America's Voice Blog

Posted 08/20/10 at 11:58am By Maria Ponce

WATCH: Advocates deliver over 6,000 petitions to DHS

Yesterday, as part of our two week campaign to stop the deportation of Ivan Nikolov, America’s Voice joined Matias Ramos, Tania Unzueta, Dulce Matuz and other DREAM activists to deliver over 6,000 signed petitions, along with a letter of support from Senator Carl Levin, letters from family and friends, and another letter of support signed by 32 national and local organizations, all of which are urging ICE to reconsider Ivan’s deportation.

Check out Matias Ramos, undocumented leader of United We Dream Network based in Washington D.C, along with other Dream Activists, call out to Janet Napolitano to stop Ivan’s deportation right as she was walking out of the ICE building!

 

Posted 08/19/10 at 08:35am By Mahwish Khan

Ivan’s Fiancée to DHS: It’s Cruel to Send Him to Russia

Yesterday afternoon, local and national advocates held a media call to highlight Ivan NIkolov’s struggle to remain in the country he knows as home, and call on DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief John Morton to prevent his deportation. 

Ivan Nikolov's story is compelling. He has been held in a detention center since May and is facing imminent deportation to Russia, despite the fact that he didn't even know he was undocumented until he was 15, and he barely speaks Russian. His only “crime” was having missed a court date ten years ago – when he was only 12 years old. His mother has already been deported, despite being married (legitimately) to a US Citizen.

If his deportation goes through, he will be forced to join the Russian military, even though he is an American in every way but paperwork.

Not long ago, your faxes made a difference and helped stop an aspiring Arizona preschool teacher named Marlen from being deported. Today, you can do the same for Ivan -- please fax DHS and tell them to keep Ivan at home with his fiancée. Local DREAM activists will be delivering letters to DHS in Washington, D.C. this afternoon, so please do your part.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/06/10 at 09:19am By Jackie Mahendra

VICTORY: Marlen Will Stay with Two Young Kids and Husband in Arizona, DREAM Act Fight Continues

Earlier this week we brought you the story of Marlen Moreno, the Arizona mother and aspiring preschool teacher who would be eligible to earn citizenship under the DREAM Act. On Saturday, she was scheduled to be ripped away from her family and the country she calls home, which she was brought to as a young girl.

Here’s the great news: Marlen was just granted what’s known as “deferred action” for one year.  She was scheduled to be deported on August 8th, but after a campaign initiated by DREAM Act activists, Marlen was allowed to stay with her family for another year.

We asked you to fax DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, and you came through. In just 24 hours, we passed our goal of having 5,000 people fax DHS. As of today, you’ve sent close to 20,000 faxes to the agency!

Thank you.

Your voices made a major difference for Marlen and her family.

Several prominent elected officials also advocated on Marlen's behalf, including Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Harry Reid (D-NV), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY)), and Congressmen Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Howard Berman (D-CA). These leaders are also working to pass the DREAM Act this year, as a first step toward full immigration reform.

According to a DREAMActivist press statement:

“We all truly appreciate this decision by ICE. I congratulate Janet Napolitano for making the right decision to keep this young family together. This is wonderful news for Marlen and her family and it demonstrates a further need for ICE to stop the removal of all DREAM Act eligible individuals,” stated Mo Goldman, one of Marlen Moreno’s attorneys.

Marlen responds:

Marlen, with her two sons in hand, said: “I appreciate each and every person who helped me and offered their support, everybody who put their dedication and effort to make this possible. I wish that this were also possible for others who find themselves in a situation similar to mine. I hope to be able to help and involve myself with everybody and all the to fight for the DREAM Act.”

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/21/10 at 03:13pm By Jackie Mahendra

DREAM Now Series: Letter from Yahaira Carrillo to President Barack Obama

Editor's Note: In case you missed it, the DREAM Now letter series launched this week, with a letter from DREAM Act student Mohammad Abdollahi -- check it out over at Crooks and Liars. The first featured letter-writer, Mohammad, helped to organize this week's DREAM mobilization in DC, which consisted of lobby visits, a "mock graduation," and rallies. The mobilization took a controversial turn yesterday, as 21 young people engaged in civil disobedience in the nation's capitol to highlight the urgency they feel for moving the legislation -- the youth risked deportation because of their immigration status.  

