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Messaging And Report Category: Messaging Memo

Uniting Our Voices on Arizona S.B. 1070

Talking about Arizona’s S.B. 1070, an alarming and incredibly wrong-headed bill, provides immigration advocates with a chance to show the American public the dangerous consequences of anti-immigrant fervor. This is a prime opportunity to unite our voices around the three common themes of the core narrative that immigration advocates from around the country have developed and promoted: We need workable solutions that uphold our nation’s values and move us forward together. We recommend the following:

  • Use the narrative. The more we use the same main themes when talking about immigration, the more we can start to control the larger story and drown out the divisive voices that have dominated the discourse for too long. To this end, we recommend that all messages be built around the narrative themes.
  • But tailor it to your audiences. Using common themes does not mean we need to use the same messages. We can tailor language, statistics, metaphors, etc. to best suit each of our audiences. But sticking to the same themes is important.
    • Messages about Upholding Our Nation’s Values can underscore the importance of fairness, justice, and equality, while talking about standing up for the kind of country we want to be.
    • Workable Solutions can be messaged by pointing out the impracticality of the bill, that it makes law enforcement’s jobs more difficult, and that it’s not the kind of solution we need.
    • Moving Us Forward Together is a reminder to tell audiences why the bill is bad for everyone, while also dividing communities.
  • Include positive solutions. This is an opportunity to talk about what does work, not just attack a policy that doesn’t.

Talking Point Examples

This law is impractical, violates our values, and divides our communities. We need real solutions that embrace fairness, equal treatment, and due process. Our immigration system is broken, but disregarding our values is not the answer to fixing it. Congress needs to act now.

This law is racial profiling, pure and simple. And singling people out based only on stereotyping isn’t just wrong, it’s also bad policing. Our communities need Congress to focus on workable solutions that uphold our values, and move us all forward together. Fixing our immigration system the right way is about what kind of country we want to be. This law certainly illustrates what we don’t want to become.

The problems facing our communities are the result of a failed immigration system that only Congress can fix. Its inability to move forward on this issue will continue to result in wrongheaded, unworkable policies like this law, which is a dangerous distraction from the real work we need to do to pass comprehensive immigration reform that works for everyone.

Solutions, Values, All of Us: A Common Narrative Emerges on S.B. 1070

We’re not alone in describing this bill as unworkable, divisive, and a violation of American values.

Our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others. That includes for example the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe. In fact, I’ve instructed members of my administration to closely monitor the situation and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation. But if we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country.

-President Barack Obama

I don’t think this is the proper approach … It’s difficult for me to imagine how you’re going to enforce this law. It places a significant burden on local law enforcement, and you have civil liberties issues that are significant as well.

-Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush

The provisions of the bill remain problematic and will negatively affect the ability of law enforcement agencies across the state to fulfill their many responsibilities in a timely manner. While AACOP recognizes immigration as a significant issue in Arizona, we remain strong in our belief that it is an issue most appropriately addressed at the federal level. AACOP strongly urges the U. S. Congress to immediately initiate the necessary steps to begin the process of comprehensively addressing the immigration issue to provide solutions that are fair, logical, and equitable.

-Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police Statement

Should this bill become law, working families across Arizona will suffer. America should be in the business of protecting communities and protecting working families, not destroying communities and ruining everyone’s well being.

-Eliseo Medina, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Our highest priority today is to bring calm and reasoning to discussions about our immigrant brothers and sisters. We are a nation of immigrants, and their commitment and skills have created the finest country in the world. Let’s not allow fearful and ill-informed rhetoric to shape public policy. Let’s put a human face on our immigrant friends, and let’s listen to their stories and their desires to improve their own lives and the good of the nation.

-Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop of Los Angeles

About S.B. 1070

The Arizona State legislature recently passed a bill entitled, “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” (S.B. 1070),1 which, among other provisions:

  • Requires police officers to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person whenever there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the person is unlawfully present and verify that status with the federal government;2
  • Gives police officers authority to conduct warrantless arrests of persons for whom the officer has probable cause to believe have committed any public offense that makes those persons deportable;3
  • Creates a private right of action for any person to sue a city, town, or county for failing to enforce federal immigration laws to the fullest extent possible;4
  • Requires employers to keep E-Verify records of employees’ eligibility;5
  • Establishes a separate state offense, with attendant criminal penalties, for any person to violate provisions of the federal immigration law regarding registration and carrying registration documents—making it a state crime for a person to be an undocumented immigrant under federal law;6
  • Makes it a criminal offense to attempt to hire or pick up day laborers to work at a different location if the driver is impeding the normal flow of traffic, for a worker to get into a car if it is impeding traffic, or for an undocumented immigrant to solicit work (by a gesture or nod) in any public place;7
  • Mandates the impoundment of any vehicle used to transport, move, conceal, harbor, or shield an undocumented immigrant;8 and
  • States that the remaining portions of the bill are severable and will remain in effect even if certain portions are held to be invalid.9

1. “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” Ariz. S.B. 1070 (2010).
2. Id. at 1, Sec. 2 § 11-1051(B).
3. Id. at 1, Sec. 2 § 11-1051(E).
4. Id. at 2, Sec. 2 § 11-1051(G).
5. Id. at 7, Sec. 6 § 23-212(I).
6. Id. at 2-3, Sec. 3 § 13-1509.
7. Id. at 5, Sec. 5 § 13-2928 (A)-(E).
8. Id. at 5, Sec. 5 § 13-2929 (B).
9. Id. at 16, Sec. 11(A).

Talking Economic Recovery and Equal Opportunity

This memo offers communications advice for promoting greater and more equal opportunity during the current economic downturn. It draws on recent opinion research, media analysis, and experience from the field to offer promising approaches and messages.

While the public mood is unquestionably gloomy, we also see some important opportunities for talking positively about social justice issues and solutions in the context of economic recovery. For instance, the downturn has inspired conversations about our interconnectedness as a nation and as a people—the notion that we’re all in this together. Current and future stimulus policies offer chances to ensure that our most vulnerable and historically overlooked groups and communities are included in any recovery plans. We can use opportunities like these to create messages that promote our shared values, center social justice issues in the national conversation, and inspire solutions that expand opportunity for everyone living here.

It’s in our nation’s interest for everyone to have economic security and the opportunity to move forward. We are all in it together in this economy; allowing barriers to opportunity to exist for any community hurts us all. Recovering from this financial crisis demands new rules for a 21st Century global economy that connect all groups and communities to economic recovery.

Talking About Opportunity

We believe that speaking about social issues in terms of opportunity is a good strategic choice. Opportunity—the idea that everyone deserves a fair chance to live up to his or her full potential—is an ideal that most Americans instinctively support. Framing policy and research in terms of opportunity can help to persuade new audiences and inspire action—tapping into hopeful, forward-looking values, while challenging Americans to support transformative policies. While some feel opportunity is there for the taking, most realize that our collective decisions and the resulting policies shape access to opportunity in profound ways. Measuring policies by their impact on opportunity can help connect complex policy ideas to core national values.

General Communications Principles

Lead with Values. Beginning with shared values helps to connect with audiences better than dry statistics or stories of despair. The most compelling values when talking about economic recovery include:

  • Community: We are all in it together in our society and share interests and responsibilities for each other and the common good.
  • Opportunity: Everyone deserves a fair chance to achieve his or her full potential.
  • Security: All people should have the tools and resources necessary to support and take care of themselves and their families.
  • Mobility (Moving Forward): Everyone in our society should have the chance to move forward in economic and educational status, no matter where they started out.
  • Equality: What we look like or where we come from should not determine the burdens, benefits, or responsibilities that we bear in society.
  • Redemption (Renewal): People grow and change over time, and deserve a chance to start over after missteps or misfortune.

Connect the protection and expansion of opportunity to our shared progress. Linking the economic progress of communities of color, immigrants, women, and other historically overlooked groups to our national progress and shared prosperity of all Americans is key in times of financial crisis. Our communications should be less an appeal to self-interest or charity as an appeal to the common good.

Promote practical solutions. Policymakers in particular are seeking pragmatic, achievable approaches to today’s difficult problems. The more we can be for workable and positive solutions rather than only against negative outcomes, the more traction we are likely to get with these audiences. Emphasizing solutions taps into Americans’ pride and counters people’s inclination to see a parade of social and economic ills as impossible to solve.

