State Immigration Project

Working with allied labor, civil rights, religious, and community organizations, the Progressive States Network is launching the State Immigration Project, which will support state legislative leaders and advocates in challenging the rising anti-immigrant movement at the state level.

The goal will be to defeat bad legislation and pass humane immigration legislation where possible, but also to create opportunities to highlight the positive contributions of immigrants to our states. These policy campaigns will emphasize those issues that evoke the many positive feelings the public has about immigrants, a counterbalance to the negative "wedge" messaging of the anti-immigrant rightwing. The campaign overall will have a five-part strategy:

• Emphasize the political costs of anti-immigrant political positions and the long-term political gains from humane, inclusive immigration politics
   
• Stress the facts that counter anti-immigrant lies
   
• Promote policies that overcome anti-immigrant "wedge" politics and helps to unite progressive constituencies.
• Emphasize the issues that divide even many conservative voters from anti-immigrant advocates
• Generate national messaging on the positive steps being taken by states on the immigration issue

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Strategy Memo

PSN's initial strategy memo, Fighting the Anti-Immigrant Movement in the States, includes an outline of strategies and resources that state legislative leaders and advocates can use to challenge the anti-immigrant movements in their states:

• Executive Summary
• A link to the full document
• Hyperlinked Table of Contents
• Appendix A: State Immigration Policy Resources and Links
• Appendix B: Quick Menu of Affirmative Immigration Policy Ideas (from National Immigration Law Center)