ADC Welcomes Obama Administration Decision on Immigration Reform

posted on: Apr 15, 2009

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) welcomes the decision by the Obama Administration to address the current flaws in our immigration system. News reports this past week indicated that President Obama will publicly address his plans for immigration reform in May. Immigration reform affects all immigrant communities, and ADC is proud to be working with a broad range of coalition partners to ensure that fair reform is a reality. ADC believes that reform should be comprehensive, promote economic opportunity, and provide for long term relief to the benefit of everyone involved.

The reform package must address the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. ADC believes that reform should create a registration system that will create a pathway for legal residency for these individuals, fix the immigration enforcement system; including provisions that put a stop to workplace and home raids, and reinstate our commitment to promoting family unity. It would also be beneficial for the Government to assist programs that teach immigrants English and basic civics. This should be a priority for the benefit of our national and economic interests.

ADC National Executive Director Kareem Shora said, “Any immigration reform package must include the end of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). This mandatory registration program forced tens of thousands of Muslims and Arabs to register with local immigration offices and resulted in the discriminatory application of our nation’s civil immigration laws based purely on national origin and religion,” said Shora, “It is time to return fairness and equal applications of the law to our nation’s immigration system.”

Recently ADC, in partnership with the Penn State Dickinson School of Law Center for Immigrants’ Rights, released a comprehensive report on NSEERS, including key-recommendations to the Obama Administration. The report, “NSEERS: The Consequences of America’s efforts to Secure Its Borders,” is the most comprehensive review of NSEERS to-date and can be read here: http://www.adc.org/PDF/nseerspaper.pdf.