Don’t let divisiveness dominate our messages. There is more than enough blame to go around for the current crisis. However, pointing fingers at whichever group is taking the fall at the moment is not the best long-term strategy for our communications. This is not to say that messages cannot express anger, demand accountability, point out how certain trends and policies have been harmful to our economy and our country, or highlight how certain groups and communities have suffered long-term neglect while others have experienced the benefits of a booming economy. However, shoring up people’s community- spirited tendencies will, over the long run, serve us more powerfully than allowing divisive arguments to dictate the tone and spirit of our messages.

Frame messages thematically. While there are countless individual stories that underscore the hardships faced by Americans of different backgrounds, communications need to emphasize systemic causes and solutions. The public is more and more open to understanding that complex and thematic issues are at the root of the current crisis. We can expand on this understanding to highlight how various economic and social systems have negatively affected many groups of people over time.  In some instances, this calls for selecting compelling human stories that are directly tied to systemic causes and solutions—e.g., the pastor who sees a wave of foreclosures in his congregation, or the doctor seeing more and more patients who are losing their insurance.

Use VPSA Messaging. In order to deliver a consistent, well-framed message in a variety of settings, we recommend structuring opening messages in terms of Value, Problem, Solution, and Action. Leading with this structure can make it easier to transition into more complex or difficult messages.

Value:

When it comes to the economy, we’re all in it together.  It’s in our nation’s interest for everyone to have economic security and the opportunity to move forward.

Problem:

But the current economic recovery effort threatens to leave some groups and communities behind, and that hurts us all.

Solution: 

Recovering from this financial crisis demands new rules for a 21st Century global economy that connects all communities to economic opportunity.

Action:

We call on the new Administration to adopt the use of an Opportunity Impact Statement as a lens through which to target the investment of public funds. The Opportunity Impact Statement is a road map that public bodies, affected communities, and the private sector can use to ensure that public investments offer equal and expanded opportunity for everyone and lift the common good.

Talking Point Suggestions

  • Opportunity, the idea that everyone should have a fair chance to live up to his or her full potential, is a cherished ideal and one of our nation’s most valuable national assets. The promise of opportunity consistently inspires us—motivating innovation and hard work, bringing newcomers to our shores, and giving hope to future generations. But for far too many Americans, the promise still rings hollow.  For example, even in 2007, one in eight Americans (12.5%) lived in poverty.
  • The nation has made great strides in increasing opportunity in some areas and for some groups and communities. But many groups of Americans are being left behind in ways that hard work and personal achievement alone cannot address. In 2007, of those living in poverty, 10.9% were year-round, full-time workers.
  • Even before the current economic downturn, different American groups and communities experienced starkly different levels of opportunity. The African American male unemployment rate in 2007 (11.4%) was more than twice as high as the white male unemployment rate (5.5%), and the Latino male unemployment rate was also much higher (7.6%). There is real reason to believe that the current crisis is affecting some groups and communities far more severely than others.
  • It’s in our nation’s interest for everyone to have economic security and the opportunity to move forward.  We are all in it together in this economy and allowing barriers to opportunity to exist for any group hurts us all. Persistent problems such as the wage gap must be addressed—in 2007, women made only 78.2% the median income of men, African Americans only 75.2% of whites, and Latinos only 72.6% of whites. Recovering from this financial crisis demands new rules for a 21st Century global economy that connect all groups and communities to economic recovery.
  • Any economic recovery policy should not only jump-start the economy in the short-term, but also invest in lasting opportunity for all. We must address inequalities that challenge our ability to move forward together, such as the fact that African American median household wealth is only one-tenth that of white households. As our economy continues to falter, stimulating greater and more equal opportunity remains crucial to both short-term rescue and long-term prosperity.
  • Promoting opportunity should be a key factor each time our leaders consider investments in our nation. Plans like the economic recovery package can serve all Americans fairly and effectively, or they can create and perpetuate unfairness and inequality based on race, gender, or other aspects of who we are. It is up to all of us to ensure that these investments help all Americans by calling for the right spending, implementation, and monitoring of funds.
  • Investments in opportunity—such as expanding skill-building job training, investing in education, and rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure—would inspire the American people and restore consumer confidence while helping struggling folks to catch their stride. And such investments would not only address the country’s short-term woes but also invest in our long-term strength.
  • The recent economic stimulus package has addressed some of the issues facing our communities, but we have to make sure that investment is spent in communities where it is needed most, and where it will create lasting opportunity. We have a better chance at success in these areas if we come together to ensure that all affected groups, including women and communities of color, and immigrants can participate and contribute to our economy.

Some Specific Areas of Concern:

Immigrants and Economic Recovery

  • It is critical to remember that a lasting economic recovery must also include immigrants, who are an integral part of our economic and cultural life. We need everyone’s help and know-how to restore our economy. Instead of divisive and unrealistic demands, we need workable solutions that uphold our nation’s values and move us forward together, to repair our economy, improve education, and generate jobs.

Racial and Gender Gaps in Economic Opportunity

  • Research shows that assets and incomes vary broadly between groups, reflecting significant gaps in opportunity across race and gender.  We cannot live up to our promise of opportunity as long as these gaps go unaddressed.
  • The current financial crisis has shown more than ever that, when it comes to the economy, we’re all in it together. It’s in our nation’s interest for everyone to have economic security and the opportunity to move forward. That means improving economic security and mobility for everyone while bridging the gaps in economic opportunity that still too often break along lines of race and gender.
  • Despite the real progress we’ve made in our country, there is still a racial gap in economic opportunity that must be addressed if we’re to move forward as a nation. The racial gap is caused by a mix of historic forces and current barriers to equal opportunity. We must address each of them head on—in fact, we have practical solutions that expand opportunity for all while closing the racial gaps that hold us back.

Education

  • One way to see if we’re making progress in protecting and expanding opportunity is to look at our education system, and ours is not living up to its promise for many students. For instance, high school status drop-out rates increased from 2005 to 2006 by 3.8% for women and by 2.9% for African Americans. While status drop-out rates for men and whites decreased during the same period, a true economic recovery will need to renew the promise of mobility for all of our children.

Housing

  • It is in everyone’s best interest to ensure a future we can all take part in. This means protecting what has historically been the most secure path to building wealth: homeownership, which has rippling effects on the national economy. But even prior to the current downturn, households of color experienced a large homeownership gap with white households. In 2007, the white homeownership rate was 75.2%, while the rate for African Americans was 47.2%, the rate for Latinos was 49.7%, the rate for American Indians was 56.9%, and the rate for Asian Americans was 60%. Where recovery efforts directly address the foreclosure crisis, programs must directly address gaps in homeownership that have been exacerbated by predatory lending practices.

Poverty

  • Even before today’s recession, opportunity was unequal and at risk for millions of Americans. In 2007, 18% of all children in the United States were living in poverty. Moreover, a full 34.5% of African Americans children were living in poverty, over three times the poverty rate for white children (10.1%).  This is an insult to our core values. Denying children the opportunities afforded by an economically stable upbringing poses great risks to our nation’s future. That some groups of children are more likely to live in poverty than others hurts us still more. Standing by while these threats to equality, security, and mobility persist is not an acceptable option. Restoring the economy to 2007 levels will not be enough—it is in our national interest to expand opportunity to all of our country’s people and communities.

Ten Lessons for Talking About Racial Equity in the Age of Obama

Experience from around the country shows that discussing racial inequity and promoting racial justice are particularly challenging today. Some Americans have long been skeptical about the continued existence of racial discrimination and unequal opportunity. But with the historic election of an African American president, that skepticism is more widespread and more vocal than ever. President Obama’s important political victory, in other words, threatens to eclipse the large body of evidence documenting the continuing influence of racial bias and other barriers to equal opportunity. The current economic crisis, moreover, has fostered a welcome discussion of socioeconomic inequality, but often to the exclusion of racial injustice.

This memo sets out 10 principles that can help facilitate productive communications on racial justice problems and solutions. It is intended for communications with “persuadables”—that is, audiences who are neither solidly favorable nor unfavorable on these issues, but are capable of persuasion through the right approaches. This includes large segments of the U.S. public, as well as many journalists, policymakers, and opinion leaders who influence the public debate. The recommendations are derived from public opinion and media research as well as practical experience over the last year.

