VISION R A ST R ONG CALIFO

RN IA
FO

Immigrant and refugee families and

communities of California envision and deserve a state
and country in which our dreams of equal opportunity, safety, and success are
promoted and protected. And we envision a state and country in which our histories, languages,
and cultures are valued and recognized as enriching the lives of all. We believe such a California and
country are possible and depend on the collective power and will of our multi-racial, multi-ethnic
communities. This statement of our vision presents the unified voices of families and communities
across California, and shines a light on the issues that will safeguard our dignity and human rights.
We actively encourage the adoption of this document by any individual, group or community that shares our values.
This Vision for a Strong California is supported by the following organizations:
Alliance San Diego
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Asian Law Caucus
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Los Angeles
Asian Law Alliance
California Immigrant Policy Center
Canal Alliance
Causa Justa :: Just Cause
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo
Indgena Oaxaqueo
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
(CHIRLA)
Comite Civico
Council of Mexican Federations in North
America (COFEM)
Council on American-Islamic Relations,
California Chapter (CAIR-CA)
CSA San Diego County
Day Worker Center of Mountain View
Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC), UFW Foundation
a project of Community Initiatives Undocumented Student Program,
Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement UC Berkeley
Filipino Migrant Center University Muslim Medical Association
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (UMMA) Clinic
Khmer Girls in Action USC Center for the Study of Immigrant
Korean Immigrant Worker Advocates Integration
Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing
Project (MICOP)
Mobilize the Immigrant Vote
National Immigration Law Center
Partnership for the Advancement
of New Americans PANA
Pilipino Workers Center
of Southern California
Pomona Economic
Opportunity Center
Priority Africa Network
Services, Immigrant
Rights, and
Education Network

Promote We seek a world in which all people live with full dignity and self-determination.
Compassionate Compassionate and fair justice and immigration systems would:
and Fair
Justice and Immediately end violence against immigrants and their communities, which includes stopping
Immigration raids; ending detention and deportation of immigrants, refugees and asylees; terminating policies
and programs that allow for entanglement between federal immigrant enforcement and local law
Systems
enforcement; and halting militarization at the border and in urban and rural areas.
Promote the welcoming, due process, and support of migrants and refugees fleeing violence and
persecution in our home countries, regardless of where we come from or religious affiliation.
Increase civic participation and immigrant integration through a fair road to citizenship without
costly fees and fines, with special emphasis on reuniting families as simply and quickly as possible;
the expansion of naturalization services; ESL classes; language-accessible materials and services;
and investment in community engagement.
Stop incarceration of our communities and spend resources on education and restorative justice.

Protect and We call for all people to be treated with respect and dignity regardless of race,
Expand Civil religion, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age,
Rights and or disabilities through
Participation
Promoting equal opportunity for all marginalized communities.
Ensuring that the electorate better reflects those who reside in California by increasing voter
participation; expanding voting rights to 16 and 17 year olds in municipal elections; limiting
corporate and billionaire funded electioneering; and upholding voter protections.
Guaranteeing due process and the right to a fair trial for all people, including the right to appeal;
the right to language assistance; and an immediate stop to indefinite detentions and deportations.
Ensuring that government authorities do not subject anyone to cruel or abusive treatment or
torture, in our communities and at our borders.
Invest in We call for investment in the public services, institutions, and programs that are
Quality Public critical to laying the foundation for equity for immigrants, vulnerable communities,
Services and and low-income communities of color.
Institutions
All Californians deserve access to no cost or low-cost quality primary, secondary, and higher
education that honors their communities histories, teaches critical thinking, and supports
teachers and all workers with a living wage.
Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed and every job is dignified and should be
respected. We call for: full enforcement of workers rights under the law and access to
opportunity including living wage jobs, training programs for immigrants, refugees, asylees, and
people of color, and programs to help us continue our careers in the U.S.
Everyone should have access to quality, affordable health care and services that are culturally and
linguistically competent regardless of immigration status. Preserve and fully fund a social service
safety net; provide members of our communities with access to gender sensitive and culturally-
appropriate information necessary to make informed decisions about reproductive health and
rights, and ensure education for family members and partners on roles and responsibilities.
All communities, regardless of immigration status, deserve to live in housing that is safe,
affordable for low-income families, and close to where we work. Moving towards this goal
includes increasing government funding to preserve, maintain, and build affordable and safe
housing; expanding, protecting, and enforcing the rights of renters; promoting responsible
development that creates good jobs, and housing for low-income communities; and investment in
transport networks and options to enable our communities to travel with ease.
Foster Healthy We seek a world in which all people are afforded the right to healthy environments
Environments where we live, work, play, pray and go to school. Currently, immigrants, refugees
and Advance and people of color are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and
Environmental pollution. Achieving a healthy environment depends upon:
Justice
Ending the production and dumping of toxins, hazardous wastes, nuclear materials, and pollution.
Ending the exploitation of our natural resources and policies that are the root causes of our
ecological crisis and cleaning up brown fields in our communities.
Investing in sustainable planning and development that reduces the use of our natural resources
and creates quality jobs in the green industry.
Ensuring access to healthy foods, art, nature and beauty for all our communities.

Create and Immigrants, refugees, asylees, and all people deserve to live in a world in which the
Implement power of countries is balanced and individual countries have the ability to protect
Humane their peoples social, economic, and cultural well-being. Too often our communities
Foreign face forced migration as a result of policy decisions that threaten our safety and
Policies security, and in which we have no say. Addressing the root causes of mass migration
and refugee crises requires the:

End of profit driven trade agreements that endanger the livelihoods, health, and safety of our
communities as countries shift to export-oriented mass production of cash crops and other goods.
End of extractive, exploitative policies that destabilize communities and
often lead to war and displacement.
Transformation of foreign policies that increase the militarization of
communities, compromise human rights, and stifle the sovereignty and
self-determination of countries and their peoples.

Visioning Our Will this proposal support or hurt vulnerable

Future communities? What will be the long-term impact?
Who are the supporters? Who are the opponents?
When preparing to What do we know about these groups?
vote or considering How will our government protect, respect and
policy or community fulfill human rights through this measure?
decisions, we must Will resources be taken away from
ask ourselves the important social programs?
following questions: Will this measure unite immigrants,
refugees, and U.S.-born communities?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Vision for a Strong California was developed in partnership with immigrant
rights leaders who have participated in the Fellowship for a New California, a
program of the Rockwood Leadership Institute. The concept and initial drafts
of the language for the vision were developed by Mobilize the Immigrant Vote.
Reshma Shamasunder coordinated the development and editing process of the vision
statement. We would like to acknowledge the following foundations that have made the Fellowship
for a New California possible: Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, The James Irvine Foundation,
The California Wellness Foundation, The California Endowment, and Weingart Foundation.