By Jessica Kwek
Daily Bruin Contributor
UCLA students and community members joined at the Kerckhoff Hall
Grand Salon Monday night to discuss the issues surrounding
immigrant workers’ rights in the United States, particularly
in Los Angeles.
Jay Mendoza, executive director of Pilipino Worker’s
Center of Southern California, was one of four speakers at the
forum. He spoke of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration
of Human Rights in comparison with U.S. immigration laws.
“Everyone has a right to work,” Mendoza said.
“You don’t have to have legal status.”
The Pilipino Worker’s Center/Alliance of Filipino
Immigrants and Advocates sponsored the event in conjunction with
UCLA social welfare students.
About 20 people were at the forum to discuss the hopeful
reinstatement of 245i of the Immigration and Naturalization
Services Code, which would allow people to apply for green cards
even if they “over stayed, worked without permission, or
entered without inspection.”
They also discussed the need for the ability to file
“cancellation of removal,” which is the appeal that an
immigrant facing deportation can apply for, and the repeal of the
Illegal Immigrants Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996.
The IIRIRA restricts some family reunifications, denies some
immigrants from receiving government aid, and maintains employer
sanctions that can deny immigrants the right to work.
A circle formed around two candles, one blue and one gold, as
the participants listened to and discussed the issues of human
rights in the United States.
Mendoza started the forum with an overview of the current
campaign for unconditional amnesty.
“The U.S. government projects itself as protectors of
human rights,” he said.
Mendoza said that in actuality, many immigrant workers are being
denied natural human rights because of U.S. laws. For example,
Mendoza spoke on health care in the United States. He said that
undocumented immigrants do not have the right to preventative care
paid for by the government in the United States, except emergency
room care.
“By the time it’s an emergency, it’s too
late,” Mendoza said. “Preventative care is a right, not
a privilege.”
Mendoza also discussed the right to education. He said the
United States government is punishing undocumented children by
never letting them become legal citizens.
“We look at immigration in the context of
globalization,” Mendoza said.
According to Mendoza, many immigrants are forced to go abroad
because of poverty in their country.
“It is forced migration,” Mendoza said.
On the other hand, many opponents of the amnesty campaign say
that it is not the responsibility of the U.S. government to provide
free education and services to non-taxpaying, undocumented
persons.
Lollita Lledo, of AFIA, gave her personal testimony and talked
about the lives of Pilipino immigrant workers in the United
States.
“The U.S. government wanted them to live miserable lives
so they will go back to the Philippines,” Lledo said.
Despite harsh conditions, they persevered and worked hard, Lledo
said.
According to Mendoza, most immigrants obtain temporary visas for
work and then stay here and risk being caught.
“This is a huge problem for the Pilipino community,”
Mendoza said.
The U.S. government estimates that there are 105,000
undocumented Pilipino immigrants. However, Mendoza estimates that
the number is closer to 700,000.
The passage of the 1996 IIRIRA created a dramatic rise in the
number of deported immigrants. The numbers from 1996 to 1997 almost
doubled with 114,060 deported immigrants in 1997.
“With immigration laws, the government is trying to
control the supply of cheap labor,” Mendoza said.
Another aspect of the amnesty campaign is to bring back Section
245i of the INS code. This would allow people to apply for a green
card even if they have worked undocumented, stayed longer than they
legally should have or entered the country without being inspected.
This section was instated in 1990 and was in effect until 1997.
“We’re searching for not just an amnesty program,
but one that reflects global changes,” said Victor Narro,
legislative analyst and workers’ rights organizer for the
Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
Narro believes globalization is the cause of the problems that
have developed with day laborers, garment workers and domestic
workers.
“They are being exploited,” Narro said.
Norma Padilla-Dueñas, a UCLA social welfare student, gave
her own story about the way these laws have affected her life.
Her husband was forced to return to his country of origin,
Mexico, after they were married for one month. He will return in
the fall, missing her graduation in June.
The INS code and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
contradict each other, Padilla-Dueñas said.
“It affects not only individuals, but families and entire
communities,” she said.