1. Lead with shared values: Opportunity and the Common Good. Starting with values that matter to most Americans helps audiences to “hear” our messages more effectively than do dry facts or emotional rhetoric. It is important for advocates to communicate the change they are working for and why that change matters.

EXAMPLES:

In discussing racial equality, the most important values tend to be…

  • Opportunity:

Everyone deserves a fair chance to achieve his or her full potential.

  • Community:

We are all in it together and have a shared responsibility to protect “The Common Good.”

  • Mobility:

Where we start out in life should not determine where we end up; everyone who works hard should be able to advance in society.

Together, these values help to counter the “on your own” mentality that can erode support for social policies. Our research also shows solid support for the notion that freedom from racial discrimination is a basic Human Right that all people should enjoy. The ideals of Fairness and Equality are also important in this context, but should be combined where possible with Opportunity and the Common Good.

2. Show that it’s about all of us. A winning racial justice message is not just about the rights and interests of people of color but rather about our country as a whole and everyone in it. It explains that it’s not in our moral or practical interest as a society to exclude any group, community, or neighborhood, or to tolerate unequal opportunity or discrimination. And it backs up that premise with practical as well as symbolic facts and arguments.

EXAMPLE:

  • Federal regulators allowed predatory subprime lenders to target communities of color, only to see that practice spread across communities, putting our entire economy at risk.

3. Over-document the barriers to equal opportunity—especially racial bias. Many audiences are skeptical about whether racial bias still exists in America, and believe (or want to believe) that equal opportunities are open to all. Be specific about the mechanisms that deny equal opportunity; gather comprehensive and reliable data and prepare a stable of examples to make a convincing and compelling argument. Instead of leading with evidence of unequal outcomes alone—which can sometimes reinforce stereotypes and blame—we recommend documenting how people of color frequently face stiff and unequal barriers to opportunity.

EXAMPLE:

  • DON’T begin by discussing the income gap between whites and African Americans; DO lead with facts like the 2003 California study that found that employment agencies preferred less qualified white applicants to more qualified African Americans;1 or the Milwaukee and New York studies demonstrating that white job seekers with criminal records were more likely to receive callbacks than African Americans with no criminal records.2

4. Acknowledge the progress we’ve made. With an African American in the White House, it’s especially important to acknowledge that our country has made progress over the years regarding race relations and equal opportunity. Doing so helps persuade skeptical audiences to lower their defenses and have a reasoned discussion rooted in nuanced reality rather than rhetoric.

EXAMPLE:

  • We have made real progress on equal opportunity in our country, from the major gains in college enrollment made by women of color over the last 30 years to the substantial increase in people of color elected to offices around the country. But, unfortunately, many barriers to equal opportunity remain, and it is in our nation’s interest to address them.

5. Present data on racial disparities through a contribution model instead of just a deficit model. When we present evidence of unequal outcomes, we should make every effort to show how closing those gaps will benefit society as a whole.

EXAMPLE:

  • The fact that the Latino college graduation rate is 32 percent of the white rate3 also means that closing the ethnic graduation gap would result in over one million more college graduates each year4 to help America compete and prosper in a global economy—it’s the smart thing to do as well as the right thing to do.

6. Be thematic instead of episodic: Select stories that demonstrate institutional or systemic causes over stories that highlight individual action. Compelling human stories can inspire action and capture the attention of reporters, lawmakers, and other audiences. But research shows that individual stories—be they positive or negative—also drive audiences toward “personal responsibility” and individual action as the causes and solutions of social problems (ignoring root causes and systemic policy solutions). We recommend prioritizing human stories—preferably in groups—that are inherently systemic or thematic, backed by strong research and statistics.

EXAMPLES:

  • To demonstrate racial bias in the criminal justice system, interviews with a drug treatment professional, a public defender, and people of different races recovering from addiction can be combined with an Amnesty International report finding that 71 percent of crack cocaine users are white, but 84 percent of those arrested for possession were African Americans—fewer than 6 percent were white.5
  • Native American leader Elouise Cobell was the lead plaintiff in groundbreaking litigation challenging federal mismanagement of trust funds belonging to more than 500,000 individual Native people.6 Her story and those of representative families in the lawsuit helped to tell a compelling human story with systemic cases, solutions, and implications.

7. Carefully select vehicles and audiences to tell the story of contemporary discrimination. Modern discrimination still includes some old-school bigotry, but more frequently it involves nuanced and less visible forms, such as covert, implicit, and structural bias, and the continuing effects of past discrimination. What’s more, our national diversity extends far beyond the traditional black-white paradigm that anchored 20th century racial discourse. It is important to communicate the modern face of discrimination, yet many audiences have no frame of reference for such a conversation. We recommend carefully tailoring the depth and detail of the message to the medium and audience. Educating reporters and policymakers on background before big stories break is also time well spent.

EXAMPLE:

  • A TV news sound bite is too little time to explain structural bias to a general audience; an op-ed, public hearing, or speech may provide a better opportunity to do so. By contrast, a TV press event can be a good place to show the racial diversity of our nation through visuals, backdrops, and spokespeople.

8. Be rigorously solution-oriented. Audiences who understand that unequal opportunity exists may, nonetheless, believe that nothing can be done about it, leading to “compassion fatigue” and inaction. Wherever possible, we should link our description of the problem to a clear, positive solution and action.

EXAMPLE:

  • Asian Americans often face particularly steep obstacles to needed health care because of language and cultural barriers, as well as limited insurance coverage. Reforms like better training for health professionals, English language learning programs, and community health centers can reduce those racial barriers while improving the health of all.

9. Link racial justice solutions with broader efforts to expand opportunity. For most of us, racial justice is one essential aspect of a broader social justice vision. Linking our goals to broader solutions that directly touch everyone can engage new audiences and build larger, more lasting constituencies.

EXAMPLE:

  • Research points to a number of strategies for promoting quality, inclusive education for all children. They include investing in early childhood and universal pre-K programs, as well as creating attendance zones and strong schools to promote a diverse learning environment.

10. Use Opportunity as a bridge, not a bypass. Opening conversations with the ideal of Opportunity helps to emphasize society’s role in affording a fair chance to everyone. But starting conversations here does not mean avoiding discussions of race. We suggest bridging from the value of Opportunity to the roles of racial equity and inclusion in fulfilling that value for all. Doing so can move audiences into a frame of mind that is more solution-oriented and less mired in skepticism about the continued existence of discrimination.

EXAMPLE:

  • It is in our nation’s interest to ensure that everyone enjoys full and equal opportunity. But that’s not happening in our educational system today, where children of color face overcrowded classrooms, uncertified teachers, and excessive discipline far more often than their white counterparts. If we don’t attend to those inequalities while improving education for all children, we will never become the nation that we aspire to be.

Applying the Lessons

VPSA: Value, Problem, Solution, Action.

One useful approach to tying these lessons together is to structure opening communications around Value, Problem, Solution, and Action. For example:

Value: Your opportunity to get a home loan on fair terms shouldn’t depend on what you look like or where you come from.

Problem: But research shows that people of color are significantly more likely to be given high-interest, subprime loans than are white borrowers, even when those borrowers’ incomes and ability to pay are the same. In fact, the racial gap is greatest among upper-income borrowers. That racial bias hurts us all by driving up foreclosure rates, reducing tax revenues, and ravaging neighborhoods, and it violates our values as a nation.

Solution: We can address these destructive practices through a federal consumer credit agency with the authority to prevent discriminatory and predatory lending schemes. By ensuring access to fair credit on fair terms, we can save thousands of homes, prevent thousands of bankruptcies, and help get our economy going again.

Action: Tell your member of Congress to support a consumer protection agency with strong equal opportunity enforcement authority.

Notes

1. J. Bussey and J. Trasvina, “Racial Preferences: The Treatment of White and African American Job Applicants by Temporary Employment Agencies in California” (Berkeley, Calif.: Discrimination Research Center, December 2003).

2. D. Pager, “The Mark of a Criminal Record,” American Journal of Sociology, 108, No. 5 (2003), 937-75.

3. National Center on Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 2007 and 2008, Table 9; available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_009.asp.

