PROGRESSIVE PLAYBOOK > IMMIGRATION

CORE MESSAGE

No matter where we come from, what our color is, or how we worship, we work hard for our families and our future. Immigrants have always been a core part of the American story. But certain politicians are attacking people seeking safety at our border to distract us from their failure to unrig our economy. These politicians and the special interests who fund them try to use hate and fear to divide us, but we aren’t fooled. Families looking for a better life help make our country and our economy vibrant and strong.

We know that tearing families apart, caging children, and turning our backs on refugees seeking safety isn’t making us stronger. We need to join together across our differences to create fair immigration laws that treat each person with dignity, provide a clear process for newcomers to participate equally in our society, become citizens, and make this a country that honors all families.

WATCH IT IN ACTION

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POLLING + Fast Facts

AMERICANS SUPPORT COMPASSIONATE AND JUST IMMIGRATION POLICIES

79% of voters support Republicans and Democrats working together on immigration reforms that strengthen border security, create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, and ensure a legal, reliable workforce for America’s farmers and ranchers

WE ARE PAYING A STEEP PRICE

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) manages the largest immigration detention system in the world and spends more on immigration enforcement than on all other federal enforcement agencies combined.

IT HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY

The use of detention to enforce civil immigration laws is relatively new — as recently as the 1980s, it was extremely unusual for immigrants to be detained during their immigration proceedings.

THERE ARE BETTER WAYS

Studies of dozens of alternatives to detention have found community-based programming works without traumatizing and separating families, while costing up to 80% less than detention.

BLACK IMMIGRANTS ARE DOUBLY TARGETED

Black immigrants face the brunt of the criminalization of immigration. More than 1 in 5 non-citizen immigrants targeted for deportation on criminal grounds is Black, even though Black immigrants only make up 5% of the non-citizen population.

Words that Work

Families belong together.

… fair and compassionate immigration processes…

Today, as always, people move to make life better for themselves and their families.

We need policies that honor the humanity of immigrants, and recognize their contributions as members of our communities, our neighbors and coworkers, taxpayers and innovators.

We must expand the roadmap to citizenship to ensure that it is realistic, achievable, and fair for families.

No matter where someone came from or how they arrived in the United States, their life matters and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Policies that rip apart families or put refugees in harm's way are cruel, unnecessary, and intentional.

We need to build an economy that creates good paying jobs and gives everyone a fair shot to succeed no matter where they were born. Instead of continuing to reward big corporations and the ultra wealthy, we need to reward hard work and the people who collectively make this country stronger.

People with the courage and tenacity to move in search of a better life…

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Tools + Resources

For more information, we have included the following additional resources below. These resources do not necessarily reflect the policy positions of the Progressive Caucus Action Fund.