the following principles:

Full Citizenship

Many immigrants have deep roots and provide many contributions to this country. Successful immigration policies must reflect an attainable, affordable and equitable roadmap to citizenship for undocumented members of our communities. Full citizenship benefits immigrants, their families, and the US-born.

Policy Recommendations:

Create an accessible and equitable roadmap to citizenship.

Ensure equitable access for immigrants to healthcare, higher education, affordable housing and the ability access benefits that individuals already invest in with their taxes

Invest in resources to clear the backlogged citizenship process and promote timely avenues for individuals to become citizens

PROTECT

Strengthen and protect all families

Fighting for the ideals of our country means being pro-immigrant and where family is a cornerstone of our traditions. Immigration policy will only be successful if it is built on one of the fundamental factors driving migration: family unity. All families should be together and free, including LGBTQIA families, mixed-status families, undocumented youth, Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) holders and their families and individuals who have been separated through deportations.

Policy Recommendations:

Protect and strengthen existing systems that encourage family reunification, including the diversity visa lottery and family visa categories, and increase the number of visas available both overall and within each family.

Create opportunities for individuals to return to the United States if they have been separated by deportation and swiftly admit all those waiting in the current backlogs.

Expand the definition of family. Family is more than one-size-fits-all and our immigration policies should reflect the various forms that families take. An expansive definition of family and family-based immigration would allow immigrants to identify and designate a relationship as a family relationship.

Eliminate annual limits on family preference categories and the per-country caps/quotas.

Protect and expand the existing asylum system, Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and protections for unaccompanied minors at the border (Flores settlement).

FREEDOM

Embrace freedom and human rights

We must stop criminalizing immigrant communities. Immigration officials punish non-citizens twice, often in the form of deportation and family separation. The only beneficiaries of the current system are the people who own and run private prisons and detention centers. Criminal justice must include non-citizens since immigrant communities are subject to racial profiling and problematic policing leading to expulsion and deportation from their homes. Our current system steals people’s rights, freedom and due process.

Policy Recommendations:

Reverse harmful provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) that strip due process, judicial discretion and further criminalize immigrants.

Eliminate the 3-year and 10-year bars to re-entry to allow eligible individuals to leave the country to pick up an immigrant visa for a green card and re-enter the country.

DIGNITY

Dignity, not detention

The militarization of border communities is dangerous for everyone. The excessive investment in grossly misguided and un-strategic enforcement priorities at DHS and other agencies must end. Spending billions of dollars on public and private detention facilities is both harmful and wasteful. Enforcement policies should presume liberty as the starting point and detention as the last resort for exceptional circumstances only.

Current law allows for the mandatory detention and deportation of many seeking refuge in the U.S. and has resulted in an unprecedented increase in detention, bypassing due process and basic rights. LGBTQIA immigrants, in particular, are subject to discrimination and abuse in the detention system.

Policy Recommendations:

End private detention centers and the detention industrial complex.

Restore due process and judicial discretion in immigration courts.

Encourage and invest in community-based models of alternatives to detention.

RESPECT

Respect the safety and security of ALL during encounters with law enforcement

Fair enforcement policies are key to rebuilding trust among immigrant communities and local law enforcement, and in turn, strengthen community safety for everyone. The increased use of immigration enforcement programs that require local law enforcement to play the role of federal immigration agents have been ineffective and harmful to immigrant communities. These programs undermine trust between local police and the communities they serve and encourage profiling by local law enforcement.

Policy Recommendations:

End programs such as Secure Communities and 287g, which encourage local law enforcement to act as immigration agents locally.

Further restrict the ability of enforcement agents to conduct actions near sensitive locations, including but not limited to places of worship, courtrooms and schools

SAFE FUTURE

Establish opportunities for safe future migration and maintain worker protections.

Our immigration system must be re-designed to embrace the dynamism migration brings to our country and address multifaceted challenges we face in a more interconnected world. There can be no prosperity for U.S.-born working men and women without prosperity for immigrants. Our fates are intertwined. We need a legal and safe way for migrants to come to the U.S. that protects the equal rights of all immigrants–both people with high skills and those who fill many jobshat no one typically wants – high and low skilled workers–and minimizes the opportunities for abuse by unscrupulous employers and others. A living wage, fair labor practices and safe working environment should not be a luxury reserved for citizens.

Policy Recommendations:

Mobility, agency and protections for immigrants in the labor market and a path to legal permanence for those who choose to live in the U.S. rather than return home.

Protect immigrants who come forward to report labor violations or worker intimidation from retaliation and provide access to a fair grievance process.

COMMUNITIES

Protect border communities and diversity

Since the last major overhaul of the immigration system in 1986, Congress has spent $263 billion on border enforcement with little accountability and oversight. Policies must address the true needs of our nation’s border security by preventing further violence by immigration enforcement agents and end wasteful government spending on physical barriers and the militarization of our border communities.

Policy Recommendations:

Repurpose money within the existing DHS budget to modernize ports of entry and meet the current needs for daily travel and trade.

Include input from border communities and uphold the constitutional rights and dignity of all residents. Policies should protect the natural environment along the North and Southern borders, and not obstruct the vital economic prosperity border communities enjoy.

ADDRESS ROOT CAUSES

Address the root causes of migration

Our country should both welcome and invest in displaced people to ensure they prosper both here and in their country of origin if they choose to return home. The humanitarian-based pathways need to be modernized and strengthened to accommodate the changing socio-political, economic and environmental circumstances and religious persecution that give rise to humanitarian crises. Policies should embrace refugee resettlement and protect asylum for those fleeing violence in Central America and elsewhere.

Policy Recommendations:

Allow the U.S. to help countries to address the economic, trade, social, and security factors driving high rates of migration. Examples include: Target funding for rural development, youth employment, and programs that make credit and financing opportunities available, especially to vulnerable populations migration source countries.

Strengthen existing asylum protections and expand credible fear definitions to include protections against current push factors in other countries.

Develop and implement policies that strengthen America’s commitment to all refugees and those  seeking asylum.

IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

Increase prosperity through immigrant integration

FIRM/FIRM Action supports the immigrant integration New American Dreams Platform prepared by the National Partnership for New Americans, together with FIRM/FIRM Action and We Are All America.

Immigration policy should prioritize and fund immigrant integration by creating a National Office of Immigrant Affairs to coordinate with other administrative and state agencies to streamline services and provide greater investment in immigration and citizenship services, English classes and job training. Congress should also work to expand resources and access to citizenship services and ensure that backlogs are addressed quickly.

We will remain vigilant in our defense of our communities and all immigrant families, while working toward our vision of an America that is welcoming of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers into the fabric of our nation. FIRM/FIRM Action recognizes all families including non-traditional families and LGBTQ families, who face another set of unique challenges in the fight for protections and justice.