4. This calculation refers to the data from footnote 3, and is based on the premise that the Latino population ages 25 to 29 would be graduating college at the 2008 white rate of 37.1%, as opposed to the 2008 Latino rate of 12.4%.

5. Amnesty International, Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and Human Rights in the United States (New York: Amnesty International USA, 2004).

6. Files, J. (2004, April 20). One Banker’s Fight for a Half-Million Indians. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/20/us/one-banker-s-fight-for-a-half-million-indians.html?pagewanted=1

Sample Media Materials for October 30th Release of Data on Stimulus Spending

This document contains ideas and sample materials to use in media outreach around the October 30, 2009 release of stimulus spending data.

Coverage is likely to lean toward a frame of government waste or discussions of whether or not the funds stimulated general growth. It will take proactive efforts to ensure coverage includes an angle about equity and overlooked groups and communities. These tips are meant to be low-cost options for achieving this goal.

This document includes the following sample media materials:

  • Sample Media Advisory
  • Online Comment Suggestions
  • Sample Blog Post

Sample Media Advisory

We recommend releasing a media advisory that includes questions to guide the media as they generate their coverage.

On October 30, 2009, the public will get the first look at how recipients of grants and loans distributed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 are spending the funds, completing this current stage of stimulus spending reporting. Spending for contracts was reported on October 15th.

Although this reporting is by no means comprehensive, it will give us all a snapshot of the spending’s impact on communities and the nation’s economic recovery. (Please see the attached fact sheet for more background on the stimulus bill and reporting requirements.)

While many questions will surround the release of this information, it is likely that a critical angle of this story will be lost unless the right questions are asked. Namely, are these funds reaching communities and populations in ways they really need, and who is being left behind?

This is an important consideration given that many communities—particularly people of color, women, and immigrants—were missing out on key gateways to opportunity even before the economic downturn began to affect everyone else. Unless stimulus investments reach these communities, we are likely to perpetuate ongoing inequalities while hurting our chances for a full and equitable economic recovery. Further, the law requires in varying degrees that agencies spending these funds take into account equal opportunity laws designed to ensure the inclusion of these groups.

Following are some questions reporters can ask of government officials to round out this coverage:

  • What evidence do you have that stimulus funding projects in your city/state are reaching communities on an equitable basis as required by law?
  • What is the distribution of stimulus funded or created jobs, specifically, among men and women, and among different racial groups?
  • Do all of the stimulus-funded projects in your city/state offer materials and services in languages that are accessible to the [immigrant group] community?
  • Your city/state website does not provide enough specific information for residents to identify the precise jobs and other beneficial projects that they might access. What other ways are there, if any, for the public to obtain that information?
  • What plans do you have to ensure that future stimulus spending supports the types of investment your city/state needs to prepare its communities to participate in the global economy?

To speak with experts in creating an equitable recovery, contact:

[Organization and Contact Name; Title; Email; and Phone Number]

Online Comment Suggestions

Commenting on articles about stimulus spending online is another effective way to get a message out. Following are some quick examples of the types of points that could be made in response to such articles.

  • Any efforts to create a positive economic recovery need to do more than just return us to the conditions that existed at the beginning of this economic crisis. Even then too many communities and groups were experiencing ongoing and structural barriers to opportunity and economic growth. For instance, even before the worst of the downturn in 2007, African American individual income was only 75.2% of white income. If we don’t spend funds to help address these types of disparities, we’ll just be setting ourselves up for growing inequalities.
  • Something that appears to be missing in this coverage is the fact that even before the economy started tanking, different groups of Americans experienced starkly different levels of economic opportunity. We can’t just spend money in an effort to return us to those inequitable conditions, but instead need to think about how to spend it in ways that help to create an economy in which everyone really has a chance at the American dream.
  • What I don’t see in this story is any discussion of how this spending will affect communities that need investment the most. Even before the downturn, our economy did not serve everyone, creating and sustaining inequalities that hurt our ability to grow our economy and compete globally. The challenges faced by communities of color, for instance, have led to stark disparities in income and assets that can’t be addressed by considering our pre-crisis economy the goal to reach. We need solutions for an economic recovery that is transformative and prepares us for the challenges of a global economy, or we will continue to see sharply growing levels of inequality right in our back yards.

Sample Blog Post

We recommend this type of post for progressive and partner blogs who might not be covering this angle of recovery. Many persuadable audiences are likely caught up in their own issues around the recovery, but will be sympathetic to these arguments, and perhaps even likely to adopt them.

On October 30, 2009, the public will get a look at how funds distributed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 are being spent when the reports from agencies receiving these stimulus funds are released.

While many questions will surround the release of this information, it’s likely that a critical part of this story will be lost unless we ask the right questions about this spending. Namely, is this stimulus really creating a recovery for everyone?

This is an important consideration given that many groups of Americans have consistently been left behind in ways that hard work and personal achievement alone cannot address. This was true even before the economic downturn began to affect everyone else, and it’s likely that the crisis has further worsened gaps in income and assets that existed already.

To get an idea of what some Americans faced before the crisis, just look at 2007, the year before the crisis began affecting everyone:

  • Of those living in poverty, 10.9% worked year-round, full-time;
  • The African American male unemployment rate (11.4%) was more than twice as high as the white male unemployment rate (5.5%), and the Latino male unemployment rate was also much higher (7.6%); and
  • Women made only 78.2% the median income of men, African Americans only 75.2% of whites, and Latinos only 72.6% of whites.

These are just a few examples of the unequal reality many communities faced back when some felt we were all riding high. The economy these statistics illustrate, though, is not exactly a portrait of the American Dream in action, and it’s not the kind of economy to which the stimulus money should be returning us. With thoughtful investments in opportunity—such as expanding skill-building job training, investing in education, and rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure—we can both restore consumer confidence and help struggling folks to catch their stride. Such investments would not only address the country’s short-term woes but also invest in our long-term strength.

Some will say we have to concentrate on stabilizing the economy first, and address the challenges described here second. But that simply won’t work. We need to have trained and ready workers at all levels of our workforce; we need to ensure that all communities experience investment and growth; and we need to protect all consumers from the kinds of financial products that have destabilized our economy in the first place. We are all part of a greater whole – both economically and morally.

Overlooking struggling communities won’t work, but it also is simply wrong to allow the inequalities our economy has perpetuated to continue.

So our goal for recovery has to be bigger than turning back the clock to 2007. If we ask the right questions now, and make the right investments, we have a real shot at a future in which American opportunity is within reach of everyone here.

Proposed Metrics for Equitable and Expanded Opportunity in the Economic Recovery

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MEMORANDUM

DATE:    July 17, 2009

FROM: The Opportunity Agenda, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, The Center for Social Inclusion, and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

RE: Proposed Metrics for Equitable and Expanded Opportunity in the Economic Recovery

This memorandum outlines a proposal from The Opportunity Agenda, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, The Center for Social Inclusion, and Leadership Conference for Civil Rights for measuring equity throughout the ongoing economic recovery process.

Ensuring that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or the Act) meets its goals requires transparency and accountability with regard to equity and equal opportunity. Only by using performance metrics that look beyond simply whether money is being spent and toward whether the funds are expanding opportunity and working in a transformative manner can these goals be satisfied. For example, one important goal of the Act is to support long-term infrastructure for a new economy. Simply returning to the state of the country in 2007 before the worst of the economic downturn began will not build a 21st century economy. Ensuring that the recovery is fair, equal, and equitable is crucial to creating quality jobs and careers, sustainable industries, and housing and transportation that fulfills unmet needs and build paths of mobility for all Americans.

The data necessary to measure equity and the expansion of opportunity in a specific project will frequently be available from existing sources. After identifying the relevant geographic area, agencies can draw first from existing federal, state, and municipal data, including Census data, to determine likely impact.1 Important equity issues, the relevant questions that agencies should be asking about how ARRA projects impact those issues, and potential metrics and data sources to answer those questions are suggested below for five areas: 1) Economic Development (including any job creation across all sectors); 2) Health; 3) Education; 4) Housing; and 5) Transportation and Related Infrastructure.2

Notes:

1. Federal data that demonstrates access to opportunity is available on a wide range of issues. See The Opportunity Agenda, The State of Opportunity 2009.

