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Red Cards
The Red Cards were created to help both citizens and noncitizens defend themselves against constitutional violations during ICE raids. These cards provide citizens and noncitizens with information about how to assert their constitution rights and an explanation for ICE agents that the individuals are indeed asserting their constitutional rights. A Bay Area-specific version of the Know Your Rights Card is available free of charge to non-profit organizations within the following nine counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Solano, Sonoma, and Napa. If you will be distributing the cards to immigrants in these counties, please send your inquiry to redcards@ilrc.org. Learn more about the RED CARDS |
Why We Come - Por Que Venimos - The film
In Por Que Venimos (Why We Come), Latin American migrants living in San Rafael's Canal district tell why they left their homes to endure the arduous journey to El Norte, the United States.
These powerful, often heartbreaking, yet always stirring and inspiring stories offer an intimate look at lives lived at the outer limits of poverty and at the extraordinary courage of ordinary people as they take great risks seeking a better life for their families, especially for their children.
These powerful, often heartbreaking, yet always stirring and inspiring stories offer an intimate look at lives lived at the outer limits of poverty and at the extraordinary courage of ordinary people as they take great risks seeking a better life for their families, especially for their children.
POR QUE VENIMOS DISCUSSION GUIDE
Developed by Jim Rice and the Marin Immigrant Rights Coalition
These questions might prove useful in facilitating a discussion about the film.
1. What did the people in the film say about feeling compelled to leave their familiar home surroundings, communities and families to come to the U.S.?
• find work to earn enough money to feed and clothe their families and themselves
• find work to earn enough money to provide an education for their children
2. Talk about the mother who left her children in Guatemala to earn money so that they could go to school. What did her daughter say when the mom asked whether she should leave or stay?
3. Why was that woman’s husband murdered?
4. What details stand out to you about the conditions people were enduring at home? What work did they do? What kinds of houses did they live in? What about schooling? Medical care?
5. Explain how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) affect people’s lives south of the border and encourage migration.
• eliminates rural credit so people can’t get loans for seeds and fertilizer
• allows dumping of subsidized U.S. corn on foreign markets, undermining
local farmers who can’t compete with the cheap prices and give up farming
(Recall the man who said he sold his corn at a low price, then when his family needed food, he had to buy corn for more than he had sold it for.)
• allows big companies like Wal-Mart to come in and undersell local businesses, forcing them to close, with resulting unemployment
6. What has happened at the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of the 2-3 million farmers who have been forced to leave their land since NAFTA and CAFTA went into effect?
• thousands of businesses and factories (maquilas) opened, paying sweatshop wages to employ out-of-work farmers and others
7. What happened to those maquilas and those workers when China began offering even cheaper labor?
• they closed and employees were out of work again
8. What do you imagine has happened to the communities the migrants have left behind?
9. Since NAFTA went into effect 6 million migrants from Mexico and Central America have entered the U.S. Is illegal immigration an unanticipated consequence of U.S. trade policies. Do businesses in the U.S. benefit from the migrants entering this country without papers? What did David Bacon have to say about this?
• it is an anticipated/planned-for consequence to get cheap laborers
10. David Bacon said that undocumented workers are extremely vulnerable, and thus desirable for U.S. companies to employ. What did he mean by that?
11. Why can’t those who are forced to migrate get visas to enter the U.S.?
• David Bacon said visas “are simply not available”
12. How much did some people pay a coyote to lead them across the border?
• one person said $5,000, which doubled with the interest; another said $7,000
13. 500-600 (is this the number David Bacon used?) migrants die each year when crossing the Mexico-U.S. border. What dangers do migrants face when crossing without documents? What details do you remember from some of the crossing stories?
14. Can you imagine being poor and desperate enough to risk your life for a chance at improving your children’s lives?
15. Once migrants have successfully crossed the border, are they safe? What dangers do they continue to face?
16. When migrants arrive here, do they find steady work? Did anybody in the film have a steady job? What kinds of jobs did some of them say they did? What about the man who said he had 20 years experience in construction?
17. Name some of the places where you have seen migrants working in Marin and the Bay Area. What did David Bacon say are the most migrant-dependent industries in the U.S.?
