Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Hello All,

I am deeply troubled by the passage of the Arizona immigration law, which by all standards is a crass, discriminatory action. Last week, National NASW publicly opposed the Arizona Immigration law. As written, this law allows enforcement officials to stop anyone if “reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.” This provision promotes unrestricted racial profiling and represents an egregious injustice that flies in the face of our social work values and our code of ethics.

I am proud to work for an organization that advocates for social and economic justice and that supports the rights of all individuals. And I stand firmly by NASW’s call for a comprehensive immigration reform- that ensures due process for all individuals, opposes mandatory reporting of immigration status by public service providers, avoids racial profiling, and provides basic humanitarian measures to protect immigrants rather than exploit their rights. Social Work Speaks, the Association's stand on public policy issues, succinctly emphasizes our responsibility as social workers. “The association seeks the enactment of public social policies that will PROTECT the rights and ensure equity and social justice for all members of diverse racial and ethnic groups.” We have an opportunity as members of NASW, the largest professional network of social workers in the world, to put our values into action and make our collective voice heard. Please join me in speaking out against this new law by writing letters to your local papers, statewide papers, and by urging your congressmen to push for comprehensive immigration reform right now.

See NASW member and social worker, Miriam Stein’s letter to the Globe this week by clicking here.

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NASWMA

No comments:

Post a Comment