Dear Hillary Clinton: Dreaming In The Times Of The Trump Effect

The Dream Is NOW! For A Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The intent of this letter is to persuade Hillary Clinton to commit to her supporters, voters, and adherents of this petition who entreat her to push and hype for a comprehensive immigration reform if she reaches the presidential office. Supporting her utterly as she pledges commitment to strive for a more inclusive, united, and safe country, advocating for a much necessary and urgent immigration reform, protecting migrant children and mothers, students, and migrant workers. As we seek to become a fully democratic country, Hillary Clinton must take the ultimate challenge: achieving positive social transformation for all in the new millennium. Porque si se puede! Perhaps more than any other time in U.S. history, we have to march forward creating a truly post-racial society, while adopting a multi-perspective for the 21st century. Ultimately, people of all races and ethnicities must unite and work together with an inclusive and unified mission and long-term vision if the United States wishes to situate itself as the country of the future.

Crusade for Justice: The Urgent Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

1. Its time to bring undocumented people out of the shadows so that they can be integrated into mainstream society, allowing them access to essential things, like training and education, which in turn will enable them to further contribute to the rebirth of the U.S. economy.

2. We need to confront detriment, racism, and discrimination against immigrants (undocumented and documented) to end violence and hate crimes and minimize prejudice. While some critics passionately and even aggressively argue that ethnicity/race is not a significant factor (or even a factor) in immigration laws, enforcement, criminalization, incarceration, or discourse, ethnic and racial minorities are already wearing a racial uniformskin colorwhich itself has become the mark of illegality; ultimately, illegality is equated with brownness and brownness is equated with illegality.

3. Agencies must address not only racial profiling, violence, and brutality against immigrants, but also injustices during arrest, prosecution, and incarceration. Clearly, with the political economy of the criminal justice system now being a major component of the U.S. economic system, reform will be the challenge of our times, as it may harm the criminal justice systems multibillion dollar enterprise and the billions of dollars in revenue for private corporations. For those who are benefiting from the multibillion dollar criminal justice enterprise, reform is the bottom line. However, given the collateral consequences for immigrants, the time has come to challenge mass incarceration.

4. In an effort to humanize immigration, difference, and multiculturalism we need to start deconstructing immigrant myths, stereotypes, and phobias, and promote immigrant stories through positive ads, sharing their stories of how they give back to the community and contribute to the American economy and society. As we continue to build America, we need to educate, mentor, and empower them to not feel ashamed about being immigrant minorities, allowing them to have pride and develop their capabilities and exercise their full potential.

Together, as recently documented in Immigration and the Law: Race, Citizenship, and Social Control Over Time (Alvarez & Urbina, forthcoming), the message must be clear: Its a new world. Solutions for many of the issues detailed herein require innovation, strategy, cooperation, courage, and a strong voicea big task. A movement of this magnitude will also require endurance, a focused mission, and a well-defined vision, as engaging with the established social structure is like wrestling with alligatorsslippery and dangerous.

Ultimately, after centuries of marginalization and neglect, we need to cast our own movements, projects, and ideas as a battle for relevancy in the face of historical manipulation, exploitation, and oppression. We need to fight, tooth and nail, for equity and justice in all areas of social lifefor all people, men, women, and children.

Porque si se puede! The Dream is Now, Hillary!

November 8, 2016: VOTE!!!

PLEASE CONSIDER WATCHING THE VIDEO: VERADICT in which Save the Day PAC founded by filmmaker Joss Whedon gives a glance at what this election day might be like for undocumented immigrants and their families.

Sofa Espinoza lvarez is an author, researcher, legist, and advocate. She is a law graduate and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice. lvarez has maintained an active professional career and an intense research and publication agenda, publishing various academic book chapters, journal articles, and books. Her books include, Immigration and the Law: Race, Citizenship, and Social Control Over Time (forthcoming); Ethnicity and Criminal Justice in the Era of Mass Incarceration: A Critical Reader on the Latino Experience (2017); and Latino Police Officers in the United States: An Examination of Emerging Trends and Issues (2015).

For more, connect with Sofa on Twitter , Facebook , Linkedin , Instagam , GoodReads , or visit SofiaAlva.com. Got a question? Email info@sofiaalva.com