• construction, agriculture, meat packing, janitorial and building services
18. What did David Bacon say about how the vulnerability of workers benefits businesses in the U.S.? What did he say about the Boston Tea Party and those who make an economic contribution having political rights?
19. Have you or your family ever hired migrant workers? What did you hire them to do? How much did you pay them?
20. One woman said the person who employed her in the U.S. didn’t pay her $7,000. Do you think it’s common for undocumented workers to be cheated like that? Have you heard similar stories? Why don’t they take their cases to court?
21. What impressions did you get of the Canal community where most of the migrants live? What stories have you heard about the Canal community? Have you ever been to the Canal area? For what purpose?
22. Did you get the impression from what you saw in the film that migrants make significant contributions to the economic and cultural life of Marin and the Bay Area? What are some of those contributions?
23. What do you know about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? What is an ICE raid? What stories have you heard about ICE raids in Marin or elsewhere? What happened to the migrants who were taken away? What happened to their families and children? Do you think such actions are justifiable? Why or why not?
24. What policy changes could the U.S. government implement that would benefit immigrants to this country and that would improve conditions in their home countries?
25. What actions could we as individuals and members of our community participate in to change policy locally, statewide, and nationally?
These questions might prove useful in facilitating a discussion about the film.
1. What did the people in the film say about feeling compelled to leave their familiar home surroundings, communities and families to come to the U.S.?
• find work to earn enough money to feed and clothe their families and themselves
• find work to earn enough money to provide an education for their children
2. Talk about the mother who left her children in Guatemala to earn money so that they could go to school. What did her daughter say when the mom asked whether she should leave or stay?
3. Why was that woman’s husband murdered?
4. What details stand out to you about the conditions people were enduring at home? What work did they do? What kinds of houses did they live in? What about schooling? Medical care?
5. Explain how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) affect people’s lives south of the border and encourage migration.
• eliminates rural credit so people can’t get loans for seeds and fertilizer
• allows dumping of subsidized U.S. corn on foreign markets, undermining
local farmers who can’t compete with the cheap prices and give up farming
(Recall the man who said he sold his corn at a low price, then when his family needed food, he had to buy corn for more than he had sold it for.)
• allows big companies like Wal-Mart to come in and undersell local businesses, forcing them to close, with resulting unemployment
6. What has happened at the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of the 2-3 million farmers who have been forced to leave their land since NAFTA and CAFTA went into effect?
• thousands of businesses and factories (maquilas) opened, paying sweatshop wages to employ out-of-work farmers and others
7. What happened to those maquilas and those workers when China began offering even cheaper labor?
• they closed and employees were out of work again
8. What do you imagine has happened to the communities the migrants have left behind?
9. Since NAFTA went into effect 6 million migrants from Mexico and Central America have entered the U.S. Is illegal immigration an unanticipated consequence of U.S. trade policies. Do businesses in the U.S. benefit from the migrants entering this country without papers? What did David Bacon have to say about this?
• it is an anticipated/planned-for consequence to get cheap laborers
10. David Bacon said that undocumented workers are extremely vulnerable, and thus desirable for U.S. companies to employ. What did he mean by that?
11. Why can’t those who are forced to migrate get visas to enter the U.S.?
• David Bacon said visas “are simply not available”
12. How much did some people pay a coyote to lead them across the border?
• one person said $5,000, which doubled with the interest; another said $7,000
13. 500-600 (is this the number David Bacon used?) migrants die each year when crossing the Mexico-U.S. border. What dangers do migrants face when crossing without documents? What details do you remember from some of the crossing stories?
14. Can you imagine being poor and desperate enough to risk your life for a chance at improving your children’s lives?
15. Once migrants have successfully crossed the border, are they safe? What dangers do they continue to face?
16. When migrants arrive here, do they find steady work? Did anybody in the film have a steady job? What kinds of jobs did some of them say they did? What about the man who said he had 20 years experience in construction?
17. Name some of the places where you have seen migrants working in Marin and the Bay Area. What did David Bacon say are the most migrant-dependent industries in the U.S.?
