Representative Bob Latta:
On behalf of the communities represented by La Conexion and The Northwest Ohio Immigrant Rights Network, we are disheartened by the letter sent by you and other Republican representatives earlier this month to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, published in the Sentinel Tribune on 11.1.21.
The rhetoric the letter makes use of is inaccurate and intentionally stands to criminalize immigrants and incite the general public against those in our communities who have both experienced migration or are perceived to be immigrants. We are therefore greatly concerned and urge a course correction.
Your language works to blur the lines between asylum seekers, desperate for a way out of crisis and threat, in with criminal activity, drug trafficking, and cartels to create an incorrect parallel.
This incorrect parallel inspires public fear of people who are the victims of the very “humanitarian crisis” you spoke of to the Sentinel-Tribune. The association of migrants and asylum seekers with “international criminal syndicates” feeds public misunderstanding and
tension.
Furthermore, continuing to identify migrants as “illegals” perpetuates stripping people of their humanity and, in doing so, defending treatment of them that is unjust. Migrants and asylum seekers are driven to desperate ends because the legal channels fall far short. Using discriminatory language and comparisons, like you have, works to devalue families separated and incarcerated without due process by our own United States government.
As a network that is heavily supported by a variety of faith communities, we must make you aware that the language you use in this letter is in sharp contrast with the spirit of welcoming the foreigner advocated by people of faith and all the major religions.
The reason that so many find themselves in an impossible situation with regard to our immigration system lies in the processes themselves. As you know, asylum seekers have no current expedient and equitable recourse within our current immigration system. The “proper legal channels,” of which you spoke to the Sentinel-Tribune earlier this month, remain elusive and inaccessible across the board for all those seeking refuge here.
We, your constituents, see your attention to be missing the heart of the matter entirely.
We need you and your fellow congressional representatives to begin the work of reforming our current national immigration system as a whole so that it serves everyone in our communities in its expedience, straightforwardness, equity, and human approach to migration.
You and our members of Congress even now still have an opportunity to open up paths to citizenship for over 11 million in this country. Options for paths to citizenship have been introduced to Congress for essential workers, farm workers, and others who have been the bedrock of our most crucial services during this pandemic. As our representative in Congress, you have power to create stability in our communities, solve our worker shortage crisis, and recognize those immigrants who are essential to our most basic needs in this country.
As your constituents, we call for immigration processes that do the following:
1) Recognize the incredible value immigrants have brought and continue to contribute to our country’s life by making the act of coming here and settling navigable, hospitable, and fair.
2) Recognize and humanely address the almost 12 million undocumented persons here in this country, upon whose labor our food systems and healthcare systems, among other indispensable industries, are sustained and grant them reasonable paths to citizenship.
3) Create stability for our communities via providing access to legal status for millions, allowing them the same open and equitable ability to contribute to our workforces and communal life.
More specific objectives we call for to advance to goals we have detailed here include:
a. A pathway to permanent residency and citizenship for those immigrants, Dreamers, asylees, and refugees who are already members and contributors of our community.
b. Proper attention to our local economies, addressing worker shortages and demographic needs
c. Decriminalizing migration and ensuring all immigrants equal rights, due process, and protections under the law.
d. Respecting the value of families, diversity and basic unman dignity. Children separated from their families should be immediately reunified.
e. Eliminating the entanglement between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement.
f. Increasing immigrant access to public services and opportunities for smoother integration, including access to driver’s licenses, language learning, educational opportunities, transportation and other key elements of successful integration.
We urge you and your fellow congressional representatives to hear and act upon this call from us, your constituents. Substantial immigration reform remains to be undertaken. To truly represent and serve your constituents as well as treat all peoples within and at our borders justly, we urge you to redirect your focus to these ends.
Additionally, we once again, offer ourselves as a resource to you to these ends and request a direct meeting with you.
With greatest urgency,
Beatriz Maya, Director Christina Yaniga, Coordinator
La Conexion Northwest Ohio Immigrant Rights Network
Bowling Green,
