FCNL Letters-to-the-Editor Toolkit for Immigration Reform

Jun 25, 2010

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FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION . . . a Quaker lobby in the public interest

25 June 2010

Dear Friend,

Thank you for showing interest in writing a letter to the editor about Arizona’s new immigration law (S.B. 1070) or similar proposed bills in other states. Letters‐to‐the‐editor take no more time to write than emails to Congress, and by writing for a public forum, you can potentially influence both your state and federal legislators and many of the voters who elect them. Communicating with your members of Congress is one of the most important ways you can participate in the legislative process. Writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper is one highly effective way that you can expand your lobbying efforts. Letters from readers help the editors decide which topics to cover in future news stories or editorials, and elected officials carefully monitor this section to gauge local opinion.

Included in this packet are materials to help you start writing your letter:

- Tips for writing Letters‐to‐the‐Editor - Suggested talking points about Arizona’s law (S.B. 1070) and similar bills in other states - A Letter‐to‐the‐Editor worksheet - Sample Letters‐to‐the‐Editor which have already been published - Intermountain Yearly Meeting’s (IMYM) minute on recent immigration legislation and comprehensive immigration reform, which was approved on June 11, 2010 - A list of contact information for your local media, available on FCNL’s website at: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/media/. Please contact Hannah Cole-Chu with any questions. She can be reached at (202) 903‐2522 or via email at hannah@fcnl.org.

We hope that you will let us know about any letters that get published! Thousands of people nationwide are speaking out against unjust state laws that criminalize immigrants and infringe on our civil rights. There may be people in your area who would like to participate. Please circulate this packet at your monthly meeting and other community gatherings.

Sincerely, Ruth Flower Legislative Director

Speaking Through the Media: Tips for Writing Letters-to-the-Editor

Start a dialogue in your community by reaching out to your local media. You can send your letter using FCNL's Media Action Center (http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/media/). Before submitting a letter, check with your local newspaper for its guidelines, and follow these general tips:

- Keep it short. Try to limit your letter to 100-200 words or less, and focus on a single issue. In the first paragraph, state your main point and why the issue is important to you. (What impact does the issue have on the local community? How are you personally invested in a particular policy or piece of legislation?) Provide facts, quotes, and numbers in the second. Use the last paragraph to restate your point and make your recommendation.

- Mention your senators or representative by name and state the specific legislative action you would like them to take, so that you can guarantee that your letter will catch the attention of your members of Congress. In fact, congressional offices use media clipping services to ensure that staff have access to all letters‐to‐the‐editor that mention the legislator by name.

- Respond to a news story. Open with a specific reference to a recent news story, editorial, or previous letter. "Recent" means no older than a few days. For national papers, no further back than 48 hours.

- Make a local connection. Your letter will be of more interest to editors of your local paper if you highlight the local impact of a national or foreign policy issue.

- Demonstrate your reach. If you have been authorized to speak on behalf of a group, or if you have heard similar concerns from other people in your area, be sure to mention it. However, if you want to submit a letter signed from representatives of more than one group, be aware that most newspapers limit signatures to two or three names.

- Consider your options. Submit letters to your local paper for the best chance of publication, though you may certainly submit to national publications as well. Other options include suburban or neighborhood papers, specialized magazines, ethnic press, religious publications, and college alumni magazines.

- Contact FCNL. Let us know if your letter has been published. Send an email to fcnl@fcnl.org or call (800) 630‐1330. If possible, send a clipping to us at 245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002.

For more ways to engage your local media, go to FCNL's Grassroots Toolkit at http://www.fcnl.org/action/toolkit.htm and click on the options under "Speaking Through the Media."

Suggested Talking Points for Letters-to-the-Editor On Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and Similar Legislation in Other States

Consider which talking points would work best for your community, and then select one or two of these talking points to serve as the core of your letter.

- As a member of a faith community committed to welcoming the stranger, I am dismayed and saddened by the failure to find a way forward to craft an immigration system that respects the fundamental rights and dignity of all. I see that inaction at the national level has created a vacuum into which states have stepped to create their own immigration laws.

- Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and similar proposed legislation in other states divides our communities, tears apart families, and criminalizes immigrants. These kinds of unjust laws create a climate of fear for those whose area of residence, line of work, complexion, spoken language or accent is deemed suspicious, even if they are citizens or legal foreign residents or visitors.

- The Arizona law (S.B. 1070) gives local police the authority to investigate and detain people for perceived immigration violations without the benefit of proper training or oversight, worsening the problem of racial profiling and raising concerns about the prolonged detention of citizens and legal residents.

- These immigration bills, if enacted, will ultimately force U.S. citizens and non‐citizens alike to carry papers at all times and to “show their papers” simply for looking or sounding “foreign.” The United States has never been a country in which residents are required to carry papers, but S.B. 1070 and similar bills in other states move us in that direction.

- S.B. 1070 and similar bills in other states run counter to the widely accepted practice of “community policing.” They destroy relationships of trust between local communities, particularly communities of color, and police who are charged with ensuring public safety. As a result, immigrants will be discouraged from reporting or serving as witnesses for crimes. These bills do not make our communities safer.

- Discussions of immigration bills should be civil and respectful, not driven by hateful rhetoric.

