April 10, 2013 The Honorable Dianne Feinstein 331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.

20510-0504 Re: Request for Your Bold and Strong Leadership to Champion Fair and Just Immigration Reform for All Californians Dear Senator Feinstein, We are Californians who look to your leadership as the senior senator representing the largest immigrant constituency in the United States to stand up for fairness, equality, and justice for the 10 million immigrants who live in our state. The future well-being and prosperity of California depend upon an immigration system that truly respects and values the humanity and contributions of immigrants - undocumented and documented - who are a bedrock of our society and economy. We look to you as a respected long-time member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to be a champion for us - your constituents - by leading the effort for fair and just immigration reform. Family is a cornerstone of our American values, yet our broken immigration system often hurts families by keeping loved ones apart for years through red tape, bureaucracy, exclusionary laws, and harsh enforcement tactics. We believe that the proud American tradition of being a nation of immigrants that values and upholds family unity must continue in the 21st century through:

Providing a direct, affordable, and accessible path to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented Americans, including the 2.6 million undocumented Californians who live, work, study, and contribute so greatly to our states well-being and economy. All individuals in removal proceedings, and individuals previously deported, should be given a chance to apply for legalization and a path to citizenship. Strengthening our family-based immigration system, including affirming a path to family reunification for brothers, sisters, and adult married children and immediately clearing out the backlogs that cause family members to wait as long as 24 years to be with their loved ones. Family-based immigration and employment-based immigration must be simultaneously strengthened - it is not a zero-sum game. Ensuring equality for LGBTQ families in immigration reform, including allowing family sponsorship of same-sex, binational couples and removing the one-year limit on asylum applications. Keeping families together by ending unjust detentions and deportations, including amending the regressive 1996 immigration laws to restore judicial discretion and fairness.

Including access to quality, affordable health care and nutrition, and any health care or other safety-net services that are currently available to immigrants without further restrictions or waiting periods. Immigrants should have the chance to pay their fair share for health care, and legalizing immigrants should be allowed to use the safety net programs that their taxes help support. This is important for agricultural workers, families, and all immigrants. Protecting and enforcing workplace protections including the right to organize - for all workers regardless of immigration status. Future flows should be based on data driven methodology, with workers guaranteed full workplace protections, portable visas that allow them to switch employers, and a path to citizenship.

By fixing the broken immigration system to keep families together, our economy also will be positively impacted. According to a report by the Center for American Progress and Immigration Policy Center, immigration reform would add $1.5 trillion to our economy over ten years, boost wages for both native-born and newly legalized immigrant workers, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. In California alone, immigrants currently contribute 33% of the states gross domestic product (GDP) over $600 billion. Your leadership on fair and just immigration reform is crucial to continue Californias legacy as a trailblazer in innovation, progress, and diversity. We are ready to partner with you and to serve as a resource to assist you in leading the way on how immigrants and immigration reform are the key to Californias future. We respectfully request an in-person meeting with you to discuss immigration reform and why California needs you to be a champion for all of our diverse immigrant families who live, work, go to school, create jobs, raise families, and contribute to our great state. You may contact Betty Hung, Policy Director at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, who can be reached at bhung@apalc.org or 213-241-0214. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to meeting with you and to your leadership in enacting fair and just immigration reform. Sincerely yours, AF3IRM Los Angeles AFSCME International API Equality Los Angeles Asian Law Alliance Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice Asian and Pacific Islanders California Action Network Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO) Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education (ASPIRE) LA Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education (ASPIRE) San Francisco
2

Black Alliance for Just Immigration California Immigrant Policy Center California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance California School Employees Association (LAUSD) Californians Together Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) Chinatown Service Center CLEAN Carwash Campaign Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) Colombo Americans in Action (CACIA) Dream Team Los Angeles East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Employee Rights Center Filipino Migrant Center Fresno Immigrant Youth in Action Immigrant Legal Resource Center Immigrant Youth Coalition Ironworkers Union Japanese American Citizens League PSW Regional Office Korean Community Services Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) La Raza Centro Legal La Red de Pastores y Lideres del Sur de California Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund Mi Familia Vota National Immigration Law Center National Lawyers Guild LA Chapter National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) Alliance Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress OCA Greater Los Angeles Orange County Dream Team Our Family Coalition Out4Immigration Peninsula Interfaith Action Public Counsel Roofers Local 36 San Fernando Valley Dream Team SEIU United Service Workers West Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) Silicon Valley Alliance for Immigration Reform Solidarity South Asian Network UCLA Labor Center
3

Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo United Aerospace Workers Local 148 United Steelworkers Local 675 Western States Regional Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU (WSRJB)