2. Some questions and potential metrics are informed in part by a day-long meeting on June 19, 2009 co-hosted by Center for American Progress, The Center for Social Inclusion, Economic Policy Institute, Good Jobs First, Institute for Policy Studies, Jobs With Justice, OMB Watch, and OpenTheGovernment.org. The meeting, “Promoting Equity Metrics in the Recovery Act,” brought together groups from across the country working toward a fair and equitable recovery.

3. Health Resources & Servs. Admin., U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., HPSA Designation.

4. Institute of Medicine, State of U.S.A. Health Indicators.

5. Ctrs. for Disease Control & Prevention, Health-Related Quality of Life – Prevalence Data, Mean Physically Unhealthy Days.

6. Office of Minority Health, U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., National Standards.

7. U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Patterns..

8. Pew Hispanic Center, Racial and Ethnic Composition of Schools, August 30, 2007, Table 1.

9. Nat’l Ctr. for Educ. Statistics, U.S. Dep’t of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

10. U.S. Census Bureau, Housing Patterns, supra note 23.

11. Opportunity Mapping, Kirwan Institute, Ohio State University.

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A Core Narrative for Immigration Messaging

It’s time to tell a new story about immigration in this country. Current dominant narratives do not reflect our country’s values, and are eroding public support for the kinds of policies our communities need. Meanwhile, negative discourse opens the door for dangerous and divisive proposals that serve no one beyond a narrow set of anti-immigrant activists. And while polls show these groups don’t represent the public’s views, they do tell a consistent, values-based story that has caught on in public discourse, popular culture, and political dialogue. We need to reclaim this conversation and infuse it with our solutions, our stories, and most importantly, our values.

Workable Solutions.  Uphold Our Values.  Move Forward Together.

This memo sets out the tools we need to begin to counter harmful anti-immigrant narratives. We propose a flexible, values-based framework that we can use to start a variety of conversations: We need workable solutions that uphold our values and help us move forward together. These conversations can then move to specific issues and solutions, to specific statistics, and to compelling individual stories. But we believe that the more we all start the conversation in roughly the same place and begin our own drumbeat of values, the stronger our collective message will be, and the easier each subsequent conversation will be to start.

General Messaging Guidelines

This values framework is based on recent public opinion research, insight from media monitoring and analysis, and the experience of a broad range of immigration advocates, activists and immigrant themselves. This intelligence suggests the following principles for communications on immigrants:

Emphasize Workable Solutions: Americans across the political spectrum agree that our immigration system needs fixing and that it’s unrealistic to deport 12 million people. Our communications should promote the kinds of solutions that provide for full economic and civic participation, and help our communities thrive. Anti-immigrant policies should be disparaged as reactionary policies that have been tried and failed to solve the problem.

Infuse Messages with Values: Americans are most likely support policies that welcome immigrants when they’re reminded of our national values of opportunity, community, equality, shared responsibility, and in some cases, human rights. “Transactional” arguments about immigrants paying more in taxes than they “take” in services just reinforce the anti-immigrant frame of newcomers as a potential burden.

Encourage Moving Forward Together: Anti-immigrant groups are actively working to drive a wedge between immigrants, African Americans, and low-wage workers. It’s important for us to convey our shared values and common interests (leading with values) as well as solutions that expand opportunity for everyone—e.g., combining an earned pathway to citizenship with enhanced civil rights enforcement, living wages, and job training for communities experiencing job insecurity.

Remind Audiences that Immigrants are a Part of Us: Instead of describing immigrants as outsiders who are good for us, we should remind audiences that immigrants are a part of us, and always have been. (Note that this is different from saying “we’re a nation of immigrants,” which is off-putting for many African American and Native American audiences).

Know the dominant narrative: Anti-immigrant spokespeople are consistent in using two dominant themes, regardless of their specific point.

Law and Order

  • “What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?”
  • Threat of Terrorism
  • Ducking Taxes

Overwhelming Scarce Resources

  • Job Competition
  • Health Care Cost and Access
  • Draining Social Services

Building a Message

While our core narrative should remain the same and its themes should weave throughout all of our communications, we can build messages for different issues and audiences. One structure that communicators have found helpful is Value, Problem, Solution, and Action:

Value

History shows that we move forward as a country when we welcome new immigrants and concentrate our combined energies on solving the problems we all face, and improving our communities.

Problem

We are currently at a standstill on immigration policy. Immigrants want to be here legally; our current system just makes that almost impossible.  Meanwhile, unscrupulous employers are exploiting this system denying workers across the board equal rights and pay, and preventing the collection of important streams of tax revenue.

Solution

We need sensible immigration policies that recognize reality – immigrants are already contributing members of our communities. They are a crucial part of our economic engine and the social fabric of our society. They are part of the future of our country.

The obvious solution – and one that most Americans support – is to fix our immigration system so that everyone who lives here can contribute and participate fully and without fear.

Action

Support policies that help our communities welcome immigrants, and solve our problems together.

Talking Point Guidelines

The following bullets are examples of how to illuminate the shared narrative. It is understood, however, that the immigration movement has diverse audiences, various regional needs, and faces a variety of challenges. But we share many of the same values. We propose weaving the narrative through your messaging, and using it as a guide. This way, it will begin to shape a familiar story to the public that will benefit us all, without attempting to force advocates into repeating uncomfortable rhetoric that doesn’t work for them.

Workable Solutions

We need to emphasize that we are proposing reasonable and practical solutions that address our community’s and our nation’s real needs. Emphasizing workable solutions also allows us to paint the extreme anti-immigrant activists as promoting policies that only serve to divide, alienate, and punish while ignoring the real issues our communities face.

  • Unrealistic approaches like building walls at the border or treating immigrants so badly that they’ll somehow pick up and “go home” have been tried and failed.
  • Anti-immigrant extremists are preventing a legal immigration system that works and distracting us from addressing our real challenges on education, health care and employment.

Immigration Reform

  • We need a realistic pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who work, pay taxes, and learn English. Immigrants want to come to America legally, but our current system makes that almost impossible. And we can’t round up and deport 13 million people [and it would violate our values as a people to do so].
  • A workable pathway to citizenship and human rights for current and future immigrants is crucial to the interests of our country and, especially, to the interests of working Americans. If our government keeps people in the shadows, without rights or a shot at the American Dream, it will depress the wages and job prospects of all workers in this country. And it will continue to violate our values as a nation. But if we move those people into the economic mainstream, we can rise together.

Local Anti-Immigrant Policies

  • We’ve tried the policies of isolation and division, and they don’t work for anybody. We need workable, inclusive policies that serve our entire state, even as we push the federal government to fix our broken immigration system.

Due Process

  • In America the punishment should fit the crime. Not allowing judges to consider the circumstances of a case violates this principle and does not solve the problem of undocumented immigration. We need to allow judges to consider the circumstances of each individual case and decide what is best for that situation. When the government denies due process to anyone in this country, it threatens the freedom of all of us.

Uphold Our Values

Research shows that the public reacts positively to values-based messages, and is motivated to protect the values they consider central to our country and our history. We can tap into this pride, and this motivation by underscoring that all immigration policies must reflect our values of:

Community    Equality    Shared Responsibility

Opportunity    Justice        Human Rights

  • Immigrants are part of the fabric of our society—they are our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends. Reactionary policies that force them into the shadows haven’t worked, and are not consistent with our values. Those policies hurt all of us by encouraging exploitation by unscrupulous employers and landlords.  We support policies that help immigrants contribute and participate fully in our society.
  • For generations, and today, America represents a promise of opportunity. We need to develop an immigration system that integrates immigrants who come here to work, pay taxes, and learn English.
  • Anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies are divisive and increasingly nasty; that’s not what we stand for as a country.
  • We must recognize the dignity and human rights of all people; preventing exploitation and upholding human rights is an important part of who we are as a people.
  • We must welcome the stranger among us.

Due Process

  • We need to uphold our respect for due process, a fair hearing, and access to a lawyer are core American principles that we have to uphold.

Raids

  • Militarized raids on families and workplaces, brutal detention facilities, the lack of due process — these raids are un-American and a national shame. The United States was founded to reject violence and repression, not repeat it.

Family Reunification

  • Some propose that we ignore family ties in our immigration system. But Americans agree that honoring family is a core value, and one of the values that we most respect in others. Welcoming newcomers but separating and splitting their families is contrary to who we are as a nation.