• construction, agriculture, meat packing, janitorial and building services
18. What did David Bacon say about how the vulnerability of workers benefits businesses in the U.S.? What did he say about the Boston Tea Party and those who make an economic contribution having political rights?
19. Have you or your family ever hired migrant workers? What did you hire them to do? How much did you pay them?
20. One woman said the person who employed her in the U.S. didn’t pay her $7,000. Do you think it’s common for undocumented workers to be cheated like that? Have you heard similar stories? Why don’t they take their cases to court?
21. What impressions did you get of the Canal community where most of the migrants live? What stories have you heard about the Canal community? Have you ever been to the Canal area? For what purpose?
22. Did you get the impression from what you saw in the film that migrants make significant contributions to the economic and cultural life of Marin and the Bay Area? What are some of those contributions?
23. What do you know about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? What is an ICE raid? What stories have you heard about ICE raids in Marin or elsewhere? What happened to the migrants who were taken away? What happened to their families and children? Do you think such actions are justifiable? Why or why not?
24. What policy changes could the U.S. government implement that would benefit immigrants to this country and that would improve conditions in their home countries?
25. What actions could we as individuals and members of our community participate in to change policy locally, statewide, and nationally?
Top 10 Immigration Myths and Facts
Myth Immigrants don’t pay taxes.
Fact All immigrants pay taxes, whether income, property, sales, or other. As far as income tax payments go, sources vary in their accounts, but a range of studies find that immigrants pay between $90 and $140 billion a year in federal, state, and local
taxes. Even undocumented immigrants pay income taxes, as evidenced by the Social Security Administration’s “suspense file” (taxes that cannot be matched to workers’ names and social security numbers), which grew $20 billion between 1990 and 1998.
Source - National Academy of Sciences, Cato Institute, Urban Institute, Social Security Administration
______________________
Myth Immigrants come here to take welfare.
Fact Immigrants come to work and reunite with family members. Immigrant labor force participation is consistently higher than native-born, and immigrant workers make up a larger share of the U.S. labor force (12.4%) than they do the U.S. population (11.5%). Moreover, the ratio between immigrant use of public benefits and the amount of taxes they pay is consistently favorable to the U.S., unless the “study” was undertaken by an
anti-immigrant group. In one estimate, immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, pay about $90 billion a year in taxes, and use about $5 billion in public benefits. In another cut of the data, immigrant tax payments total $20 to $30 billion more than the amount of government services they use. Due to welfare reform, legal immigrants are severely restricted from accessing public benefits, and undocumented immigrants are even further precluded from anything other than emergency services. Anti-immigrant groups skew these figures by including programs used by U.S. citizen children of immigrants in their definition of immigrant welfare use, among other tactics.
Source - American Immigration Lawyers Association, Urban Institute
__________________________
Myth Immigrants send all their money back to their home countries.
Fact In addition to the consumer spending of immigrant households, immigrants and their businesses contribute $162 billion in tax revenue to U.S. federal, state, and local governments. While it is true that immigrants remit billions of dollars a year to their
home countries, this is one of the most targeted and effective forms of direct foreign investment.
Source - Cato Institute, Inter-American Development Bank
_______________________
Myth Immigrants take jobs and opportunity away from Americans.
Fact The largest wave of immigration to the U.S. since the early 1900s coincided with our lowest national unemployment rate and fastest economic growth. Immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs for U.S. and foreign workers, and foreign-born students
allow many U.S. graduate programs to keep their doors open. While there has been no comprehensive study done of immigrant-owned businesses, we have countless examples: in Silicon Valley, companies begun by Chinese and Indian immigrants generated more than $19.5 billion in sales and nearly 73,000 jobs in 2000.
Source - Brookings Institution
______________________
Myth Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy.
Fact During the 1990s, half of all new workers were foreign-born, filling gaps left by native-born workers in both the high- and low-skill ends of the spectrum. Immigrants fill jobs in key sectors, start their own businesses, and contribute to a thriving economy. The net benefit of immigration to the U.S. is nearly $10 billion annually. As Alan Greenspan points out, 70% of immigrants arrive in prime working age. That means we haven’t spent a penny on their education, yet they are transplanted into our workforce and will contribute $500 billion toward our social security system over the next 20 years.
