America's Voice Blog
Posted 07/02/09 at 01:25pm By Jackie Mahendra
Victory: Walter Gets to Stay! Happy Fourth of July!
Earlier today we asked the question, "Why Deport Walter?"
Well, after a strong coordinated effort this week, led by Dream Activist.org and SEIU, to allow Walter Lara to stay in this country, we've scored an important victory. Walter was granted a one-year stay of deportation today. The 23-year-old honor student will now get to spend this Fourth of July watching fireworks with his family in Florida instead of waiting to be deported to a country he's never known. Congratulations to everyone who worked to make this happen!
We share Walter's joy and relief today, but we also know that Walter is just one of the 65,000 immigrant youth whose lives would be changed by the Dream Act.
Erin Rosa of Gabacha.com writes:
Clearly what happened here was that the federal government, being pressured by a public opinion that saw the absurdity in sending a talented young man back to a country he has never known for a the “crime” of entering the country illegally when he was a toddler, eventually did the right thing.
This is all because we made the conscious decision to take targeted and organized action. That’s what change is about my friends, and again, thank you. It changed a man’s life today.
SEIU is also organizing a “Thank Napolitano” if any of you feel inclined to sign that.
The battle is far from over. Only by passing progressive legislation like the DREAM Act, can we stop more kids from succumbing to a situation like Walter’s. It will be up for a vote in Congress soon, and I look forward to reporting more on that here and at my blog.
As Kos, founder of Daily Kos, pointed out earlier today in "The absurdities of current immigration policy:"
Update: Just got word that Lara's deportation was delayed for one year by Napolitano. Great work for everyone who fought hard for this kid. Fantastic news for him, but there are many more like him in similar position. I look forward to legislation within the next 12 months creating a rational national immigration policy.
We share this sense of urgency with Erin, Markos, and the volunteers who put so much of their passion into running DreamActivist.org, and we will be working to ensure that Walter's victory soon becomes a victory for all of the youth trapped within our broken immigration system.
For now, please take a moment out of your holiday weekend to celebrate with Walter and his family and support the Dream Act in any way you can.
If you want to make a donation to this work, check out the stellar fundraising widget over at DreamActivist.
Posted 07/02/09 at 11:36am By Web Team
Weekly Immigration Wire: White House Meeting a First Step to Reform
Note: This is a weekly feature by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger
After postponing twice, President Obama finally met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on June 25 to discuss moving immigration reform legislation forward. The meeting was applauded by activists and advocates for immigration reform, as the issue seemed to have stalled, and the acrimonious tone of the debate has proven deadly.
All parties emerged from the meeting with positive feelings about the prospect for progress, as I heard on last Friday’s White House debriefing conference call. A confluence of positive factors are contributing to the momentum: Major labor leaders are united for reform, Democrats are leading much of Washington, and voters in the U.S. clearly want to see reform passed. President Obama made his intention to pass reform very clear and the White House predicts the process will begin late this year or early 2010.
Posted 07/02/09 at 07:55am By Jackie Mahendra
Why Deport Walter?
I know what you're thinking.
Who is this Walter kid, and why should I care that he's scheduled to be deported this Fourth of July holiday?
Daily Kos blogger Gabacha puts it this way:
There is no greater case in recent memory that so accurately demonstrates the absurdity and injustice of our broken immigration system than the case of Walter Lara, a youth who's family traveled to the United States when he was just three years old. Walter earned a 4.7 GPA in high school and later graduated from Miami-Dade Honors College in 2007, where he went on to pursue a career in computer technology.
But there's a problem.
Walter, by no fault of his own, is an undocumented immigrant.
And now, Walter is set to be deported right after 4th of July weekend.
According to the Miami Herald, Walter is an ordinary American kid who wants to use his 3D animation skills to work at Pixar. He also happens to be stuck in our extraordinarily convoluted immigration system. Watch him tell his story at the recent National Dream Act Graduation in Washington, DC:
Walter is not alone. He is only one of 65,000 youth living in this country without legal status through no fault of their own, who are blocked from pursuing their dreams and giving back to the country they know and love. Under the umbrella of Dream Activist.org, they are fighting hard to bring awareness and greater justice to our nation's broken laws -- and to pass the Dream Act, which was re-introduced last spring and is sure to be a vital piece of the comprehenisve immigration reform package Congress is looking to move forward later this year.