Help Us Move Forward Together

We need to emphasize community values, the idea that we are all in this together and we’re stronger when we realize this. Reminding people that the things that unite us are stronger than our differences puts them in a helpful frame of mind to consider immigration policies. It is important to underscore the notions of shared prosperity, economic and cultural contribution, and the fruits of combined efforts.

  • We are for solutions that benefit communities, strengthen our economy, and create a system that works for everyone.
  • We need shared solutions to improve health care, education, jobs, and the economy for everyone who lives here. Immigrants have a stake in those systems—we are caregivers and health professionals, teachers and students—and we are a part of the solution.
  • Generations of immigrants have come to America in search of opportunity and have contributed to our shared prosperity; preserving that tradition is essential to our future in an increasingly connected world.
  • Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are a part of our state’s economic engine, and, most importantly, a part of our communities.
  • Immigrants play a vital role in our communities, our culture and our economy. We go to church, we volunteer with the PTA, we pay taxes and work at hard jobs that our economy needs.
  • Our economy and our trade and immigration policies aren’t working for anyone but a select few. Instead of scapegoating immigrants and terrorizing families and communities, we should make America work for all of us.

Mix and Match

To create messages based on the narrative, we can determine which elements are the most effective to the point we need to make and then weave them in. It’s the cumulative effect of these messages that will ultimately create the narrative we need to start to put the immigration story back on track.

  • We need to move from our broken immigration system to one that is orderly, workable, and consistent with our nation’s values. We can do that by allowing immigrants who work, pay taxes, and learn English to earn a pathway to citizenship. Those steps, along with reforms like increased civil rights enforcement and sanctions for employers that exploit workers will raise wages and expand economic opportunity for everyone.
  • A pathway to citizenship and human rights for current and future immigrants is crucial to the interests of our country and, especially, to the interests of working Americans. If our government keeps people in the shadows, without rights or a shot at the American Dream, it will depress the wages and job prospects of all workers in this country. And it will continue to violate our values as a nation. But if we move those people into the economic mainstream, we can rise together.

A Winning Narrative on Immigration

An Effective Immigration Narrative

A “Core Narrative” is a set of broad themes and values that help to connect with persuadable audiences and build support for change.  Anti-immigrant spokespeople have a clear narrative with two main elements: law and order and the overwhelming of scarce resources. Over the past year, pro-immigration advocates and communications experts have developed a pro-immigrant narrative designed to move hearts, minds, and policy.

The Pro-Immigration Narrative has three main elements: (1) Workable Solutions; (2) Upholding Our Nation’s Values; and (3) Moving Forward Together. Each element can be expressed in different ways and with different, but related, messages and arguments:

1.) Workable Solutions. Americans are hungry for solutions when it comes to immigration, and they understand that punitive, anti-immigrant approaches are not realistic or workable. We can win by showing ourselves to be voices of solutions and can-do pragmatism.  Messages without solutions are easily dismissed.

  • We need to fix our broken immigration system, so people can get legal, contribute, and participate fully in American economy and society.
  • We’re not going to round up and deport 12 million undocumented men, women, and children, so let’s focus on realistic solutions like creating a way for people to get legal and cracking down on employers that exploit or underpay their workers.
  • Building border walls and raiding people’s homes and workplaces are just not realistic solutions.  We need real solutions that will work to fix our broken system.

2.) Upholding Our Nation’s Values. The most prominent positive values behind the core narrative are fairness and accountability. Many progressive audiences also see freedom from exploitation as important. And many native-born Latinos and African Americans view equality as important, when it comes to how immigrants from different countries are treated.

  • We need a system that protects all workers from exploitation and depressed wages and allows us to all rise together.
  • Harsh policies that force people into the shadows are not consistent with our values. Some anti-immigrant forces want to ban undocumented immigrant families from renting apartments or sending their kids to school. These kinds of policies are unworkable and are not consistent with our values. We need to fix our system so that immigrants who came here to work, pay taxes, and learn English can become legal and contribute fully.
  • Due process and fair treatment in the justice system are basic human rights, and respecting them is a crucial part of who we are as a nation. There is a lot of evidence that immigrants – both documented and undocumented – are being denied due process in this country.  If anyone is denied that basic human right, we are all at risk.

3.) Moving Forward Together. These messages tap most Americans’ views that immigrants work hard and are already contributing to the economy in some ways.

  • We need everyone’s contribution to get us out of the mess we’re in. To really fix the economy, we need to fix our immigration system to move towards eliminating the underground economy it perpetuates. By legalizing the undocumented workforce, we will bring these workers out of the shadows and put more workers and employers on our tax rolls.
  • We need policies that allow everyone who lives here to work and participate in our society.

The Narrative as a Message

Our research found that the core narrative itself can also be incorporated into messages. The following message was persuasive and popular across audiences. This message should be immediately followed by specific reform ideas.

  • When it comes to immigration, we need workable solutions that uphold our nation’s values, and move us forward together. We need to fix our system so that individuals who contribute and participate can live in the United States legally. That means creating a system where undocumented immigrants can register, get legal, learn English and contribute fully.

Urgency: The Core Narrative and Immigration Reform Now.

The time is right to press for immigration reform now, and fixing any part of the problem is viewed as progress. One message that did well in our research was:

  • Elected leaders have been talking about fixing our broken immigration system for over 20 years. It’s time they did something to actually fix it now, even if their first steps are not perfect. They should get started now working toward a way to get undocumented immigrants legalized, paying taxes, contributing fully, and on their way to becoming American citizens. Even if the changes Congress and the President adopt now don’t completely solve the problem right away, it will be a good step in the right direction, and that’s what we need.

Other research has found the following message to be effective:

  • Commonsense immigration reform will ensure fairness and accountability in the labor market. It will create a level playing field for workers and employers, lift wages for low- wage workers, punish unscrupulous employers who undercut their honest competitors, and increase tax compliance and revenues.

Facts That Matter

Americans are largely uninformed about the facts on immigration. While not all facts help to change minds, three facts are important to repeat, and to connect to our core narrative messages:

  • Under our current system, it’s almost impossible for many undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked here for years to become legal because there’s no process for them to do so—that includes children brought to the U.S. illegally at a very young age and who grow up here but have no way to become legal citizens.

Fixing our broken immigration system has to include creating a way for undocumented people to get legal, pay taxes, and participate fully in society.

  • There are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. It’s not realistic or humane to try to round up and deport them.

We need practical solutions, including creating a way for the undocumented immigrants who are here to get legal, learn English, contribute and participate fully.

  • The waiting lists for English language classes in some states are as long as three years.

The vast majority of immigrants want to learn English and become a full part of American society, but often lack a way to do so.

The Core Narrative and Specific Audiences.

The Narrative works well with all of the groups we’ve tested. But our research identified some differences in how it should be adapted for different audiences.  For example:

  • Progressive whites largely rejected the idea of punishing undocumented immigrants for coming here illegally, requiring fines, or imposing waiting periods on social services, once people are on a path to becoming legal. This group also tended to shy away from combative or confrontational language from either side.
  • African Americans and Latinos were more likely than others to consider anti-immigrant commentators to be racially motivated. They are also more likely than other groups to be concerned about job losses and depressed wages due to immigration.
  • African Americans were receptive to the idea that corporate greed and the desire for cheap labor are to blame for the broken immigration system—though this message does not move them toward support for reform. They rejected as patronizing any message that singled out African Americans as different or separate from other Americans in their interests, and messages emphasizing the common interests of Blacks and immigrants also fell flat.
  • Members of all of these groups questioned whether it is realistic to require people to have a current job in order to become legal.

Applying the Message

In order to deliver a consistent, well-framed message in a variety of settings, we recommend structuring opening messages in terms of Value, Problem, Solution, Action. Leading with this structure can make it easier to transition into more complex or difficult messages.

Value:

When it comes to immigration, we need real solutions that uphold our nation’s values, and move us forward together. We need a system that’s fair and effective for everyone.

Problem:       

But our current immigration system is badly broken.  There is no way for undocumented immigrants to get legal, including people who were here as young children.  And unscrupulous employers can prey on workers and pay low wages.

