Dear Immigrant Rights Advocates and Service Providers,

In early May, an impressive list of organizations from throughout California sent a letter to President Obama and California's congressional delegation calling on them to enact immigration policies that respect American traditions of fairness and due process, and protect communities from inhumane enforcement actions in neighborhoods and workplaces, including along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The letters outlined a series of policy recommendations and suggestions for regulatory oversight concerning ICE raids, the use of local police to enforce federal immigration law, reliance on flawed databases to accomplish worksite immigration enforcement and border militarization. They urge national leaders to:

Reaffirm that enforcement of immigration law is the responsibility of the federal government, not local police, and thereby encourage effective community policing that improves public safety.
Impose a moratorium on home and workplace raids while conducting a thorough review of the humanitarian and economic impact of immigration raids; Rescind immigration enforcement policies at the workplace that rely out outdated databases and that promote discrimination against citizens and non-citizens alike;
Focus on solutions that result in orderly immigration and protect the quality of life in border communities rather than increasing costly militarization and fence construction.

We encourage immigrant rights advocates and others to use these letters in their own advocacy efforts, particularly in light of DHS Secretary Napolitano's release of new guidelines regarding worksite enforcement. The letters are available on the homepage of CIPC's website at: www.caimmigrant.org

The following is a list of those organizations that signed on to the letters to President Obama and the California congressional delegation:

SIGNATORIES TO LETTERS TO

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION

African Leadership Council

Alameda County Homeless Action Center

American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

American Friends Service Committee - Proyecto Campesino

American Friends Service Committee - San Diego Area Office

Asian American Drug Abuse Program, Inc.

Asian Law Alliance

Asian Law Caucus

Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California

Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition

California Church IMPACT

California Immigrant Policy Center

California La Raza Lawyers Association

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

Canal Alliance

Center for Employment Training - Immigration and Citizenship Program

Central American Resource Center

Central Valley Partnership

Chinese for Affirmative Action

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica

Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization

Dolores Huerta Foundation

East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy

East Bay Community Law Center

East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

El Grupo

Federacion Zacatecana del Sur de California

Foundation for Change

Greater Valley Immigration, Citizenship & Education Services

Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamerican

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

International Institute of Los Angeles

International Institute of the Bay Area

JERICHO A Voice for Justice

La Raza Centro Legal

La Voz Latina

Latino and Latina Roundtable of the Pomona and San Gabriel Valley

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

Libreria del Pueblo, Inc.

Los Amigos of Orange County

Maternal and Child Health Access

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Mexican American Political Association

Mujeres Unidas y Activas

Narika

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National Immigration Law Center

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Oakland Community Organizations

Office of the Americas

Orange County Community Housing Corporation

Organizacion en California de Lideres Campesinas, Inc.

Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County

Peace and Freedom Party of Fresno County

Poder Popular of the Eastern Coachella Valley

Pride at Work San Francisco & the Queer Youth Organizing Project

Priority Africa Network

PUEBLO Education Fund

San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium

San Francisco Day Labor Program

Santa Cruz County Immigration Project

Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network

Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center

St. Margaret's Center/Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc.

St. Peter's Church Local Organizing Committee of the San Francisco Organizing Project

The Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center

The Watsonville Law Center

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Santa Cruz Branch

Worksafe, Inc.