- State legislators should vote against bills mimicking S.B. 1070 in order to respect federal immigration authority, to avoid legitimating racial profiling, and to uphold the real safety and security of our communities. Enforcing federal immigration law is, and should remain, a federal responsibility.

- Criminalizing immigrants and those who care for them, as in Arizona Senate Bill 1070, does not address the real challenges our country faces with immigration reform and resolution of the humanitarian crisis that results from the broken system.

- I urge our senators and representatives to gain the courage to fix the broken immigration system in a humane and practical manner. Federal solutions must come quickly to alleviate the suffering in communities across the country.

Letter-to-the-Editor Worksheet

What is your topic?

What event or article are you responding to?

What is the local connection?

Names of your senators or representative:

What you want to see changed or achieved?

Write the opening sentence here:

Write the full letter here: [100-200 words or less]

Sample Letters-to-the-Editor

Criminal activity at border overblown The Columbus Dispatch - Monday, June 28, 2010

The May 21 letter, “Mayor doesn’t understand Arizona’s law,” is a misrepresentation of criminal activity in Arizona and of public danger from the law targeting Hispanic immigrants. A June 19 New York Times article stated that “the rate of violent crime at the border, and indeed across Arizona, has been declining, according to the FBI, as has illegal immigration, according to the Border Patrol. While thousands have been killed in Mexico’s drug wars, raising anxiety that the violence will spread to the U.S., FBI statistics show that Arizona is relatively safe.”

The term illegal alien is a cynical identifier, as if suspects are guilty and accused. The purpose is to determine migration status. The bulk of migrants are seasonal workers. The implicit concern of critics of Latino migration is that children born here are citizens. Hence, a growing population of mixed families moves back and forth.

Finally, a study of comparative immigration between 2000 and 2006 by the Pew Hispanic Center concluded, “Hispanics have contributed no more to population growth in Arizona than they have to the growth of the U.S. population.”

Anti-immigrant fervor hurts U.S. The Columbus Dispatch - Monday, June 28, 2010

I am a half‐Latina, half‐white, lifelong Ohio resident. Having grown up in southwestern Ohio, I was used to being called derogatory names because of my ethnicity. This should be no surprise, given that Ohio is not new to the fight against hate. (Our state has had a troubling history of discrimination against blacks, new immigrants, and even Appalachian migrants.) However, I fear that hate is being expressed under the guise of anti‐immigrant rhetoric. Nationwide, hate crimes against Latinos have increased more than 40 percent in the past decade. It is no coincidence these crimes correspond with the steady rise in the anti‐immigrant movement. In Ohio, there are 27 hate groups and eight nativist extremist groups, all of which are designated as such by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Sadly, Ohio ranks fifth in the nation for hate‐crime incidents.

As these organizations continue to control the immigration debate with falsehoods about immigrants, the real message is more subtle, and that is one of fear of “the other.” This threatens not just immigrants, but all Americans.

The foundational ideology of America is that “all men are created equal.” Yet these hate groups are testing this ideology by advocating the singling out of groups who are “undeserving” of constitutional protections and the American dream.

As a Latina, I am disturbed by the increase in public buy‐in to the anti‐immigrant messages. But as an American, I am even more disturbed by the erosion of the very values that have made this nation great.

IMYM Minute on Recent Immigration Legislation and Comprehensive Immigration Reform As a faith community committed to welcoming the stranger, we are dismayed and saddened by the failure to find a way forward to craft an immigration system that respects the fundamental rights and dignity of all. We recognize that inaction at the national level has created a vacuum into which states have stepped to create their own immigration laws.

As Friends, we believe that there is that of God in everyone, regardless of citizenship or legal status. Our testimony of community challenges us to live with all of our neighbors in a way that encourages trust, love, and security. Our testimony of equality leads us to value each person as an individual and to respect the human rights and dignity of all persons. Our testimony of peace guides us to take nonviolent action to resolve conflicts in a way that brings us together and promotes justice.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and similar proposed legislation in other states divides our communities and criminalizes immigrants. These kinds of unjust laws create a climate of fear for those whose area of residence, line of work, complexion, spoken language or accent is deemed suspicious, even if they are citizens or legal foreign residents or visitors. When state legislation is passed that compels people to hide their identity from authorities, they must live in fear that they will be separated from their families, that they will become victims of crime, that they and their children will not receive an education, and that they will lose their livelihoods and their homes.

We bear witness to our friends and neighbors in our community who suffer division of their families, exploitation in the workplace, and the daily fear of deportation. We bear witness to the thousands of deaths on the border and the destruction of border communities and the environment. The estimated twelve million persons living and working in the United States without papers are essential parts of our communities and economy, yet the system for regularizing their status is woefully insufficient. Criminalizing immigrants and those who care for them, as in Arizona Senate Bill 1070, does not address the real challenges our country faces with immigration reform and resolution of the humanitarian crisis that results from the broken system.

We, as people of faith, are called not only to resist unjust laws and to work to change them, but to take the initiative to act in accordance with higher laws. We call upon Friends everywhere to urge our elected representatives to immediate action on humane immigration reform. We call upon ourselves to act with integrity in response to these challenges and we rededicate ourselves to loving our neighbors, to doing justice, and to walking humbly in the spirit of love.