The Golden Door: August 2021
Legal and Policy Issues
We are closely monitoring state and federal immigration law and policy. Please check our social media accounts for more frequent updates.
Dear ILAP Community,
The last few weeks have been heartbreaking and heavy. ILAP stands in solidarity with Afghan families amidst this humanitarian crisis.
Once again, I am inspired by ILAP staff and those across Maine, especially the Afghan community and other immigrant leaders, who have worked quickly and collectively to respond to an extremely difficult situation. Since the collapse of the Afghan government, Afghan families in Maine have been desperate to help their family members in Afghanistan evacuate to the U.S. Amid increasing uncertainty and up against an ill-prepared immigration system, ILAP staff have provided more than 15 consultations (and counting) to discuss legal cases for 50 family members in Afghanistan.
We are doing what we can for individual families while advocating for the Biden administration to protect all Afghans at risk. I echo the words of Legal Director Phil Mantis who said, "I really hope that the Biden administration or, if necessary, Congress acts swiftly to help these individuals with the dire consequences of the U.S. military campaign."
Maine families with loved ones in Afghanistan can email ILAP at info@ilapmaine.org (with “Afghanistan” in the subject line) or call (207) 699-4415 (be sure to mention Afghanistan if you leave a message) to get a consult with an attorney. Visit https://ilapmaine.org/afghanistan for more resources.
For those wishing to help, check out this Amjambo Africa article. Thank you!
With gratitude,
Sue Roche, Esq.
Executive Director
CALL TO ACTION: Urge Maine's Congressional Delegation to Support Pathway To Citizenship In Reconciliation Package
Our immigration laws need to be rewritten. Thousands of Mainers are unable to secure a work permit and face potential deportation every day, simply because of where they were born. Fixing our harmful immigration system will make our country a safer, more prosperous place. Unfortunately, Congress has not been able to deliver this for the last several decades, and the system is full of backlogged immigration applications, separated families, and a workforce that has not unlocked its full potential.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act with bipartisan support. These bills would provide a path to citizenship to Dreamers, Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, as well as farmworkers and their immediate family members. However, these bills have gone nowhere in the Senate, despite approximately 70 percent of Americans supporting a pathway to permanent status for undocumented people in our country.
Budget reconciliation is a process to avoid the Senate filibuster and is the only feasible way forward. This month, the House and the Senate passed a budget resolution which includes a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, DED and TPS holders, farmworkers, and essential workers. This passage clears a big legislative hurdle to move forward with budget reconciliation.
This is the year to deliver a pathway to citizenship. Call Maine's congressional delegation today and urge them to support a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation package.
Read more about the importance of passing a budget bill that includes a pathway to citizenship in this Portland Press Herald editorial.
Call:
📞 Sen. Susan Collins: (202) 224-2523
📞 Sen. Angus King: (202) 224-5344
📞 Rep. Chellie Pingree: (202) 225-6116
📞 Rep. Jared Golden: (202) 225-6306
If you live outside of Maine, you can find your representatives here.
Supreme Court Upholds Order Requiring US To Reinstate "Remain in Mexico" Policy
This month, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's order requiring the US to reinstate the "Remain in Mexico" policy (the MPP program).
This inhumane and unlawful Trump-era policy forcibly returned asylum seekers to Mexico to wait for their immigration court hearings after they sought asylum at the southern border. By forcing families fleeing violence to await their hearings in border cities in Mexico, these families were exposed to violence, torture, and kidnapping. Families also could not obtain legal representation (only 7 percent of families had attorneys), making it nearly impossible to win an asylum case. By December 2020, only 638 people were granted relief by an immigration court out of over 42,000 MPP cases.
President Biden had phased out the MPP program as one of his first actions upon taking office. ILAP demands the Biden administration to take all actions necessary to permanently end MPP.
Maine Legislative Session Wrap Up
ILAP was proud to join advocacy efforts this Maine legislative session to advance more just and equitable policies in our state. As a result of the sustained advocacy of many, we successfully passed legislation to expand immigrant rights and advance racial and criminal justice, while soundly defeating xenophobic proposals.
“This was an unprecedented legislative session and turbulent time. Despite this crisis, the leadership of organizations like Presente! Maine, Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, ACLU of Maine, Maine Equal Justice, Preble Street, Maine Youth Justice, and countless others, allowed us to fight to ensure that immigrants are valued and treated justly in our communities. Our legislative outcomes are a reflection of that work,” said Advocacy and Outreach Director Julia Brown.
