Immigration policy is a national security issue, for which we have one test: Does it serve the national interest? By that standard, Republicans know America can have a strong immigration system without sacrificing the rule of law.
Enforcing the Rule of Law at the Border and Throughout the Nation
Border security is essential to national security. In an age of terrorism, drug cartels, and criminal gangs, allowing millions of unidentified persons to enter and remain in this country poses grave risks to the sovereignty of the United States and the security of its people. We simply must be able to track who is entering and leaving our country.
Our determination to uphold the rule of law begins with more effective enforcement, giving our agents the tools and resources they need to protect our sovereignty, completing the border fence quickly and securing the borders, and employing complementary strategies to secure our ports of entry. Experience shows that enforcement of existing laws is effective in reducing and reversing illegal immigration.
Our commitment to the rule of law means smarter enforcement at the workplace, against illegal workers and lawbreaking employers alike, along with those who practice identity theft and traffic in fraudulent documents. As long as jobs are available in the United States, economic incentives to enter illegally will persist. But we must empower employers so they can know with confidence that those they hire are permitted to work. That means that the E-Verify system—which is an internet-based system that verifies the employment authorization and identity of employees—must be reauthorized. A phased-in requirement that employers use the E-Verify system must be enacted.
The rule of law means guaranteeing to law enforcement the tools and coordination to deport criminal aliens without delay – and correcting court decisions that have made deportation so difficult. It means enforcing the law against those who overstay their visas, rather than letting millions flout the generosity that gave them temporary entry. It means imposing maximum penalties on those who smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S., both for their lawbreaking and for their cruel exploitation. It means requiring cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement and real consequences, including the denial of federal funds, for self-described sanctuary cities, which stand in open defiance of the federal and state statutes that expressly prohibit such sanctuary policies, and which endanger the lives of U.S. citizens. It does not mean driver's licenses for illegal aliens, nor does it mean that states should be allowed to flout the federal law barring them from giving in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens, nor does it mean that illegal aliens should receive social security benefits, or other public benefits, except as provided by federal law.
We oppose amnesty. The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity. The American people's rejection of en masse legalizations is especially appropriate given the federal government's past failures to enforce the law.
Embracing Immigrant Communities
Today's immigrants are walking in the steps of most other Americans'
ancestors, seeking the American dream and contributing culturally and
economically to our nation. We celebrate the industry and love of
liberty of these fellow Americans.
Both government and the
private sector must do more to foster legally present immigrants'
integration into American life to advance respect for the rule of law
and a common American identity. It is a national disgrace that
the
first experience most new Americans have is with a dysfunctional
immigration bureaucracy defined by delay and confusion; we will no
longer tolerate those failures.
In our multiethnic nation, everyone – immigrants and native-born alike – must embrace our core values of liberty, equality, meritocracy, and respect for human dignity and the rights of women.
One sign of our unity is our English language. For newcomers, it has always been the fastest route to prosperity in America. English empowers. We support English as the official language in our nation, while welcoming the ethnic diversity in the United States and the territories, including language. Immigrants should be encouraged to learn English. English is the accepted language of business, commerce, and legal proceedings, and it is essential as a unifying cultural force. It is also important, as part of cultural integration, that our schools provide better education in U.S. history and civics for all children, thereby fostering a commitment to our national motto, E Pluribus Unum.
We are grateful to the thousands of new immigrants, many of them not yet citizens, who are serving in the Armed Forces. Their patriotism is inspiring; it should remind the institutions of civil society of the need to embrace newcomers, assist their journey to full citizenship, and help their communities avoid patterns of isolation.
Welcoming Refugees
Our country continues to accept refugees from troubled lands all
over
the world. In some cases, these are people who stood with America
in
dangerous times, and they have first call on our hospitality. We
oppose, however, the granting of refugee status on the basis of
lifestyle or other non-political factors
We support the removal of governmental impediments to free trade.
Political freedom and escape from tyranny demand that individuals not
be unreasonably constrained by
government in the crossing of political boundaries. Economic freedom
demands the
unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across
national borders. However, we
support control over the entry into our country of foreign nationals
who pose a credible threat to security, health or property.
Immigration and
particularly the
large number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has become a hot
political
issue. Laws to oppress immigrants have been proposed in the Congress.
Millions
of immigrants and supporters of justice for immigrants have marched in
the
streets. Politicians have stirred up anti-immigrant sentiment among
sections of
the U.S. population.
It also must be acknowledged that the trigger for such an influx of
immigrants
in this country has been largely due to unfair US trade policies. If it
were
economically possible to provide for their families many would choose
to remain
in their native countries. Any immigration policy should be seen a way
to
address all people’s humanitarian needs as we undo the damage to local
communities and chart a course toward sustainable local economies.
The Green Party stands firmly for social justice for all those living
in this
country regardless of their immigration status. Above all, policy and
law must
be humane, Anything less would be inconsistent with our Green Values,
and with
our nation’s values.
The Green Party accepts as a goal a world in which persons can freely
choose to
live in and work in any county he or she desires. We recognize that
this would
be impractical without reciprocity between nations. We seek that
reciprocity as
a practical goal. Countries do have a right to know the identity of
persons
seeking to enter. They also have the right to limit who can come in to
protect
public safety.
The U.S. needs a complete overhaul of its immigration laws. Our current
situation has created extreme social injustice. Millions of people are
living
and working in the U.S. with no legal status, making them subject to
extreme
exploitation and abuse. Immigration raids are terrorizing the immigrant
community. Families are being broken up. Employer abuses of
undocumented
workers are rampant.
