Activists Begin Fast To Raise Awareness About Immigration Reform

Opinion: Time to Exert Executive Power Over Deportations

During his State of the Union address this year, President Obama said, “It is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement–and fix our broken immigration system.” In the same speech, the president emphasized his executive power to take action when Congress will not. But Congress is threatening another impasse on immigration. And while Capitol Hill plays politics, Obama refuses to use his executive authority to halt the deportation of more than 1,100 immigrants per day.

44,000 can’t wait for immigration reform in Congress

For the 44, 000 people expected to be expelled from the country during Congress’ August recess, here immigration reform won’t come soon enough and executive action is already overdue.

While the end result of the immigration debate in Congress is uncertain when in session, we know that nothing will move while legislators are on vacation. Nothing, that is, other than the gears on the deportation machine that has been assembled and placed on overdrive under the Obama administration.

The President’s Deportation Quota is More Offensive than Rep. Steve King’s Idiocy

When Barack Obama said he needed a “dance partner” in Congress to reform immigration law he might not have been thinking of Steve King but King has proven to be Obama’s best accomplice in what constitutes the perfect political crime.

With Republicans’ unmasked bigotry, the President can denounce them for their intolerance while implementing enforcement to cater to it.

Where Rep. King’s comments are a mouthpiece for prejudice, the President’s are a pretext for actual policy that has eviscerated our rights and devastated the lives of thousands of families. King’s Republican affiliation, however, makes him an appealing target while the Democratic President’s record and rhetoric make for an inconvenient truth.

Yet truth be told, the President has done more to criminalize migrants than what Rep. King could accomplish in his wildest dreams.

6 Concrete Steps the President Can Take to Seize the Moment on Immigration

After his reelection, speculation has begun about what the second term of President Obama will mean for immigrant communities.  While we breathed a sigh of relief following the defeat of Mitt Romney and his self-deportation politics, it would be irresponsible for us to return to 2008 levels of hope for change without first taking a critical look at President Obama’s record and seeing concrete indicators that demonstrate his next term will be different. 

Day Laborers Will Be Key to Recovery After the Storm

When storms like Sandy strike we are reminded of how much we need each other and of how dependent on each other we are for our own wellbeing. Bearing down for the storm exposes our uneven resources and the fragility of our daily lives. Making it through demonstrates our resilience and shows us the monumental task of rebuilding.

What will it take to recover from the super storm that struck the East Coast? How do we repair after a disaster? Downed power lines, empty gas tanks, see flooded tunnels, destroyed homes, lost family members: No one could have predicted what Sandy would do to places completely unaccustomed to that type of weather.

As the region gets ready for recovery one thing is true. Day laborers, migrant, and low-wage workers will be key to rebuilding New York and other affected areas. The workers who lend their labor to homeowners and contractors on a daily basis are gathering at worker centers and at street corner hiring sites, ready and available to help those in need of relief.

No one Can Veto a Movement

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Years of work to see the TRUST Act passed does not stop because Governor Brown chose to veto the bill.         

He can veto a bill but he cannot veto a movement.  Never has California been so united behind something that reflects the most basic of what we deserve.  For parents and children to know that when we leave our house in the morning we will be reunited without chance that interactions with police will tear us away from our loved ones.

We have galvanized understanding of a problem whose solution is now inevitable: We believe that our families belong together.  It is police and ICE that should be separated.

Why did Napolitano Wait So Long And Do So Little?

order helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;”>Despite Monday’s unfortunate Supreme Court ruling that allows Arizona, at least for now, to go forward with state-mandated immigrant-hunting and racial profiling, there is reason to believe that the tide is turning on the Arizona approach to immigration policies (replicated in Georgia, Alabama and several other states).

Just days before the court ruling, undocumented students pushed the president to announce a new Department of Homeland Security policy potentially offering DREAM-eligible students work permits instead of deportation to countries many of them have never known.

What Took Napolitano and Obama So Long in Arizona? – Miami Herald

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Despite Monday’s unfortunate Supreme Court ruling that allows Arizona, at least for now, to go forward with state-mandated immigrant-hunting and racial profiling, there is reason to believe that the tide is turning on the Arizona approach to immigration policies (replicated in Georgia, Alabama and several other states).

Just days before the court ruling, undocumented students pushed the president to announce a new Department of Homeland Security policy potentially offering DREAM-eligible students work permits instead of deportation to countries many of them have never known.

No doubt it was the threat of embarrassment to the president that finally led Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to codify what was common knowledge — that immigrant communities deserve relief from the threat of deportation. The new policy counteracts previous administration claims about DHS’ limited ability to act. It demonstrates that Napolitano has had the authority to relieve suffering all along. Her refusal to do so earlier or do more now shows that only pressure from organized and undocumented communities makes the difference.

Aaron Hurst: Going Face-to-Face With Day Laborers

and Century, Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;”>Pablo Alvarado came to the United States from El Salvador in the 1990s and worked for five years as an undocumented laborer. Today he works for the National Day Laborer Organization Network (NDLON) and helps to fight for the rights and dignity of day laborers. I learned of his story when the Taproot Foundation partnered with Pablo and NDLON and recently sat down to capture his inspiring story.

The immigration debate in this country has become really ugly in recent years.

Yes. Day laborers have become the public face of immigration. They have been demonized. Many people have described the day laborers as unwanted people and criminals. People who are murdering and harassing women. I think we are capable of having a debate in which people are not dehumanized in the process.