New NACLA report on immigration out

The Report addresses the following issues:

The anti-immigration movement: As Solana Larsen shows, this movement is a complex, decentralized web that both private and public power, from the white supremacist fringe to the halls of Congress. It not only musters popular support and helps to foster a general anti-immigrant climate, but it also raises millions of dollars to advance its policy goals in Washington.

The detention of Immigrants: As Forrest Wilder reports, immigration authorities have launched a crackdown, arresting undocumented people, including families with children, and jailing them indefinitely. This has ramped up demand for facilities, giving rise to a nationwide “detention archipelago”­a series of detention centers largely run for profit by companies contracted by the government.

The truth about day laborers: Anti-immigrant activists have targeted urban day laborers, most of them Latino immigrants, as they congregate looking for work. Drawing on a national survey of day laborers, Abel Valenzuela Jr. demolishes five of the most pernicious myths about them and discusses the National Day Laborer Organizing Network’s successes in protecting these workers’ rights.

Labor and Latino immigrants: The massive immigrant protests last year took many by surprise, but they were made possible by more than a decade of immigrant labor organizing in California. Now immigrant workers, including the undocumented, are poised to reinvigorate the ailing U.S. labor movement. And with a new wave of naturalizations and voter registrations, the consequences at the ballot box could be substantial.

Black-brown tension: Ever since the U.S. Census announced in 2000 that Latinos would overtake African Americans as the largest national minority, pundits have been warning of a virtual war between the communities. Rene P. Ciria-Cruz argues that in South Los Angeles, where “black-brown tension” has erupted in violence, old-fashioned organizing has helped resolve conflicts and build unity.

With a newly Democratic-controlled Congress the U.S. is on the road to a potential immigration compromise, but it’s clear that the battle for comprehensive change in U.S. policy is far from over. We hope this Report provides the information and analysis that progressive stakeholders in this debate need to keep up the fight.
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