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"America's Broken Immigration Policy: How Can We Help Fix It?"
Don Villarejo's Biography
The September general meeting speaker Don Villarejo has consulted for numerous
public and private agencies including the Calif. Agricultural Labor Relations
Board, California State Assembly, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
and the Migrant Legal Action Program, among others.
He founded the California Institute for Rural Studies, a private, nonprofit research and education organization.
In 2006 he was appointed by the National Academy of Sciences to serve on a 12-member committee to evaluate the nation's research programs on agricultural worker occupational safety and health.
Main points for discussion by Don Villarejo
1. Congress' failure this summer to move forward with comprehensive reform
of U.S. immigration policy reveals how divided we are as a nation about what
needs to be done.
2. The immigration problems of the U.S. are part of a new global phenomenon: today, over 200 million people live and work in nations other than their place of birth.
3. Immigrant workers are crucial to the continued growth of the American economy. In the past 15 years, U.S. employment has increased by about 20 million. Foreign-born persons filled two-thirds of those new jobs.
Features of a sensible immigration policy as recommended
by Don Villarejo
1. All nations have a fundamental right to decide whom to admit.
2. US immigration policy is among the most generous of all nations, but past efforts of Congress (IRCA-1986; IIRIRA-1996) to fix the outstanding problems have failed.
3. Development of the sending countries is the only long-term solution for illegal immigration.
4. We should increase the number of legal immigrant admissions to two million per year, including expanded opportunities for guest workers to work in the U.S.
5. We need to establish a national, tamper-proof employment eligibility card and fix the current loopholes in the employer sanctions program.
6. We need to listen to our neighbors, across divisions of race/ethnicity, national origin or place of residence, and learn how to work together to build a better America.
Video of Don Villarejo's presentation at the September lunch