Solution:

We need practical solutions to fix our broken immigration system, so people can get legal, pay taxes, and participate fully in American society.

Action:          

The time is now for the President and Congress to pass commonsense immigration reform. It will help our economy, help all workers, and it’s the right thing to do.

Talking Immigration and Economics

When addressing immigration in the current economic climate, it is clear that advocates need to support arguments with facts. It’s equally clear, however, that facts will only go so far. Research shows that people are often most motivated by their values – and if data don’t support their deeply held beliefs, audiences will reject them. So we need to shape conversations with values, and then support our arguments with the best data available. This memo sets forth some ideas about how to do this when it comes to opportunity and inclusion for immigrants.

A Core Narrative:

Workable solutions that uphold our values and help us move forward together

We recommend structuring messages under a shared narrative, developed in concert with immigration advocates from around the country in 2008. This framework is based on recent public opinion research, insight from media monitoring and analysis, and the experience of a range of advocates. We suggest framing both data and anecdotal evidence such as individual stories under the following broad themes:

  • Emphasize workable solutions: While immigration policy currently takes a backseat to anxieties about the economy, Americans generally agree that our immigration system needs fixing, and that it’s unrealistic to deport 12 million people. We need to promote solutions that appeal to this commonsense acknowledgment, and that emphasize that economic recovery requires the input and participation of everyone here.

In the current economic climate, arguments that show how immigration reform is not only workable, but beneficial to us all, can be particularly compelling. For instance:

When it comes to the economy, it’s clear that we’re all in this together. We desperately need everyone’s contributions to get us out of the mess we’re in. But our outdated immigration system stands in the way of allowing the full participation of everyone here. To address the economy, it’s clear that we need workable solutions to immigration that move us all forward together. Consider this: integration of undocumented would bring us $66 billion in additional tax revenue, compared to the costly figure of deportation estimated to be $202 billion, if deportation of 12 million immigrants were even possible.1 Add to that the additional brainpower and hard work that immigrants bring, and we’re headed in the right direction.

We need a workable solution to immigration issues. Too often, you’ll only hear people talking about enforcing current laws, or border security. But our current laws aren’t working. They make it nearly impossible for most undocumented immigrants to become legal and fully contribute to our society. And if we only concentrate on the border, we’ll only continue to waste money that we could better spend on strengthening our communities in these tough times. Case in point: between 1993 and 2005, we tripled our spending on border security. Since about 40 percent of undocumented workers entered the country legally, but overstayed their visas, emphasizing border security is not only costly, but also doesn’t get to the core of the problem.2

It’s also important to use public opinion polling data to bolster our arguments:

Americans want real solutions to immigration. Two-thirds consistently support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Americans of every political stripe recognize that fixing our broken system is in the country’s interest, and that these immigrants are already our co-workers, our neighbors, and frequently our family members.

  • Emphasize Values: Values are particularly persuasive when considering topics like due process and family reunification. Facts can help underscore what people already suspect or want to agree with because it aligns with their deeply-held values.

For generations, and today, America represents a promise of opportunity and immigrants continue to play a vital role in our communities, our culture and our economy. In fact, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity “forty-six in 10,000 immigrants started businesses in 2007, up from 37 in 10,000 in 2006 and compared to the overall rate of 30 per 10,000 adults. Immigrant-founded technology and engineering companies employed 450,000 workers in the U.S. and generated $52 billion in revenue in 2006.”3

We need to uphold our respect for due process, a fair hearing, and access to a lawyer that are core American principles that we have to support. But there is such a backlog in the immigration courts that almost 90,000 people have waited for at least two years for their case to be heard after being accused of being here without documentation.4

  • Encourage moving forward together: We should remind our audiences of shared values and common interests as well as solutions that expand opportunity for everyone—for example, combining an earned pathway to citizenship with enhanced civil rights enforcement, living wages, police accountability, and job training for communities experiencing job and financial insecurity.

Organized labor is among those who recognize the need for practical and just solutions to undocumented immigration. These groups realize that to protect American workers, uphold labor laws for all, and lift wages, we need to reform our immigration system. More than 7 million workers live in the shadows of a system that takes advantage of them because they are undocumented. All workers in the United States deserve labor law protections, minimum wage, health and safety laws, and humane treatment that is based on the law not on immigration status. 5

Immigrants – both documented and those without status – are already part of the fabric of our society. They are contributing members of our communities; they are our neighbors, classmates, coworkers and friends. We need to make sure they can participate fully in our society and contribute fully to our economy – through work, in school, for public safety. When this happens, we all benefit. For instance, over $400 billion will be put into the social security fund alone over the next 20 years by fully integrating immigrants into our society.6

Both immigrants and African Americans consistently list quality education and affordable health care among their highest priorities. Both groups’ kids suffer when we allow our urban schools and hospitals to flounder, and both benefit, along with our country, when we invest in strong schools and quality health care, as well as living wages and decent working conditions. In recent polling, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos all listed affordable health care for seniors, affordable housing, education, and job creation and agreed that these were important for everyone here, citizens or not.7

Notes:

1. The Economics of Immigration Reform.  Immigration Policy Center (April, 2009).

2.  Amy Traub, Principles for an Immigration Policy to Strengthen & Expand the American Middle Class, Drum Major Institute, 2007.

3. Robert W. Fairlie, Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996-2007, April 2008.

4. Brad Heath, Immigration courts face huge backlog,” USA Today, March 29, 2009.

5. “Labor’s Support Strengthens Prospects for Immigration Reform,” Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles , Press statement (April, 2009).

6. The Economics of Immigration Reform. Immigration Policy Center (April, 2009).

7. Presentation of Findings from Focus Groups and a Survey Around Race, LCCR and Lake Research Partners, 2008

Moving Forward Together…

This memo sets forth themes and ideas on talking about immigration during the current economic downturn. While the challenges are great, there are also opportunities in talking to audiences who matter to us most, and who are most persuadable in this area. These include communities of color, low-wage workers, and progressives. Together, these groups comprise the support we need to ensure that local, state, and federal policies are realistic, effective, and uphold the values of fairness and opportunity. To inspire them we need messages that, in addition to speaking to fears about the economy, also build on the sense that we are all in this together, that we need to encourage a role for government in crafting solutions, and that immigrants have important contributions to make.

Immigrants have always had great contributions to make to our country and our economy, so it only makes sense that we include them as we address the economic downturn and our efforts toward recovery. We need to make sure that it’s possible for everyone to play a role in fixing the mess we’re in.

A Core Narrative:

Workable solutions that uphold our values and help us move forward together

We recommend structuring messages under a shared narrative, developed in concert with advocates from around the country in 2008.  This framework is based on recent public opinion research, insight from media monitoring and analysis, and the experience of a range of immigration advocates. It has also been well received in very early focus group testing.  This intelligence suggests the following principles for communications on immigration:

  • Emphasize workable solutions:  While immigration policy currently takes a backseat to anxieties about the economy, Americans generally agree that our immigration system needs fixing, and that it’s unrealistic to deport 12 million people. We need to continue to promote solutions that appeal to this commonsense acknowledgment, and that emphasize that economic recovery requires the input and participation of everyone here. It is also true that many of our key audiences do not realize or understand the barriers undocumented immigrants face in trying to become legal. Messages should emphasize that there are no workable solutions for many people already living and working here, and that those who are currently undocumented want to be here legally, but have limited or no options.
  • Infuse messages with values:  January’s inauguration helped to reignite Americans’ pride in core values like opportunity, community, equality, and shared responsibility. While invoking such values is not a silver bullet in messaging, research shows that the public reacts positively to values-based messages, and is motivated to protect the values they consider central to our country and our history. In the cases of due process and detention, research has found this approach to be particularly effective.
  • Encourage moving forward together:  The economic crisis gives anti-immigrant groups yet another opportunity to try to drive wedges between immigrants, African Americans, and low- wage workers. We should remind these audiences of shared values and common interests as well as solutions that expand opportunity for everyone—for example, combining an earned pathway to citizenship with enhanced civil rights enforcement, living wages, police accountability, and job training for communities experiencing job and financial insecurity.
  • Move from “Myth Busting” to documenting our story:  There are many myths and falsehoods about immigrants, especially undocumented workers, in the public discourse, and it is imperative that the truth be told. But research shows that a strategy of repeating and explicitly “busting” those myths generally serves to reinforce them in the public’s mind. We recommend instead using accurate facts affirmatively to support our own values-based story.
  • Know the opposing narrative:  Anti-immigrant spokespeople are consistent in their use of two dominant themes, regardless of their specific point: Law and Order (“What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?”) and the Overwhelming of Scarce Resources (the notion that there are not enough jobs, health care or education to go around).

