Text of Principles

State Legislators for Progressive Immigration Policy (SLPIP) is committed to supporting policies at the state and federal level including comprehensive immigration reform that reflect our core values as a nation, such as promoting basic democratic principles and recognizing the contributions of all communities to our nation. We believe in policies that bring all Americans together and reject policies that scapegoat our most vulnerable communities. At the state level, instead of policies that will drive newcomers to our country further underground and encourage abuse and exploitation, we support policies to better integrate immigrants into a community of greater shared prosperity and higher living standards for all.

• Immigrants have contributed to America’s rich history and are a part of the fabric of our society. Our communities are richer when we give new immigrants the opportunity to contribute and participate fully in our society, through programs such as English language instruction, access to higher education and support during the naturalization process.
• For America to be a land of opportunity for all, our policies must recognize our common human rights and shared responsibilities. Our focus should be on raising wage standards for all workers and ending illegal economic exploitation across the economy, not punishing a small subset of immigrant workers.
• Community policing and outreach to all communities are key to strengthening the safety of all of our families. No members of our community should be fearful of reporting crimes or aiding the investigations of the police.
• Immigrant entrepreneurs and workers pay taxes and create jobs, businesses, and new technologies that propel American innovation. Since those taxes are paid disproportionately to the federal government, the federal government should return those revenues to state and local governments to provide necessary social and technical services including health care, education, and integration.
• We reject the politics of anger and division and are working together across the states to promote policies that live up to America’s core ideals and community values. Intrusive and unnecessary identification laws designed to divide communities actually hurt American citizens and prevent them from accessing necessary social services and fully participating in our democracy.

As state legislators, we understand that states and localities are on the front lines of integrating immigrants into daily life. We anticipate federal immigration reform and also know that when Congress passes immigration reform, cities and states will still be the primary providers of necessary services and solutions for immigrants. Thus we commit our efforts to building a long term and sustainable network of state legislators for progressive immigration policies.