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
Policy Options
State Immigration Project: Policy Options for 2008 (PDF) (HTML)Note: Some readers have had problems viewing the PDF with Adobe Acrobat Reader v7.0.9. If the text of the PDF looks garbled, try downloading an update of Acrobat Reader free from Adobe's website.
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)
Immigration News
Immigration news articles by state
Immigration news articles by issue
State Immigration Project Updates
January 7th, 2008 - Immigration Policy Trend: Business Sanctions & Restricting ID
December 17th, 2007 - The Economic Case Against Anti-Immigrant Legislation: Oklahoma & Arizona, Eye on Anti-Immigrant Legislation
November 30th, 2007 - Progressive States Network launches State Immigration Project, “Fighting the Anti-Immigrant Movement in the States” strategy memo
To sign up for updates, email Outreach Coordinator Marisol Thomer at immigration@progressivestates.org.
Conference Calls
February 14th, 2008: Discussing progressive strategies on immigration in the states.
Right click here to download an mp3 of the call.
Speakers on the call were:
- State Senator Harry Coates (OK-R)
- Rebecca Smith, Immigrant Worker Project Coordinator of the National Employment Law Project
- Javier Morillo-Alicea, President of SEIU Local 26 in Minnesota
- Nathan Newman, Policy Director for Progressive States Network
November 15th, 2007: Discussing state legislative strategy around immigration for the upcoming 2008 state legislative session.
Right click here to download an mp3 of the call.
Speakers on the call were:
- California Senator Gilbert Cedillo
- Illinois Representative Cynthia Soto
- Flavia Jimenez of the National Council of La Raza
- Stephanie Luongo of Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
- Nathan Newman, Policy Director for Progressive States Network
Stateside Dispatches on Immigration
PSN has also written extensively about what state progressives can do on the immigration issue, including in these past Stateside Dispatches:
- Immigration Policy in the States: The Bad, the Good & the Politically Smart (July 30, 2007)
- Pervasive Violations of Wage Laws -- and What States Can Do About It (June 25, 2007)
- The Emerging Progressive Majority: The Latino Vote (November 16, 2006)
- Eye on Immigration: Real State Solutions (March 6, 2006)