ILAP thanks Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross, Rep. Victoria Morales, Rep. Kristen Cloutier, Rep. Grayson Lookner, Rep. Michael Sylvester, and other supportive legislators for advocating for immigrants and helping move Maine toward racial equity. We are also grateful to all of you for stepping up to testify and advocate for the rights of immigrants this session. Together, we accomplished a lot, thank you!
Learn more about the outcomes of the 2021 Maine legislative session here!
ILAP's Facebook Live Workshops are Back!
We are excited to announce that our online workshop series is back. ILAP Attorney Felix Hagenimana will once again be joined by local interpreters to present in detail on an immigration topic and answer questions live.
Our first new topic is "Consequences of Criminal Charges on Your Immigration Status," presented in Lingala, Portuguese, Spanish, Kirundi/Kinyarwanda, French, and English. Find the full workshop schedule here and join us every Thursday afternoon at 4pm EST on Facebook Live! All workshops are recorded and can be found on our Facebook page.
Join ILAP's Team!
ILAP is seeking a full-time staff attorney with significant removal defense experience.
The attorney’s primary role will be to provide legal representation to low-income clients in a wide range of immigration matters. The anticipated caseload is heavy on removal defense cases, especially asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief. We welcome attorneys and qualified candidates with full DOJ accreditation to apply.
ILAP is committed to having a respectful, collaborative, and equitable work environment, with equal opportunity for all employees. We strongly encourage applications from people of color, immigrants, and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups. We believe that having a diverse and equitable organization strengthens our programming and services and advances our organizational values.
Review of applications will begin on September 10, 2021 and will continue until the position is filled. We look forward to reading your applications!
A Closer Look
This section of the Golden Door takes “a closer look” at immigration using an intersectional lens based on a monthly theme. Let us know what you think!
Labor: Past and Present
Labor Day has been celebrated since the 1880s and was signed into federal law after the 1894 Pullman Strike in Chicago, an action that has since been described as a “conciliatory gesture at a time of crisis.” As we approach this holiday that celebrates working class people and the hard-won victories of the labor movement, it’s important to recognize the unpaid, underpaid, and slave labor that built our country and sustain it to this day.
Similar to the practice of land acknowledgements, “labor acknowledgments” are becoming more common. As Dr. Terah ‘TJ’ Stewart explains, labor acknowledgments are a way to “collectively begin to acknowledge the historical labor that has allowed our society to get and be where it is today,” including enslaved African labor and the contributions of immigrants and people of color. Atlantic Black Box and artists from Indigo Arts Alliance, among others, have shed light on the legacy of slavery here in Maine and the ways in which our communities have been built on the labor and wealth generated by slavery.
Black and Brown people are still disproportionately represented in dangerous and un/underpaid jobs, with immigrants among the most vulnerable. Many workers face abuse at work or experience wage theft, an insidious practice by employers across many sectors of withholding wages, underpaying workers, or otherwise not honoring labor laws. In 2019, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) estimated that close to 20,000 workers in Maine experienced wage theft that year.
Worker-driven initiatives like the unionization of Maine Medical Center nurses, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program and other strikes and demonstrations, often led by communities of color, continue the fight for worker justice today.
Keep Learning:
Diverse: On Labor Acknowledgements and Honoring the Sacrifice of Black Americans
Needham Area Immigration Justice Task Force: Wage Theft
Maine Beacon: Stories from the session: Labor leader says workers made gains, must organize for deeper change
Support:
Southern Maine Workers’ Center: Supporting and advancing the health and well-being of working-class people in Maine
Worker Support Hotline: (207) 888-1010
Mano en Mano: Supporting Latinx and Farmworker communities to live and thrive in Maine
Atlantic Black Box: Researching and reckoning with New England’s role in the global economy of enslavement
ILAP is learning alongside you. Do you have other resources to share? Feedback, questions? We would love to hear from you! Emailsbarton@ilapmaine.org.
Join Prosperity Maine for September Block Party!
ILAP is proud to be among the sponsors of Prosperity Maine's upcoming Community Block Party on September 16th! We are inspired by the organization's commitment to advancing economic equity for immigrants in Maine and excited to support their work. We hope you'll join us!
Click here to reserve your tickets today. All guests will be encouraged to wear masks, socially distance and use hand sanitizer.