NNAAC believes in the following principles for reforming our immigration system:

• Reunification of Families: Immigration reform will not succeed if public policy does not recognize one of the main factors driving migration as well as one ofAmerica’s most cherished values: family unity.  Restrictive laws and bureaucratic delays too often undermine this cornerstone of our legal immigration system.  Those waiting in line should have their admission expedited, and those admitted on work visas should be able to keep their nuclear families intact.

• Protection of Civil Liberties and Human Rights: Immigration reform that protects our core American values of fairness and justice and defends the due process rights of everyone, including the right to a fair day in court and access to an attorney.

• Effective Enforcement: Fair proceedings, efficient processing, as well as strategies that crack down on criminal smugglers, get tough with lawbreaking employers, and reduce illegality.  It must include an end to inhumane raids and employ alternatives to detention, such as house arrest.  These practices which tear families a part, undermining the American value of family unity, must be revisited and changed, including expedited admissions of applicants.

• Worker Protections: To replace the deadly, chaotic, and illegal flow of workers to jobs, there need to be wider legal channels so needed workers can be admitted legally to fill available jobs.  To avoid the exploitation and abuses of flawed guest-worker programs, the nation needs a “break-the-mold” worker visa program that adequately protects the wages and working conditions ofU.S. and immigrant workers.  It should also allow workers to change jobs, meaningfully enforce both the program’s rules and existing labor laws, protect law-abiding employers from unscrupulous competitors, and provide a path to permanent status.