Today, Senator Reid was quoted on his desire to move forward on the DREAM Act, with comprehensive reform stalled, but much work remains to ensure DREAM passes.

The DREAM Now letters to follow each week, from undocumented young people who feel they must tell their stories, will be used to call attention to the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act without further delay. Please get involved by posting the letters on your blog, your facebook or twitter profiles, or wherever you can. Together we can make the DREAM Act a reality for the million or more young people whose lives are now on hold, waiting for this critical legislation -- a stepping stone to full immigration reform that 70% of Americans support.

---Jackie

An excerpt from today's DREAM Now Letter: Yahaira Carrillo (Click here to read Yahaira's full letter to President Obama, including news of her arrest yesterday):

...I was born in 1985 to a barely-turned 16 year-old who had been kicked out of her house while she was pregnant for being a disgrace to the family. I lived with my mother in an abandoned house in Guerrero, Mexico. She struggled to find work, but was either harassed or asked for sexual favors. She said no. She was 17 in 1986 when the 8.1 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico. She decided to take me to the U.S., but we didn't stay that long. At my grandmother's request, we returned to Mexico. The hits kept coming: my mother ended an abusive relationship with a military man and feared for her life.

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/13/10 at 10:05am By Jackie Mahendra

Anaheim All-Star Game Draws Protests, Major League Players Criticize Arizona Law

Today is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Anaheim, yet Arizona’s new immigration law is sending tremors through America’s favorite past-time.

Two months after a coalition of major organizations, bloggers, and  civil rights groups sent a formal letter to MLB commissioner Bud Selig, telling him it’s time to move the game out of Phoenix to protect the sport’s Latino players and fans who would be targeted under the Draconian new law, baseball fans from coast to coast have joined together in protest.

Bloggers like John Amato of Crooks and Liars and Maegan Ortiz of Vivir Latino have chronicled the mounting pressure to move. Sarah Spooner from Reform Immigration FOR America writes:

Players from both leagues will come together in Anaheim for an exhibition of sportsmanship and skill. But activists from CHIRLA and other organizations will also be in Anaheim, to show the world that baseball fans don’t want to see the sport tarnished. Next year’s game is planned to take place in Phoenix, AZ. Today an op-ed in the Washington Post laid out the case for why the 2011 game doesn’t belong in Arizona:

Major League Baseball is scheduled to play its 2011 All-Star Game in Phoenix, where discrimination and racial profiling will effectively be sanctioned by SB1070, Arizona’s controversial new immigration law. Unless the league acts, next year our favorite all-stars could enter a hostile environment, and the families, friends and fans of a third of the players could be treated as second-class citizens because of their skin color or the way they speak….

What is happening in Arizona is a regression from the freedoms we hold dear and a violation of our civil rights and fundamental values. We are not asking Selig to weigh in on immigration policy; we are asking him to take a stand against bigotry and intolerance.

So what exactly has Selig said on the record? ESPN has the story:

Just what Selig might do is unclear. The only time he has addressed the issue of whether he should move the game was May 13, after he emerged from an owners’ meeting about various topics. He referenced his sport’s record on civil rights.

Click here to read more.
Posted 06/28/10 at 04:59pm By Jackie Mahendra

BREAKING: Loida, NC Dream Act Faster, Hospitalized During Day 13 of Sen. Kay Hagan Hunger Strike

According to the NewsObserver a young woman named Loida was hospitalized during the thirteenth day of a hunger strike calling on Senator Kay Hagan to co-sponsor the Dream Act:

RALEIGH -- One of the three young women on a hunger strike in downtown Raleigh protesting immigration laws was hospitalized last night, likely because of heat stroke. [...]

