Citizens for Immigrants
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Senator Edward M. Kennedy reads from a book written by his late brother, former President John F. Kennedy, entitled A Nation of Immigrants, during a news conference in 2006 after the Senate failed to agree on an immigration bill. (AP)
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Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, addressed a crowd of about 500 at Howard University’s Rankin Chapel in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, as part of the Chapel’s series on connecting personal values and ethics with professional life.
[Immigrants are a growing percentage of this mass incarceration]
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”It is heartbreaking to hear the painful stories of unjust deportations pouring in from our congregations. California can do better.
San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer said in a statement ahead of a Saturday gathering of immigrants and their supporters at St. Mary’s Cathedral.California’s Catholic hierarchy takes stand against … immigration dragnet
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Isabel Wilkerson on her book The Warmth of Other Suns and the universal human story behind it.
(Source: rhspeakers.com)
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”If you just call someone an illegal, they remain nameless. My greatest hope is to inspire people to see undocumented immigrants as human beings and people we are called to see as our brothers and sisters.
R.G. Lyons, pastor of the Church Without Walls in Birmingham, AL, quoted in “Alabama’s immigration law dividing religious community” -
Proposed immigration detention facility not welcome in Crete, Illinois
Video via @ChicagoTribune: Concetta Smart and volunteers distribute signs to residents in their community who oppose a proposed immigration detention facility in Crete. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune) -
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I’ll tell you one thing [“rule of law”] doesn’t mean: It doesn’t mean that the law can’t change. It doesn’t mean just law and order, or rigorous enforcement of the law, no matter what the law is. “That’s ‘rule by law,’ that’s what that is. … And there’s rule by law in every repressive country in the world.
The U.S. immigration system, while strong and while just in many respects, likewise fails to meet this standard in important ways. Congress wants to restore the rule of law through enforcement alone. It can’t be done. The bishops and you all want to restore the law by also reforming the legal immigration system and by legalizing deserving U.S. residents. That can be done.
Donald Kerwin, director for the Center for Migration Studies and former executive director of CLINIC as quoted by the National Catholic Reporter in “Immigration conference deals with the tough questions” -
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Different laws, particularly enforcement-only initiatives, played out in 50 states are bound to fail, since they will not fix a broken federal immigration system. Immigrants, over 70 percent of whom have been here five years or longer, are not leaving; they are just hiding in fear.
We must continue to fight because of the real suffering that is occurring in immigrant families and communities. There are four million US citizen children who have one or more undocumented parents. The combination of federal-state enforcement partnerships and federal enforcement actions has led to an unprecedented separation of families. Nearly a quarter of those deported in the last year were part of a family with a US-citizen—most likely a child. They also have led to a record number of deportations over the past three years.
Addressing a Catholic conference on immigration, Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City urged Catholics to advocate for immigration reform at the federal level.(Source: catholicculture.org)
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via Stephen Colbert: Activist Scott Douglas advocates the overturn of Alabama’s immigrant law and calls for a single fair immigration law to be applied across the U.S.
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Gavin Dahl with KYRS Thin Air Radio in Spokane interviews Nathaniel Hoffman of Amor and Exile on proposed changes to the immigrant hardship waiver program.
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Veterans hold “eat-in” to show support for Iraqi refugees
via @BoingBoing:
Faith in humanity status: restored. They’re from Veterans for Peace. Babylon Restaurant, the business targeted in the apparent hate crime, was featured in this Boston Globe article just one month ago. If you’re in Massachusetts, maybe go have a meal there sometime soon and tell them Boing Boing sent you. Some good Yelp reviews on their falafel and grape leaves!
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Music by @Outernational1: Todos Somos Ilegales: We Are All Illegals
From the SoundStrike:As promised the new Outernational album, Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals) is out and its both free and hot! The New York-bred band, formed with the help of fellow Sound Striker Tom Morello and features Dr. Blum, trumpets, organ, accordion and harmonium, Leo Mintek on guitar, Jesse Williams Massa on bass, and lead vocalist Miles Solay. Some of you may have heard and seen the band at Sound Strike Arizona Benefit show in L.A. last summer. But if you didn’t you can catch them on tour by checking their web site for more info.
The album has fantastic and distinct music with an important message for our times. In fact, important messages. It Is the kind of music you can dance to while grabbing hold of exposed contradiction in US immigration policy and feeling united as workers. The album has some great cameos from Residente of Calle 13, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and Ceci Bastida on “Canta El Río,” produced Thom Russo and Uproot Andy.
The album is free to whomever, with donations appreciated. The album is free thanks to a successful Kickstarter effort by the group.
Outernational doesn’t just talk they act. Last year they toured the border with Dr. Cintli and student leader Leilani Clark to get a better understanding of the issues on the border.
The album just got a rave review in Huffington Post where Soley said, ”When Arizona’s SB1070 passed in 2010, we decided to be on the frontlines of the battle … We went to the border to promote The Sound Strike. We confronted punk rockers in Tempe [Arizona] who were supporting anti-immigrant laws. We recorded Woody Guthrie’s ‘Deportees‘ with Tom Morello in direct response to SB1070.”
Staying true to its message, the album can be downloaded for free. -
Video by @BAJItweet: African American Leaders Call for @RealSheriffJoe Arpaio to Resign
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via @KPCC: Immigration attorneys make decisions that change the lives of their clients when the reality of residence hits the legal wall.
Attorneys Brigit Alvarez and Alma Rosa Nieto. Video by Julie Platner -
Washington Post Lists Treating “Immigrants as People” as “In” for 2012
via @ImmPolicyCenter:You wouldn’t know it from listening to the ridiculous anti-immigrant rhetoric over the past year, but treating immigrants like actual human beings is a concept some hope catches fire in 2012. The Washington Post recently added “immigrants as people” on “The List: 2012”—their annual zeitgeist-inspired list of ins and outs for the new year. Granted, “peacock feathers” and “Margaret Thatcher” also made the “in” column, but dialing down the immigrant bashing—a message Republican presidential candidates clearly missed during previous debates—is an idea that GOP political strategists are now embracing.
