The pro-amnesty "United We Stay" nonprofit has created a "Bill of Rights for Undocumented Americans" demanding the country read and agree to its list of 10 demands, which are all based on the presumptive claim of all – even illegals – are human and therefore entitled to citizenship.
The group's Marcelino Jose writes: "Since Congress refuses to act, it's time we take matters into our own hands. Our Undocumented Americans' Bill of Rights is a good start. Instead of making impregnable border security the beginning and end of all immigration discussions, let's find a real roadmap forward."
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The document decries Congress' focus on wall-building but simultaneous dismissal of airline security crackdowns, and calls for less "chest-thumping rhetoric" and more understanding and assistance for those already in-country.
"The issue of border security is simply a delaying technique, a distraction to avoid any real talk of inclusion, to discourage our initiative, to treat us like we don't matter, that we’re not to be included in the nation’s future prosperity – no matter how hard we work," the document goes on. "We know we have human rights, even though our very presence is deemed illegal and our existence alien. Now we have our own Bill of Rights and we want it to be the framework for every immigration decision going forward from the local to the national level."
And the overall theme: "Everything should be on the table: citizenship, legal residency.
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Among the group's list of 10 demands:
The first: "Acknowledgment that we are already here, that we are human beings with a right to be, that our mere presence cannot be deemed illegal or our existence alien."
Another: "Affirmation that we are to be treated with dignity and respect, not just because of who we are, but who you are – historic beneficiaries of immigrant struggles for the freedom to be."
And another: "Recognition of our right to be presented with a path to citizenship/residency as the first priority of future immigration policy combined with interim deferment of all law-abiding Undocumented Americans against detention and deportation.
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And a fourth: "Guarantee of wage equality with a legal right to petition for wage theft or workplace mistreatment without jeopardizing our immigration status."
And another: "Assurance of humanitarian treatment, including medical care."
The list was preceded by the hope these "rights" would be implemented "into law across the land," along with the statement: "We are the living embodiment of the American Dream and ... we want to see the United States fulfill its historic democratic promise by making these rights a reality."