International Migrants Day: A Day to Stand in Solidarity with Migrants in the United States and Across the World Who Face Racism and Exploitation

December 18th is International Migrants Day as observed by the United Nations. In United States, while many organizations observe this day, much work is needed to address many of the issues, struggles and attacks that many migrants, their families and their communities face.

While it is factual that migration has been an important factor in the development of the United States since its inception, it is unfortunate that the rights of groups of migrants, especially migrants of color, have not yet been addressed, recognized nor respected. From the Chinese guest workers who built the U.S. railroad system and the Braceros, Mexican guest farm workers from 1942 to 1964, who worked under unjust and slave-like conditions, to the present day farm workers, nannies and hotel workers, many of whom continue to endure slave like conditions, exploitative hours, racist attitudes, and precarious conditions, the struggle for justice continues.

Added to this are some of the most inhumane and insidious policies against migrants and their families, especially Indigenous migrants and migrants of African descent. As examples we have the continued plight of our Haitian brothers and sisters in the United States, where despite a cholera outbreak that has left 46,749 people in the hospital and 2,193 dead in Haiti, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has declared that the US expects to begin flying undocumented immigrants with criminal records back to the island nation in January of the upcoming year. Another clear example of unconscionable policies is the Secure Communities, a federal program that requires local law enforcement officers to send fingerprints of everyone booked into jail to the Department of Homeland Security, which will compare them with prints in its databases so that the federal immigration agents will be able to monitor arrest data from every jail in the state. So far 33 states are participating in Secure Communities, including North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia.

"Inhumane policies such as these have led to the Obama administration reaching an all time high, surpassing the deportation record set by the Bush administration. How can this government justify the deportation of over 400,000 people? How can this administration justify deporting Haitians to a cholera ridden country?" says Sunyata Altenor of the Latin American and Caribbean Community Center.

The Latin American and Caribbean Community Center (LACCC) stands in solidarity with all migrants in the United States and across the world who face racism and economic exploitation and are scapegoated for the economic ills endemic to the world economy. LACCC demands a fair and just immigration and refugee policies that uphold the human rights of migrants and ensures not only their safety but also guarantees their economic, social and cultural rights.