When asked if the ACLU of MAINE will support an effort to bring about comprehensive immigration reform, my answer is always a very nuanced, “Well, sort of…” It’s a complicated answer because immigration is a complicated area of law.
No doubt, our immigration system is broken. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released two immigrants from ICE’s detention after a court found that the immigrants’ prolonged mandatory detention was illegal. While their release is a tremendous victory for the two individuals, their prolonged detention is one of many such cases, all of which highlight how flawed the immigration system is. And while the ACLU doesn’t have a position on a path to citizenship, we understand the interconnectedness of the path to citizenship and prolonged detention. Those aren’t the only two problems with the US immigration system either. Local police enforcing federal immigration law through ICE ACESS programs flaws our immigration system too. Furthermore, many who enter the immigration system are outright denied due process, like judges’ lack of discretion in immigration cases, which results in mandatory deportation laws that affect children and spouses of documented immigrants.
To further complicate the matter, no federal bill comes without compromise. Take the recent healthcare bill, which took a tremendous step back for women’s reproductive choices. Given the choices that members of Congress will have to make in the coming months, we hope the White House and Senator Schumer (D – NY) will develop a comprehensive immigration reform bill using civil liberties as guiding principles. What do we mean by this?
- Immigration reform must not create a national ID system. Calls for new and expensive electronic employment verification systems and biometric worker identification are thinly-disguised national ID requirements. It is unacceptable to force American workers to be fingerprinted or photographed in order to work. What’s worse is these ID systems do nothing to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers or resolve the nation’s immigration issues.
- ICE ACCESS Programs, or state and local law enforcement into immigration policy and enforcement, should be halted immediately. Thankfully, as far as the ACLU of MAINE knows today, there are no ICE ACCESS Programs in Maine. These programs lead to racial, ethnic and religious profiling and result in poor relationships between local law enforcement and immigrant communities.
- Immigration reform should be fair and ensure that the constitutional guarantee of due process for every person is fully respected and vigilantly protected. The Department of Homeland Security must be subject to effective oversight and judicial review. Every person, including immigrants, must have an absolute right to go to court to prevent arbitrary government action.
So yes, the ACLU wants a better immigration system, and we hope that the new system will vigilantly protect civil liberties and uphold the Constitution.