GA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE RELEASES REPORT ON IMMIGRATION REFORM
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
Sent on behalf of the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, State Advisory Committee in Georgia
Media Contact: Jerry González, GALEO Executive Director and Chairman of the State Advisory Committee in Georgia: Tel.: (404) 745-2580 / Email: Jerry@2014old.galeo.org
September 3, 2014 (ATLANTA, GA) – The Georgia Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights released today a report on immigration reform. In its report to the Commission, the Georgia Advisory Committee urged the Congress and the President to act without further delay to permanently reform the nation’s broken immigration system.
In issuing its report, the Georgia Advisory Committee recommends that the Commission address this issue as a priority, and urges members of the Georgia Congressional to join with the Commission in reforming the country’s immigration laws in a manner that will improve public safety, provide fairness and equal opportunity in the market place, maintain family unity, allow for the children of undocumented immigrants to aspire to higher education, and permit the free expression of religion.
In making its recommendation, the Georgia Advisory Committee found that delay at the federal level to address this issue is compromising essential civil rights, while also weakening the essential social, economic, and moral fabric of the overall society.
The Georgia Advisory Committee finds current immigration laws and their enforcement serve to undermine the essential trust between law enforcement officials and the public. The result is less safe and secure environments. This in turn has placed both law-abiding persons in greater individual peril, and the community at large at greater risk for harm given the lack of cooperation between the community and the police.
In addition, the Georgia Advisory Committee finds current immigration laws and their enforcement subvert market efficiency. Employers who attempt to act in accordance with the nation’s immigration laws and abide by worker laws are at a competitive disadvantage with those who use the current situation as a shield to gain an un-fair competitive advantage. In turn, employees invited to come or remain in the country in an authorized manner by such employers are left defenseless to illegal workplace abuse.
The Georgia Advisory Committee also finds parents are being deported and their children placed in foster care. As a result, current immigration law enforcement is unnecessarily dividing parents from children and causes many families-children and adults alike-to live in constant fear.
Concluding, the Georgia Advisory Committee finds current immigration laws and their incumbent mandates to report undocumented immigrants to civil authorities place many persons-especially from a faith perspective-in a difficult moral position. Their essential morality compels compassion to the downtrodden. Their respect for just civil authority compels an adherence to a Nation’s laws. The immigration laws of a nation should not force persons to live outside their moral convictions.
Jerry Gonzalez, Chairman of the Georgia Advisory Committee, states, “The issue of immigration reform is certainly an issue of great national importance. Leaving the issue unresolved creates serious civil rights concerns as some local and state jurisdictions attempt to fill a void created by inaction in Congress. The Georgia Advisory Committee worked long and hard to present this report for further consideration by Georgia’s Congressional delegation. The time for a resolution on immigration reform is now and we urge movement forward of workable solutions from our Congress.”
The United States Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan fact-finding agency of the Federal Government. The Commission is charged with the responsibility to study and collect information concerning the denial of the right to vote and equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. State Advisory Committees are established in each state as part of the Commission to examine issues under the jurisdiction of the Commission within their states.
In addition to the chair of the Georgia Advisory Committee, Jerry Gonzalez, other members of the Georgia Advisory Committee are: Samuel Burch (Atlanta), Helen Butler (Atlanta), Constance Curry (Atlanta), Julius Wayne Dudley (Atlanta), Joseph Knippenberg (Dunwoody), Peter Lawler (Lindale), John Mayes (Rome), Jamala McFadden (Atlanta), Stephanie Miller (Macon), Justin Pressley (Gainesville), Melody Rodriguez (Savannah), Arch Stokes (College Park), and Jeffrey Tapia (Marietta).
The report is posted on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights website at www.usccr.gov. A print version of the full report is also available from the Southern Regional Office of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and can be obtained by contacting the Southern Regional Office of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Suite 16T126, Atlanta, GA 30303.
Here is a link to the report online: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/GA_SAC_Immigration-Report-Final.pdf
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This press release was sent in cooperation with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.