Click here to read more.Posted 07/01/09 at 10:55am By Jackie Mahendra
Will Newly-Minted Senator Al Franken Support Real Solutions on Immigration?
Yesterday we were happy to note that the Minnesota Supreme Court ended an epic 8-month legal dispute to determine who
would represent the great state of Minnesota in the United States Senate. It must be a relief for the people of Minnesota to finally have two Senators again.
We were even happier to note that the newest member of the Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee, often responsible for deciding immigration matters, appears to take a common-sense approach to the frequently-demagogued issue.
Way back in 2006, Al Franken laid out his position on the urgent issue of immigration reform. Franken stated, during an appearance on Scarborough Country:
Click here to read more.I think these 11 million or 12 million undocumented people who are here, I think it`s un -- impractical to expect that we`re going to deport them. Many of them have children who are citizens, and brothers and sisters who are. I think what we have to do is tighten up the border. I think we have to figure out a -- a guest-worker program that limits the number of people who come in and that treats them well and treats America -- and is fair to American-born workers.
Posted 06/30/09 at 01:58pm By Jackie Mahendra
Boy Scouts Try For Hispanic Recruitment With Hunt For Illegals
Earlier this year, we reported that, in light of changing demographics, the Boy Scouts of America is spending more and more marketing dollars to recruit Latino youth, understanding that Latinos:
"[A]re projected to make up one quarter of the nation's population by 2050."
And this week TuscaloosaNews.com confirms that the organization is hoping to recruit more Hispanic members, even making the process easier by hiring bilingual recruiters and not requiring social security numbers or identification cards to join...
“The welcoming approach has resonated with immigrant parents”
The irony here is that a recent New York Times article reports that the same Boy Scouts of America is now training young scouts to hunt down and arrest "illegals"-- well, as a simulation, of course.
Click here to read more.- Tags
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Posted 06/30/09 at 08:48am By Jackie Mahendra
Sotomayor-critic Krikorian Seeks to Hang Healthcare Debate on Immigrants
Think Progress' Wonk Room blogger Andrea Nill found this clip of Mark Krikorian (of Keith Olbermann Worst Person in the World fame) trying to pin the problems with our healthcare system, including our "uninsured crisis" on immigrants. Big surprise there.
Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a restrictionist "think tank" that plays prominently within the network of anti-immigrant organizations beholden to John Tanton, a man with clear ties to white nationalism.
Here's the video:
According to Nill in Mark Krikorian And CIS Conflate ‘Uninsured Crisis’ With ‘Immigration Crisis,’ Krikorian's claims falsely distort the healthcare debate in much the same way as his now-infamous call for Judge Sonia Sotomayor to change her last name to sound more "Anglo" distorted the debate over the President's Supreme Court nomination's qualifications.
Click here to read more.Posted 06/29/09 at 12:02pm By Jackie Mahendra
NYT: A Way Forward on Immigration
It's worth reading the whole Editorial, "A Way Forward on Immigration," from Saturday's New York Times, but here's a snippet:
Click here to read more.President Obama and Congress members met privately at the White House on Thursday for their first major discussion of immigration reform. Immigration is just one unsolved national crisis among many, and it was hard not to suspect that the parties might use the meeting — which had already been twice postponed — to dampen expectations for a bill this year.
The meeting was more encouraging than that. It led to a persuasive show of unity among Republicans and Democrats. Both sides made the case for getting a comprehensive reform bill written and passed this year, or early next. Mr. Obama announced that the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, would lead a working group of both parties and houses of Congress to do that.
It now seems more likely than before that Mr. Obama is ready to lead the way, uniting problem-solvers in both parties out of a long-stalemated debate.
Posted 06/26/09 at 05:42pm By Jackie Mahendra
White House Meets with Congress, Optimistic that Reform Will Move Forward this Year
Yesterday, the White House hosted a meeting of bipartisan lawmakers from both chambers of Congress to begin the conversation of how to move immigration reform forward this year.
Kos, founder of the progressive blog Daily Kos, reports in "Immigration reform headed for passage this year:"
Both the White House and Senate Democratic leadership have reiterated that they expect to pass meaningful immigration reform this year or early next year.