Silva was released from the hospital early this morning and is resting at home, and stopped her hunger strike, said Viridiana Martinez, one of the other hunger strikers.

Our thoughts are with Loida and her family for a speedy recovery.

Earlier today we urged our supporters to call on Washington to pass the DREAM Act this summer, and last week we told the story of these three determined NC fasters:

Three young women in North Carolina are starving for the DREAM Act. Viridiana, Loida and Rosario – known as the “North Carolina Dream Team” -- are on day eight of their hunger strike, and will continue with it until Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) publicly endorses this common-sense piece of legislation.[...] 

From the North Carolina Dream Team:

Over a decade ago, our parents were forced to make decisions beyond our control and understanding. They decided to migrate to the land of opportunity, the United States of America, in search of a better future for their family. Throughout the years, we have overcome many barriers. We managed to learn a new language and culture as our own; we are bilingual and bicultural. We have attended schools in a country that we love. We pay taxes. We have given back to our communities through tireless volunteering. However, we have become members of a society that does not recognize us as fully human – we are labeled as illegal aliens and denied equal access to higher education.

Click here to read more.
Posted 06/24/10 at 04:30pm By Jackie Mahendra

United Farm Workers Wants YOU… To Come Take Their Jobs?

That’s right, the United Farm Workers (UFW) have commenced what they are calling the “Take Our Jobs” campaign, an unprecedented effort to call attention to the importance of immigrant workers to our food supply -- and the difficulties agricultural employers have in maintaining a stable, legal workforce.  As UFW highlights on their campaign website:

“We are a nation in denial about our food supply."

Watch a farm worker slideshow from their site:

 

According to Marisa Treviño at Latina Lista:

The idea behind it all is to highlight the need for a legal workforce which can only be achieved through immigration reforms -- without which the domestic agricultural industry could be crippled, leading to more jobs moving off shore.

In a letter to U.S. lawmakers, UFW offers farm workers who are "ready to train citizens and legal residents who wish to replace immigrants in the fields," and encourages Members of Congress to refer their constituents to vacant farm worker positions.

It’s clear that undocumented farm workers are the backbone of United States agriculture. They make up the majority of workers in this crucial industry, yet many of these workers have no way to normalize their status – they often live in fear of exploitation and deportation. These workers and their advocates have been asking Congress for years to fix what most everyone agrees is an outdated, ineffective, and inhumane immigration system.

Click here to read more.
Posted 06/01/10 at 10:13am By Jackie Mahendra

Tuesday Morning Blog Blips: Protesting Arizona, California, and a New Census Twist

To welcome you back from the long weekend, immigration blips from across the blogosphere.

First, Politico's Jonathan Martin reports that California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman may be facing a new ad campaign en Español as a result of her own English-language TV advertising on immigration:

The California Nurses Association is launching an ad this week on Spanish-language radio featuring a clip from the commercial Meg Whitman’s campaign is running that touts her tough stance on illegal immigration and support from former Gov. Pete Wilson.

“Here is the ad about immigrants that Pete Wilson and Meg Whitman don’t want you to hear but your friends at the California Nurses Association think you should,” says a narrator, in Spanish, before the spot splices in the gubernatorial candidate and former governor discussing what she’d do to crack down on the border.

The ad will make its debut on the popular, Los Angeles-based Piolin show on Wednesday and air on Central Valley stations in the week leading up to the June 8 GOP primary between Whitman and Steve Poizner.

On the Arizona front, there were major immigration protests around the country and in Phoenix Saturday (the picture above is from Phoenix, and Vivir Latino has a post up with the details)-- more on that soon.

John Amato writes that the Justice Department is reaching out to AZ officials on their new papers-please law, over at Crooks and Liars:

This is refreshing news.

Justice Department officials told Arizona's attorney general and aides to the governor Friday that the federal government has serious reservations about the state's new immigration law. They responded that a lawsuit against the state isn't the answer.

"I told them we need solutions from Washington, not more lawsuits," said Attorney General Terry Goddard, a Democrat.