The Green Party must consider immigration issues from an international
standpoint, taking into account international labor and environmental
standards, and human rights.
The following proposals may not yield perfect answers, but they provide
better
answers than the status quo. We must recognize that there cannot be any
true
solutions to the conflicts created by immigration until we are able to
organize
globally to overcome the power of multinational corporations, which are
engaged
in an unending campaign to drive down workers’ living standards
everywhere.
International cooperation and solidarity among labor organizations, to
advance
the rights of labor and raise such living standards globally, are
essential to
combat this trend. Until the power of the multinationals is curbed, we
will
continue to be confronted with seemingly “no win” choices.
While working toward that goal, we propose the following immigration
policies,
consistent with the Ten Key Values.
1. The undocumented immigrants who are already residing and working in
the
United States, and their families, should be granted a legal status
which
includes the chance to become U.S. citizens. Persons should be excluded
from
this process only if they present a clear and present danger to other
members
of our society. The level of fees required for this process should not
be a
burden on low income workers. In any path to citizenship created to
provide an
orderly and appropriate resolution of the status of persons currently
in the
United States without proper documentation, we demand a recognition of
past,
uncredited payments into the Social Security System as part of any fees
assessed for regularization of status. In regard to who should have a
right to
come and live and work in the U.S. we believe the following policies
are fair:
a. The Green Party calls for
permanent border passes to all citizens of Mexico and Canada whose
identity can
be traced and verified. The “matricula consular" should be accepted as
one
means of proving one's identify. Work permits for citizens of Mexico
and Canada
must be easily obtainable, thereby decriminalizing the act of gainful
employment. This action would help eliminate exploitation of
undocumented
persons by criminals engaged in human contraband (coyotes) and
unethical
employers. It would also help ensure that taxes will be paid in each
corresponding nation per its laws. These measures will also help
temporary
residents from Mexico and Canada to secure driving privileges and
liability
insurance.
b. All persons fleeing
political, racial, religious, or other types of persecution must be
welcomed
and given permanent resident status. The history of arbitrary denial of
political asylum claims must be ended. Particular attention should be
given to
those minorities who are political exiles and refugees and those whose
lives
would be at risk if asylum is not granted.
c. Family reunification must
be a priority in accepting applications for permanent residency. The
years of
waiting that families are currently put through must be ended.
d. Permanent residency should
not be denied based on political views, racial or national origin,
religious
beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, or any other arbitrary basis.
e. There are many countries in
the world where the economic policies and military actions of the U.S.
government or U.S. based corporations have caused extreme hardships.
The
peoples of these countries deserve special consideration if they wish
to come
to the U.S. to escape intolerable conditions created by our government
or U.S,
corporations.
f. We must keep faith with our
commitment to the United Nations, to assist in the resettlement,
including to
our own country, of refugees currently stranded in refugee camps in
other parts
of the world.
g. All those who are issued
work permits must have the option to come and go from the U.S. as they
desire.
They must also have the option of remaining in the U.S. and becoming
U.S.
Citizens.
Immigration
US Constitution, Article 4, Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; James Madison: "When we are considering the advantages that may result from an easy mode of naturalization, we ought also to consider the cautions necessary to guard against abuses … aliens might acquire the right of citizenship, and return to the country from which they came, and evade the laws intended to encourage the commerce and industry of the real citizens and inhabitants of America, enjoying at the same time all the advantages of citizens…"
We affirm the integrity of the international borders of these United States and the Constitutional authority and duty of the federal government to guard and to protect those borders, including the regulation of the numbers and of the qualifications of immigrants into the country.
Each year approximately one million legal immigrants and almost as many illegal aliens enter these United States. These immigrants - including illegal aliens - have been made eligible for various kinds of public assistance, including housing, education, Social Security, and legal services. This unconstitutional drain on the federal Treasury is having a severe and adverse impact on our economy, increasing the cost of government at federal, state, and local levels, adding to the tax burden, and stressing the fabric of society. The mass importation of people with low standards of living threatens the wage structure of the American worker and the labor balance in our country.
We oppose the abuse of the H-1B and L-1 visa provisions of the immigration act which are displacing American workers with foreign.
We favor a moratorium on immigration to these United States, except in extreme hardship cases or in other individual special circumstances, until the availability of all federal subsidies and assistance be discontinued, and proper security procedures have been instituted to protect against terrorist infiltration.
We also insist that every individual group and/or private agency which requests the admission of an immigrant to the U.S, on whatever basis, be required to commit legally to provide housing and sustenance for such immigrants, bear full responsibility for the economic independence of the immigrants, and post appropriate bonds to seal such covenants.
The Constitution Party demands that the federal government restore immigration policies based on the practice that potential immigrants will be disqualified from admission to the U.S. if, on the grounds of health, criminality, morals, or financial dependence, they would impose an improper burden on these United States, any state, or any citizen of these United States.
We oppose the provision of welfare subsidies and other taxpayer-supported benefits to illegal aliens, and reject the practice of bestowing U.S. citizenship on children born to illegal alien parents while in this country.
We oppose any extension of amnesty to illegal aliens. We call for the use of U.S. troops to protect the states against invasion.
We oppose bilingual ballots. We insist that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of this nation be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship. We support English as the official language for all governmental business by these United States.