The Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance is a multi-sector statewide network dedicated to building support for a sensible immigration policy.

Goal:
The goal of the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance is to form a common Texas voice and vision on immigration policy and educate our elected officials on the need to fix America’s broken immigration system with fair, humane and sensible policies that foster America’s strength, security and prosperity.

Objectives:
1. Connect Texas communities to each other to share struggles, hopes, and successes.
2. Share strategies and resources to educate Texans on comprehensive immigration reform.
3. Build capacity within the immigrant community to engage in the immigration reform debate.
4. Impact the national discussion on comprehensive immigration reform.
5. Educate the Texas Congressional Delegation on the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance principles for comprehensive immigration reform.

Reform Immigration for Texas Policy Principles

As our Texas Members of Congress take part in the discussions for comprehensive immigration reform, we ask that they take into consideration the following principles that were developed from the perspective of organizations, individuals, and communities that work and live side-by-side immigrant families in Texas.

Provide a Pathway to Citizenship. Undocumented immigrants are an integral part of the fabric of Texas and contribute significantly to its culture and economy. They work hard, pay taxes, and care for their community. An immigration reform program must include the opportunity for undocumented immigrants of good moral character already living in the United States to become legal permanent residents and eventually citizens. Immigrants currently under Temporary Protective Status (TPS) as well those who would have qualified under the DREAM Act or Agricultural Jobs legislation should be afforded the same opportunity. Any program that requires a “touchback” clause or a temporary worker status for undocumented immigrants already in the country is unacceptable. An immigration reform program should not lead the country toward a national identification system. We must strive for a program that sets forth clear and sensible requirements for undocumented immigrants and maintains the integrity of our country’s civil and constitutional rights.

Keep Families Together. Our current immigration system keeps families apart and limits the venues for legalization. Our immigration policy should reunite families by ending the current “backlogs” that keep family members waiting for years to immigrate. Section 245(i) of the Immigration & National Act should be reactivated to allow qualifying family members of legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens to pay a fee and stay in the country while waiting for the processing of their immigration documents. The Child Status Protection Act should be extended to cover children of legal permanent who would otherwise age out of immigration benefits their parents submitted before they were 21 years of age. A new program should eliminate the three- and ten-year bars that prevent family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents from regulating their immigration status.

Respect Civil Liberties and Rights. The U.S. Constitutions upholds the protection of an individual’s civil liberties and human rights, but unfair policies and practices have continuously stripped undocumented and legal immigrants of these rights. The reform of immigration laws must include the restoration of due process rights and access to courts and adequate legal representation. New legislation should also call for the review of privately run detention centers, an end to indefinite detention and seek alternatives to detention as a means to enforce a civil administrative process. Our immigration policy must foster an environment of equality by guaranteeing equal access to education, healthcare, and housing, and protecting the economic and labor rights of all, citizen and immigrant. New plans for employment verification must avoid the collection of biometric information, as these systems neither prevent the hiring of undocumented workers nor resolve the nation’s immigration issues.

Community Security. Building safe and secure communities necessitates the trust of local communities, including immigrant communities, in law enforcement bodies. The enforcement of immigration laws should be left to the appropriate federal authorities. Requiring local police and jail to enforce immigration law and act as immigration agents is expensive and diverts attention and resources from curbing violence and crime. Immigrant communities play in an important role in preventing acts of terrorism, drug violence and crime. However, immigrants and U.S. citizens with immigrant family members will be less willing to report crimes if their safety is jeopardized. Comprehensive immigration reform requires a new enforcement strategy that would eliminate ICE ACCESS, an initiative that uses local criminal justice systems to identify, detain and deport “criminal aliens.” The Criminal Alien Program, Secure Communities and 287g agreements– the most notorious ACCESS programs– lack clear oversight and criminalize people with only minor violations. This new strategy should also end indiscriminate raids in homes and at the workplace that tear families and communities apart.

Establish a Responsible and Accountable Border Policy. Policies that relate to the border should encompass a new vision that takes into account the concerns and needs of border residents through a consultation process. We must strive for border policies that bolster the safety and security of our nation and also uphold the highest regard for civil and human rights of border communities and residents. A sensible border enforcement policy must balance enforcement with regional economic prosperity and the respect for local communities by establishing clear accountability systems and transparent oversight through the creation of a Border Enforcement Review Commission. A new border strategy policy must move away from further expansion or construction of the border fence and limit heightened military authority in border communities. Our national security is best sustained with reasonable and fiscally sound border policies that strengthen and protect the rights of border residents and immigrants.

Support Immigrant Integration. With every new generation, children of immigrants integrate and incorporate in America’s culture and values. Nonetheless, the process of integration should not take generations but ought to be facilitated by funded programs that provide the opportunity to learn English, American history and civics, and cultural and community norms and adaptations. The support of immigrant integration is a means to achieve greater prosperity for our nation.

Develop a Practical System for Future Workers. Our immigration system requires a long-term approach that recognizes the need for workers at all levels of our economy and respects the basic right to privacy for both U.S. citizens and immigrant workers. This should include the immediate increase in the number of visas for short-term workers but must also formulate a completely new workers’ program. A new program must ensure future workers’ economic and labor rights to guarantee equal protections among American and immigrant workers, and provide an opportunity for legal permanent status.

Address the Root Causes of Migration. In the long term, concrete steps must be taken to tackle the causes of migration. As an influential world leader, the United States can play a significant role in assessing and addressing the larger global economic and political structures that cause people to migrate.