The Justice Department initiated separate meetings by phone and face-to-face in Phoenix with Goddard and aides to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer to reach out to Arizona's leaders and elicit information from state officials regarding the Obama administration's concerns about the new law.

Click here to read more.
Posted 05/21/10 at 12:52pm By Mahwish Khan

Hundreds Protests in Seattle - Calls for Immigration Reform Escalate

Hundreds of people engaged in civil disobedience yesterday in downtown Seattle by peacefully taking over a building and blocking traffic in streets. They were protesting federal inaction on immigration reform carrying signs that read, "Obama, Lead With Courage." The building, which was located downtown, houses some key audiences: the immigration court, Customs and Border Patrol, as well as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office.

The rally included several prominent Washington immigration reform activists, including One America Executive Director Pramila Jayapal, El Centro de la Raza Executive Director Estela Ortega, and Seattle City Councilman Larry Gossett, who were willing and hoping to get arrested to bring attention to the cause. Seattle's rally is just one of many to take place in the next few weeks as immigrant advocates continue their campaign of escalation. Already, planned arrests have occurred in D.C., Tucson, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Major actions across the country are anticipated for May 29th.

The Seattle action, which was organized by the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition, risked the arrest of 43 members of the group.

Pramila Jayapal, Executive Director of Seattle’s OneAmerica, had this to say about the protest:

We are proud to have been part of an action that expressed the moral urgency and the sacrifice people are willing to take for this movement…We will use the incredible momentum and energy to build this movement and continue fighting for reform.

Check out the video:

 

The Seattle protest is just one of a series of non-violent demonstrations happening across the country, keeping the pressure on Obama to pass true, federal immigration reform – a promise he has thus far failed to keep.

With un-American legislation like Arizona’s SB 1070 cropping up in at least 11 other states, it's clearer than ever that the Obama Administration needs to take a firm stand immediately, instead of simply decrying Arizona’s move to take federal immigration law into its own hands. While the Arizona GOP deserves plenty of blame for dragging the nation backward on immigration, the President and Democrats are in power-- and they are increasingly finding themselves on the receiving end of escalating activist angst.

Posted 05/19/10 at 05:07pm By Jackie Mahendra

“Dream Act 5” Risk Deportation to Stand up for Education, Fairness in Immigration Debate

Monday evening was intense for those following the young immigrant leaders who have become known as the "#DreamAct5." As they updated twitter followers live from their sit-in in Senator John McCain's office, friends and loves ones tweeted messages of support. Their peaceful but powerful action in Tuscon, Arizona, took place on the 65th anniversary of the landmark civil rights case, Brown vs. Board of Education. Still, it was no ordinary civil disobedience. Four of the five students risked deportation upon arrest.

They are undocumented, but they are also unwilling to remain silent as the immigration debate continues to devolve into Arizona-style laws and cynical election-year agendas.

Here is a video posted by students at TheDreamIsComing.com:

The students -- Lizbeth Mateo of Los Angeles, California; Tania Unzueta of Chicago, Illinois; Mohammad Abdollahi of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Yahaira Carrillo of Kansas City, Missouri -- were detained by the police and three of the five were put in ICE custody, after refusing to leave the spot on the ground where they were holding court. In a press release, they stated:

With this challenge to local and federal law, these youth hope to highlight the urgency of legislative action in Congress, and catalyze mass grassroots mobilization to pass the DREAM Act before June 15th. These four leaders are risking deportation from the United States in the hope that this action will make a significant contribution to the fight for immigrant rights.

It is clear that the risk involved was great, but that the urgency for just and humane immigration reform, for them, was far greater. According to America's Voice founder and Executive Director, Frank Sharry:

These young leaders embody the best of the American spirit.  They are fearless in their convictions and heroic in their efforts. Like their fellow Trail of Dreams peers and leaders in Chicago, New York, and other campuses and cities throughout the country, they are taking a stand and risking it all.  Instead of moving to detain and deport these young Americans, Washington should be rushing to honor their courage and grant them citizenship."

Click here to read more.

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