December 9, 2008

NEWARK - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey released a new report today, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, giving an overview of the state's landscape for immigrants. The report will be released at a New Jersey immigration forum this evening commemorating International Human Rights Day, hosted by the ACLU-NJ, the American Friends Service Committee and a dozen of the leading immigration groups in the state.

"The anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a time to take stock of where we are as a country with respect to human rights and examine how far we still have left to go," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "Our report looks at the state of human rights for New Jersey's immigrants and the direction we must take as a state to guarantee that their rights are honored rather than denied."

The report puts New Jersey's diversity in perspective, offering statistics about its ethnic makeup while recounting its history, including recent history: immigration raids, driver's license restrictions, and the Attorney General's August 2007 directive prohibiting police from asking immigration status of victims and witnesses.

"Immigrant rights are human rights," said Amy Gottlieb, director of the American Friends Service Committee's Program on Human Rights in Newark. "Right now, we have a duty to make sure that the next four years don't bring the same hostile policies we've seen in the past four. We as advocates are strategizing to create a society that pays attention to human rights every day, not just on the day designated to commemorate them."

Tonight's forum will address the most pressing issues for New Jersey immigrants, including how human rights guarantee immigrants' rights, the effect of the recession on New Jersey's immigrant communities, and how the political climate toward immigrants in America will fare in an Obama administration.

Please join us for our immigration forum tonight:

Sixtieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Immigration Forum
Wednesday, December 10, 7 p.m.
89 Market Street, Eighth Floor, Newark
973-854-0403 for information

Resources

• The Rights of Immigrants in New Jersey (826k PDF) a report issued by ACLU-NJ.