Source National Academy of Sciences, Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeaster University, Federal Reserve
______________________
Myth Immigrants don’t want to learn English or become U.S. citizens.
Fact Within ten years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants speak English well; moreover, demand for English classes at the adult level far exceeds supply. Greater than 33% of immigrants are naturalized citizens; given increased immigration in the 1990s,
this figure will rise as more legal permanent residents become eligible for naturalization in the coming years. The number of immigrants naturalizing spiked sharply after two events: enactment of immigration and welfare reform laws in 1996, and
the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services)
______________________
Myth Today’s immigrants are different than those of 100 years ago
Fact The percentage of the U.S. population that is foreign-born now stands at 11.5%; in the early 20th century it was approximately 15%. Similar to accusations about today’s immigrants, those of 100 years ago initially often settled in mono-ethnic neighborhoods, spoke their native languages, and built up newspapers and businesses that catered to their fellow émigrés. They also experienced the same types of discrimination that today’s immigrants face, and integrated within American culture at a similar rate. If we view history objectively, we remember that every new wave of immigrants has been met with
suspicion and doubt and yet, ultimately, every past wave of immigrants has been vindicated and saluted.
Source U.S. Census Bureau
________________________
Myth Most immigrants cross the border illegally.
Fact Around 75% have legal permanent (immigrant) visas; of the 25% that are undocumented, 40% overstayed temporary (non- immigrant) visas.
Source INS Statistical Yearbook
_________________________
Myth Weak U.S. border enforcement has lead to high undocumented immigration.
Fact From 1986 to 1998, the Border Patrol’s budget increased six-fold and the number of agents stationed on our southwest border doubled to 8,500. The Border Patrol also toughened its enforcement strategy, heavily fortifying typical urban entry points and pushing migrants into dangerous desert areas, in hopes of deterring crossings. Instead, the undocumented immigrant population doubled in that timeframe, to 8 million--
despite the legalization of nearly 3 million immigrants after the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. Insufficient legal avenues for immigrants to enter the U.S., compared with the number of jobs available to them, have
created this current conundrum.
Source Cato Institute
_______________________
Myth The war on terrorism can be won through immigration restrictions
Fact No security expert since September 11th, 2001 has said that restrictive immigration measures would have prevented the terrorist attacks—instead, the key is good use of good intelligence. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were here on legal visas. Since 9/11, the myriad of measures targeting immigrants in the name of national security have netted no terrorism prosecutions. In fact, several of these measures could have the opposite effect and actually make us less safe, as targeted communities of immigrants are afraid to come forward with information.
Source - Newspaper articles, various security experts, and think tanks.
Prepared by the National Immigration Forum, June 2003
Fact All immigrants pay taxes, whether income, property, sales, or other. As far as income tax payments go, sources vary in their accounts, but a range of studies find that immigrants pay between $90 and $140 billion a year in federal, state, and local
taxes. Even undocumented immigrants pay income taxes, as evidenced by the Social Security Administration’s “suspense file” (taxes that cannot be matched to workers’ names and social security numbers), which grew $20 billion between 1990 and 1998.
Source - National Academy of Sciences, Cato Institute, Urban Institute, Social Security Administration
______________________
Myth Immigrants come here to take welfare.
Fact Immigrants come to work and reunite with family members. Immigrant labor force participation is consistently higher than native-born, and immigrant workers make up a larger share of the U.S. labor force (12.4%) than they do the U.S. population (11.5%). Moreover, the ratio between immigrant use of public benefits and the amount of taxes they pay is consistently favorable to the U.S., unless the “study” was undertaken by an
anti-immigrant group. In one estimate, immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, pay about $90 billion a year in taxes, and use about $5 billion in public benefits. In another cut of the data, immigrant tax payments total $20 to $30 billion more than the amount of government services they use. Due to welfare reform, legal immigrants are severely restricted from accessing public benefits, and undocumented immigrants are even further precluded from anything other than emergency services. Anti-immigrant groups skew these figures by including programs used by U.S. citizen children of immigrants in their definition of immigrant welfare use, among other tactics.
