Three Questions with California Bold Panelist Tanya Golash-Boza
Q: What is one of the key issues in the current moment facing supporters of immigrant integration working to defend the safety and rights of immigrant communities?
Tanya Golash-Boza: Despite our dependence on migrants for the vitality of our society and economy, one of the key issues facing migrants today is the fear of deportation. Those of us who wish to defend the rights of migrants have to work harder than ever to protect migrants and their families from the threat and reality of deportation.
Q: What is one way in which we can push the envelope – in California and the nation – to develop new policy ideas, strengthen partner capacities, and secure broad alliances?
Tanya Golash-Boza: The best arena for California to develop policies to protect and support migrants is in the area of workers’ rights. It is a travesty that employers pay workers so little to do vital work such as childcare, farm work, food processing, and construction – jobs where immigrants are concentrated. California needs to be at the forefront of developing policies that ensure a bright future for immigrants and all workers in this state. This future starts with labor protections for all workers.
Q: Name one way states and municipalities around the nation can learn from each other to deploy new strategies and identify opportunities to advance immigrant integration
Tanya Golash-Boza: States and municipalities must defend the rights of all residents. Everyone in the United States needs healthcare, healthy food, great schools and opportunities for growth. The best way to build alliances is to start with the premise that all residents of the United States need and deserve basic rights. We can’t build the solidarity we need to achieve those rights if we exclude immigrants. Thus, the best strategy is to fight for rights for all workers.
About the interviewee
Tanya Golash-Boza is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Merced. She has published several books on race and immigration including: Deported: Immigrant Policing, Disposable Labor and Global Capitalism (NYU 2016), Forced out Fenced In: Immigration Tales from the Field (Oxford 2018), and Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, and Deportations in Post 9/11 America (Routledge 2015).