ACTION: The Time is Now for Fair Immigration Reform

Yesterday we proudly joined the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and thousands of people who came together in Maine, DC and around the nation to call for fair immigration reform. It was incredible to be surrounded by recent immigrants, new citizens, businesspeople and faith leaders who all had their own reasons for being there - from protecting workers rights to the size of Maine's labor force, from the desire to be a contributing member of society to a personal, moral imperative.

As lawmakers in D.C. begin to wrap up months of negotiations, an immigration reform bill could be introduced any day. We at the ACLU believe that immigration reform must create a welcoming roadmap to citizenship for aspiring Americans living in and contributing to the United States. Fundamental fairness as guaranteed by the Constitution requires that these individuals be brought within the legal embrace of U.S. citizenship.
 
If you agree, click here to add your voice to the movement by emailing Maine’s congressional delegation and telling them that immigration reform must protect civil liberties.
 
Here are the priorities we’d like them to keep in mind:
 
·      Immigration reform must not create a national ID system or include measures that harm fundamental privacy rights.
 
·      Immigration reform must end state and local intrusions into immigration policy and enforcement, and ban racial profiling at all levels of government.
 
·      Immigration reform must address systemic due process problems with immigration detention and deportation.
 
·      Immigration reform must transform border enforcement, which has grown wastefully and abusively without regard for genuine public safety.
 
·      Immigration reform must address America’s mass incarceration problem, include no new criminal provisions, and end overreliance on criminal prosecutions.
 
·      Immigration reform must include the ability of committed and loving people in same-sex relationships to sponsor their spouse or partner in the same way opposite couples have long been able to.
 
When it comes to immigration reform that protects civil liberties for all, the time is now.
 
If you agree, click here to take action today.