MIAMI – As the Senate begins debate in Washington, concerned immigrant communities anxiously seek hope and relief. The Florida Immigrant Coalition invites member groups and the community at large to an informational and consultative meeting on the content and process of the most recent developments for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
The Community Meeting will be held Monday, May 21st at 1 pm at the Jacques Desalines Center, 8325 NE 2nd Ave, in Little Haiti, Miami.
The agenda for the meeting includes a release of a new report on the characteristics of Florida immigrants, an update on Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation in Washington, answers to questions about the content of the new Senate proposal and a consultation with community members.
Organizers will also stress that the reforms being debated in Congress are not yet law and community members should be careful not to fall prey to unscrupulous predators who charge exorbitant fees claiming to help immigrants file for legal status.
The report to be released by FIU’s Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy uses 2005 Census data to show changes in the immigrant population and workforce over the past five years in Florida.
Emily Eisenhauer, one of the report’s authors, states, “This report shows that immigrants are not the burden to our economy that some people claim. They pay taxes in comparable amounts to non-immigrants and receive less in cash benefits and public assistance than non-immigrants. They are also contributing through entrepreneurship, and have provided needed labor for the construction boom of the last several years.”
In Florida immigrants represent more than 23% of the state’s workforce and contribute greatly to the strength of the economy.
“Immigrants are a huge asset to our state and we need to do more to remove the barriers to their integration. Economic common sense and basic human decency dictate a shift in the way that immigrants are treated in our country, Comprehensive Immigration Reform on the federal level is the first step towards recognizing that immigrants are not a threat but an asset,” said Marlene Bastien, Executive Director of Haitian Women of Miami and President of the Board of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
The community meeting will be translated into Spanish and Creole.