Think Progress devotes an entire Progress Report to immigration reform today, with the headline: Time For The 'Heavy Lifting' To Begin:
At a bipartisan meeting with congressional lawmakers yesterday, President Obama pledged "that he would push for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration system by early next year." "It's going to require some heavy lifting," Obama said. "It's going to require a victory of practicality and common sense and good policymaking over short-term politics. That's what I'm committed to doing as president."
A video from the WhiteHouse.gov blog spells out some key elements of the plan. Their blog post, Working Together for Immigration Reform, reports:
While Congressional leaders are working to tackle the complexities of immigration reform, the Administration has already taken steps to improve the system. The FBI has cleared much of the backlog of immigration background checks, the Department of Homeland Security is speeding up citizenship petitions and in conjunction with the Department of Labor, they are working to crack down on employers who are exploiting illegal workers. \
Here are some activists' reactions to the that meeting during a telephonic press conference this morning:
"There can be no doubt that the conditions for significant movement on immigration reform this year have become more favorable," stated Simon Rosenberg, President and Founder of NDN. "An overwhelming majority of Americans want action taken to fix the broken immigration system now and support the Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislative approach. While the road to passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform will not be an easy one, with strong leadership, progress this year is within Washington's grasp."
America's Voice Executive Director, Frank Sharry, responded:
Click here to read more.These results reflect what we have known for years - the American people support immigration reform, and want Congress to provide smart solutions to tough problems. While many in the political class continue to look in the rearview mirror and fail to grasp the policy and political realities that are bringing immigration reform to the fore, the President and Congressional leaders understand the power behind reform. Yesterday, they took a giant step towards addressing and solving a problem calling out for courageous and deliberative action.
Posted 06/26/09 at 08:55am By Web Team
Weekly Immigration Wire: In Midst of Crisis, Signs of Reform
Note: This is a weekly feature by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger
President Obama has often stated that immigration reform cannot be approached in a piecemeal fashion, and that his administration would tackle the issue in 2009. This week, Obama will be meeting with members of Congress to kick off a bi-partisan approach to reform. These meetings don’t guarantee any legislative action will take place this year, but are at least an encouraging sign. In the meantime, the deportation industry shows no sign of slowing, hate crimes are rising and hate groups are being main streamed. As a result, the polarization between reform advocates and foes is getting worse.
New America Media’s Jun Wang writes about the disapointing consensus reached by a panel of immigration activists last Thursday at California State University in Los Angeles. A lack of movement around immigration reform won’t help curb rising rates of hate crimes against Latino/as, and compounds other instances of “othering” and racism. According to one panelist: “Employers in conservative cities” are learning that “they are better off not hiring people who are ‘foreign looking or having foreign sound names.’”
Not content with simply raiding homes, workplaces, or storming the local 7-11, Immigrations Customs and Enforcement (ICE) is escalating its enforcement tactics. Also in New America Media, Hiram Soto reports on the joint operation between the Border Patrol and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in deporting three high-school age girls, one as young as 16, who were stopped by ICE on their way to school. Immigration attorney Lilia Velasquez, who is representing the minors, said she “hasn’t seen anything like this in her 25-year career,” because the children are being let back into the U.S. to fight their deportation.
Click here to read more.Posted 06/25/09 at 04:36pm By Jackie Mahendra
President Obama’s Comments on Immigration After Today’s White House Meeting
Here are the President's unedited comments, from a White House release:
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AFTER MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION
Click here to read more.State Dining Room 3:17 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. We have just finished what I consider to be a very productive meeting on one of the most critical issues that I think this nation faces, and that is an immigration system that is broken and needs fixing.
We have members of Congress from both chambers, from parties, who have participated in the meeting and shared a range of ideas. I think the consensus is that despite our inability to get this passed over the last several years, the American people still want to see a solution in which we are tightening up our borders, or cracking down on employers who are using illegal workers in order to drive down wages -- and oftentimes mistreat those workers. And we need a effective way to recognize and legalize the status of undocumented workers who are here.
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Silent No More
Marxavi Angel Martinez came to America at the age of 3 with her parents. The family came to the U.S. on valid visas but stayed in America after establishing a good life for their family. Angel has never known a life outside of the United States. Read More
