Reform Immigration for America was an organization that was in support of liberal expansionist changes to U.S. immigration policy. The organization advocated for legal status for illegal immigrants and other changes to U.S. immigration law to make it easier for people to enter, live in, and work in the country.

Reform Immigration for America was the online activism hub of the Alliance for Citizenship, is a project of Tides Advocacy. The websites of both Reform Immigration for America and the Alliance for Citizenship are no longer live, which likely means that both projects are no longer active.

Overview

Reform Immigration for America was launched in 2009 after Democratic victories in the 2008 general elections. It began with a series of local launches across the country by liberal expansionist immigration activists and various left-wing organizations. Then, around 800 activists gathered in Washington, D.C. to launch the organization nationally. ¹

Reform Immigration for America called for the legalization of all illegal immigrants present in the United States. The organization claims that undocumented workers are unable to advocate for fair wages or humane working conditions. It claims that the status of undocumented workers makes them an underclass that can be exploited by employers. It also claims that legalizing the illegal immigrants would raise the wages of all Americans. ²

It also called for making it easier for foreigners to immigrate to the United States. It claims that there is virtually no legal way for immigrants to come to the United States, because the current immigration system is full of backlogs and delays that force legal immigrants to become illegal immigrants out of desperation. ³

It also decried the separation of families that sometimes results when immigration laws are enforced. ⁴

The organization began its campaign in 40 cities. In Los Angeles, hundreds of people marched for immigration reform. There were also a series of press conferences all over the country to gather momentum for the campaign. ⁵

At the organization’s campaign launch summit in Washington, D.C., speakers from labor unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU; ethnic-minority interest groups like National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS), Asian American Justice Center, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and NAACP; and liberal groups like National Immigration Forum and Center for American Progress, spoke. The launch summit took place over three days and featured numerous speakers and a meeting with the Obama administration in the White House. ⁶

Frank Sharry, the then-executive director of liberal expansionist immigration group America’s Voice, wrote an article in the Huffington Post announcing the organization’s launch. ⁷

Structure

Reform Immigration for America was a project of the The Advocacy Fund which is an organization in the Tides Nexus associated with the Tides Foundation. In 2013, the Alliance for Citizenship was founded by The Advocacy Fund which then took over Reform Immigration for America and turned it into an online activism portal. ⁸ The Alliance for Citizenship was led by seven partner organizations: AFL-CIO, America’s Voice, Center for American Progress, Center for Community Change, National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS), National Immigration Law Center, and the Service Employees International Union. ⁹

The website for Reform Immigration for America was last updated in 2018 and is no longer on the web. The Alliance for Citizenship’s website is also no longer on the web. It is likely that neither organization is active as of 2020.

1.      Sharry, Frank. 2009. “Reform Immigration For America”. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reform-immigration-for-am_b_210822?guccounter=1.
2.       Sharry, Frank. 2009. “Reform Immigration For America”. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reform-immigration-for-am_b_210822?guccounter=1.
3. Sharry, Frank. 2009. “Reform Immigration For America”. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reform-immigration-for-am_b_210822?guccounter=1.
4. Sharry, Frank. 2009. “Reform Immigration For America”. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reform-immigration-for-am_b_210822?guccounter=1.
5.   “Today Reform Is Coming To 40 Cities Across America”. 2009. Fair Immigration Reform Movement. https://fairimmigration.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/today-reform-is-coming-to-40-cities-across-america/.
6. “Live-Blogging The Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign Summit”. 2009. Fair Immigration Reform Movement. https://fairimmigration.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/live-blogging-the-reform-immigration-for-america-campaign-summit/.
7. Sharry, Frank. 2009. “Reform Immigration For America”. Huff Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reform-immigration-for-am_b_210822?guccounter=1.
8. “About Us”. 2020. Reform Immigration FOR America. Accessed July 13. https://web.archive.org/web/20181112203325/https://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/about-us/.
9. “About”. 2020. Alliance For Citizenship. Accessed July 13. https://web.archive.org/web/20170918080344/http://www.allianceforcitizenship.org:80/about.