Last year the United States deported more immigrants than in any other year of its entire history.
If the current trend continues, President Obama come next January will become the biggest deporter of immigrants of any president ever. In six years, he'll have surpassed what the previous Deporter-in-Chief, George W. Bush, took eight years to do.
But when the so-called "Gang of 8" senators, including Illinois's own Sen. Dick Durbin, recently came forward with their so-called immigration "reform" proposal, there was very little real reform about it.
The current bill's provisions for citizenship for the undocumented are so onerous as to render the word "reform" a sick joke. For example, millions would have to wait 13 years to become citizens with no guarantees that they would become citizens, even if they played their cards right, if nearly impossible "border security" goals were not met.
Moreover, in a country where police frequently target minority youth for harassment, a "three strikes, you're out" provision three or more misdemeanors over 13 years would probably derail millions of youth from getting citizenship.
As a Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender direct action organization, we in the Gay Liberation Network are also angry that the Gang of 8's so-called reform totally throws LGBT people under the bus.
The Associated Press reported in February that Catholic bishops had sent a secret letter to President Obama threatening to yank the Church's support from any immigration reform proposal if it included provisions protecting families headed by same-sex couples.
President Obama subsequently said he favored measures for LGBTs, but when push came to shove, he caved in to anti-gay bigotry. Obama and his de facto floor leader, Dick Durbin, erased LGBTs from their so-called reform.
We can either be stupid, and accept Obama's and Durbin's talk of reform, while ignoring that we're not getting real reform, or we can call them out for their duplicity.
Many in our community are part of bi-national couples who are being broken up by deportation. Moreover, coupled or not, we are a rainbow community of all nationalities and races, and if we do not stand in solidarity with all in our community facing hardship and discrimination, including undocumented immigrants, we cease to be a community. We dramatically weaken our fight for pro-LGBTQ reforms, indeed, reforms of all sorts.
We must reject the "Gang of 8's" bill and instead demand:
1) That rather than deporting people at a record rate, that President Obama begin an immediate moratorium on deportations;
2) That meaningful provisions for LGBTQs, including same-sex couples, be included in any immigration reform bill; and,
3) That the path to citizenship be stripped of onerous waiting periods, fines and other hurdles recognizing that undocumented immigrants contribute far more to the wealth of this country, including taxes, than they receive in return.
We have only a short window of opportunity to change this ridiculous "reform" bill, and that change won't happen unless we forcefully demand it of both parties. Moreover, we do a huge disservice to our cause when we allow some politicians, especially Senator Durbin and President Obama, to claim to be on our side when they serve up such a retrograde bill.
Andy Thayer
Co-founder
Gay Liberation Network