Source - American Immigration Lawyers Association, Urban Institute
__________________________
Myth Immigrants send all their money back to their home countries.
Fact In addition to the consumer spending of immigrant households, immigrants and their businesses contribute $162 billion in tax revenue to U.S. federal, state, and local governments. While it is true that immigrants remit billions of dollars a year to their
home countries, this is one of the most targeted and effective forms of direct foreign investment.
Source - Cato Institute, Inter-American Development Bank
_______________________
Myth Immigrants take jobs and opportunity away from Americans.
Fact The largest wave of immigration to the U.S. since the early 1900s coincided with our lowest national unemployment rate and fastest economic growth. Immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs for U.S. and foreign workers, and foreign-born students
allow many U.S. graduate programs to keep their doors open. While there has been no comprehensive study done of immigrant-owned businesses, we have countless examples: in Silicon Valley, companies begun by Chinese and Indian immigrants generated more than $19.5 billion in sales and nearly 73,000 jobs in 2000.
Source - Brookings Institution
______________________
Myth Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy.
Fact During the 1990s, half of all new workers were foreign-born, filling gaps left by native-born workers in both the high- and low-skill ends of the spectrum. Immigrants fill jobs in key sectors, start their own businesses, and contribute to a thriving economy. The net benefit of immigration to the U.S. is nearly $10 billion annually. As Alan Greenspan points out, 70% of immigrants arrive in prime working age. That means we haven’t spent a penny on their education, yet they are transplanted into our workforce and will contribute $500 billion toward our social security system over the next 20 years.
Source National Academy of Sciences, Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeaster University, Federal Reserve
______________________
Myth Immigrants don’t want to learn English or become U.S. citizens.
Fact Within ten years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants speak English well; moreover, demand for English classes at the adult level far exceeds supply. Greater than 33% of immigrants are naturalized citizens; given increased immigration in the 1990s,
this figure will rise as more legal permanent residents become eligible for naturalization in the coming years. The number of immigrants naturalizing spiked sharply after two events: enactment of immigration and welfare reform laws in 1996, and
the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services)
______________________
Myth Today’s immigrants are different than those of 100 years ago
Fact The percentage of the U.S. population that is foreign-born now stands at 11.5%; in the early 20th century it was approximately 15%. Similar to accusations about today’s immigrants, those of 100 years ago initially often settled in mono-ethnic neighborhoods, spoke their native languages, and built up newspapers and businesses that catered to their fellow émigrés. They also experienced the same types of discrimination that today’s immigrants face, and integrated within American culture at a similar rate. If we view history objectively, we remember that every new wave of immigrants has been met with
suspicion and doubt and yet, ultimately, every past wave of immigrants has been vindicated and saluted.
Source U.S. Census Bureau
________________________
Myth Most immigrants cross the border illegally.
Fact Around 75% have legal permanent (immigrant) visas; of the 25% that are undocumented, 40% overstayed temporary (non- immigrant) visas.
Source INS Statistical Yearbook
_________________________
Myth Weak U.S. border enforcement has lead to high undocumented immigration.
Fact From 1986 to 1998, the Border Patrol’s budget increased six-fold and the number of agents stationed on our southwest border doubled to 8,500. The Border Patrol also toughened its enforcement strategy, heavily fortifying typical urban entry points and pushing migrants into dangerous desert areas, in hopes of deterring crossings. Instead, the undocumented immigrant population doubled in that timeframe, to 8 million--
despite the legalization of nearly 3 million immigrants after the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. Insufficient legal avenues for immigrants to enter the U.S., compared with the number of jobs available to them, have
created this current conundrum.
Source Cato Institute
_______________________
Myth The war on terrorism can be won through immigration restrictions
Fact No security expert since September 11th, 2001 has said that restrictive immigration measures would have prevented the terrorist attacks—instead, the key is good use of good intelligence. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were here on legal visas. Since 9/11, the myriad of measures targeting immigrants in the name of national security have netted no terrorism prosecutions. In fact, several of these measures could have the opposite effect and actually make us less safe, as targeted communities of immigrants are afraid to come forward with information.
Source - Newspaper articles, various security experts, and think tanks.
Prepared by the National Immigration Forum, June 2003