Talking Point Guidelines

The following bullets are examples of how to talk about immigration during tough economic times. It is understood, however, that the immigration movement has diverse audiences, regional needs, and challenges. We propose using the shared narrative as a general guide while focusing on the following themes, but using the wording, symbols, and stories that best suit your needs.

We need workable solutions that uphold our nation’s values and help us move forward together…

  • We need everyone’s help and know-how to repair our economy, improve education, and generate jobs. Immigrants have a stake in those systems—we are caregivers and health professionals, teachers and students—and we are a part of the solution.
  • Reactionary policies that force people into the shadows haven’t worked, and they are not consistent with our values. Those policies hurt all of us by encouraging exploitation and low- wage, under-the-table employment that depresses wages. We need policies that help immigrants contribute and participate fully in our society.
  • It’s clear that our economy and our trade and immigration policies are no longer working for anyone but a select few. Instead of scapegoating immigrants and terrorizing families and communities, we should make America work for all of us.
  • Currently, it’s almost impossible for many undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked here for years to become legal, in spite of their great desire to do so. A system that denies a whole subset of workers the rights and responsibilities the rest of us enjoy is not workable or fair – and it’s not helping to repair our fractured economy.
  • We need to protect all workers and law-abiding employers. Our immigration system needs to work for everyone, not just for those employers looking for low-cost labor. Part of the solution is recognizing that it would be far better if all immigrant workers were here legally and could exercise the same rights on the job as native-born workers. Equal rights strengthen the bargaining power of all workers.  The first step toward realizing this equality is ensuring that our system makes it possible for undocumented immigrant workers to become legal, which it currently does not.1
  • Our policies must recognize that we’re all in this together, with common human rights and responsibilities. If one group can be exploited, underpaid and prevented from becoming part of our society, our common humanity is threatened, and none of us truly enjoy the opportunity and rights that America stands for.

Immigration Reform

  • To bring stability, opportunity, and fairness to American workers, families, and communities, we need to enact common sense immigration reform. Congress and the President need to work together to get a handle on our immigration system and find solutions that help all workers fully participate in our economy.
  • We need to protect American taxpayers. We also need to fix our immigration system to move towards eliminating the underground economy it perpetuates. By legalizing the undocumented workforce, we will bring these workers out of the shadows and put more workers and employers on our tax rolls.2
  • Anti-immigrant extremists are preventing a legal immigration system that works and distracting us from addressing real challenges like rebuilding our economy.

African American Audiences:

  • The African American community has always been the conscience of our country when it comes to human rights and dignity. Keeping 12 million people in the shadows, without human rights and subject to exploitation, is not in the moral or economic interest of black people, or our nation, and we have to stand against it.
  • Immigrants and African Americans are increasingly part of the same neighborhoods and communities, and we need solutions that enable us to rise together with all Americans. We each consistently list quality education and affordable health care among our highest priorities.  All of our kids suffer when we allow our urban schools and hospitals to flounder, and we all benefit, along with our country, when we invest in strong schools and quality health care, as well as living wages, decent working conditions and freedom from discrimination.
  • The recent economic stimulus package has addressed some of the issues facing our communities, but we have to make sure that investment is spent in communities where it is needed most. We have a better chance at success in these areas if we come together to protect our most vulnerable communities, including communities of color, and immigrants.
  • These are tough times, but squabbling amongst ourselves will only hold all of us back. We need to work together for practical solutions that ensure opportunity and protect our human rights.

Notes:

1  From Talking Points from the National Immigration Forum, America’s Voice and the Immigration Policy Center.

2  From Talking Points developed by the National Immigration Forum, America’s Voice and the Immigration Policy Center

Expanding Opportunity for All: Racial Discrimination

This memo provides advice on talking with journalists and other general audiences about U.S. compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Opinion research shows that Americans embrace the concept of human rights at home as an important set of societal values. They also believe strongly that equal opportunity based on race and freedom from racial discrimination are fundamental human rights. At the same time, however, most Americans have no knowledge of the international system, have little faith in the United Nations, and are wary of international treaties as a potential threat to U.S. sovereignty. Many also question whether racial discrimination is a serious problem today, and may be uncomfortable talking about race. These concerns can sometimes prevent audiences from hearing messages about race and human rights with which they might otherwise agree.

To overcome these barriers, we recommend that communications about race and human rights:

  • Lead with shared values of Opportunity and Equality;
  • Provide ample evidence of discrimination and inequality in practical terms;
  • Always include solutions, and explain that addressing racial discrimination creates a better country for all of us;
  • Focus on systemic problems and examples of racial bias, rather than individual bigotry;
  • Avoid jargon, discussing the treaty in simple terms and emphasizing US participation and agreement.

The Values: Opportunity and Equality.

Opportunity is the deeply held American value that everyone deserves a fair chance to reach his or her full potential. Rooted in this value is Equality, the notion that access to the benefits, responsibilities, and burdens of our society should not depend on what we look like or where we come from. Equal Opportunity does not mean treating people identically, but treating them as equals—with fairness and dignity. Opinion research shows broad agreement with those principles.

The Message: We can and must do better.

One way to stay “on message” is to communicate in terms of Value, Problem, Solution, and Action:

  • The color of your skin shouldn’t affect the opportunity that you have in our society. That’s a basic American belief, and it’s recognized at home and abroad as a fundamental human right.
  • But, despite the progress we’ve made as a nation, racial bias and discrimination continue to deny opportunity to millions of Americans.
    • For example, a study by Princeton University showed that Black and Latino job applicants in New York City are much less likely to be called back for a job than are white applicants with the same qualifications—in fact white applicants with a criminal record had a better chance of a call-back than black applicants with no criminal record.
  • The Convention Against Racial Discrimination is part of America’s promise to protect equal opportunity for everyone, and experts around the country have found that’s just not happening today. But we can and must do better.
  • We’re calling, for example, on New York’s Human Rights Commission to step up investigation of employment discrimination, to take enforcement action where laws are broken, and to assist employers who want to do the right thing. That will help create a more just and prosperous city for all New Yorkers, and can become a model for the nation.

We recommend using terms like the “Convention Against Racial Discrimination” rather than “CERD,” which most audiences will not understand, and explaining the convention process in terms of America’s promise to our nation and the world:

  • Americans overwhelmingly believe in equal opportunity; in a recent survey 85% percent of Americans said that equal treatment regardless of race is a human right. The U.S. signed and ratified the Convention Against Discrimination along with almost every other country in the world to protect that human right.
  • This year, it’s the United States’ turn to report to Americans and the world what it’s doing to protect against racial discrimination here at home. But the Bush Administration’s report is misleading and incomplete—the picture it paints for the world doesn’t mention the significant discrimination and inequality that the U.S. has failed to address.
    • For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that African- American, Latino, and Asian-American homeseekers continue to face significant housing discrimination around the country—and that’s bad for all of us. HUD found white renters were consistently favored over blacks 21% of the time. And non-Hispanic whites were favored over Hispanics 25% of the time. In sales, whites were favored over blacks 17% of the time; and non-Hispanic whites were favored over Hispanics 19% of the time.
    • Research also shows that communities of color are more likely to face predatory subprime loans, even when their income level is the same as white communities.
    • Yet the current Administration has reduced its efforts to enforce racial anti-discrimination laws.
  • One way to keep tabs on our government’s efforts is to track its progress under the treaty. So independent U.S. experts prepare a report to the U.N. that examines that progress, and describes where the government’s falling short. It’s called a “shadow report” because it provides a reality check on the official government story from independent experts.
  • This year’s shadow report also recommends concrete solutions, like updating our nation’s human rights laws to prevent subtle racial bias from seeping into our healthcare system and criminal justice system—which research shows is happening now. Cities, states, and our federal government have to step up their investigation and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in employment, housing, education, voting, and other pathways to opportunity.
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