Help Pass Immigration Reform
By Dave Bradley
Friends,
I wish to share in the sentiments of our Central Iowa colleagues at AFSC, AILA and Iowa AIR:
Fortunately or unfortunately, the Immigration Proposal (I cannot call it reform) in the Senate didn't get the votes necessary to continue the Immigration debate (see the roll call below). Whether we like it or not however, we can expect home and workplace raids to continue in the rise; we need to be prepared for a wave of strict immigration and other law enforcement.
Immigrants need to be prepared individually, and as families to exercise their rights (the few they still have), and to tell their storiesan important way to revert the anti-immigrant sentiment. Communities need to be prepared to respond to the chaotic aftermath of these law enforcement operations: children without one or both parents and/or families without a breadwinner, slowed down businesses, media frenzy, rampant fear and suffering.
I would like to encourage you all, to come up with ideas to implement a few things:
a) Organize Know Your Rights workshops for immigrants in your local community
b) Identify immigrant supporters in your community to organize Emergency Response Teams in case of a raid at home or in the workplace.
c) Organize local community forums to educate voters on why its important for Iowa to welcome immigrants and support Comprehensive Immigration Reform (several of us in this list, are prepared to speak and/or to help you form Speakers).
d) Come up with some key sentences to tell the media if they approach you for comments.
e) Try to attend/participate in the caucuses, and propose Comprehensive Immigration Reform as an issue important to the state.
f) Keep in touch, keep learning about immigrants contributions, and above all, encourage immigrants to tell their stories (help them to write them in English). There is a website that will be compiling those stories, the address is: http://www.dreamsacrossamericaonline.org/ all you have to do is click on the window that says share your story.
You do not need to be involved in everything, choose one activity that youre passionate about it or for which you have the skills already, any help is appreciated!
Among those of you in this list-serve, there is plenty of talent, energy and leadership to reverse the current anti-immigrant tidewe seem to have a couple of years to do so! We should make our congress accountable for failing to pass a much needed Immigration Reform; and we must call to tabs irresponsible mass media outlets for bringing only one side of the discussion to the air waves and people who are far from being experts on the issue!
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Saturday, June 30
Help Pass Immigration Reform
by
Sam Garchik
on Sat 30 Jun 2007 06:58 AM CDT
Saturday, June 16
Four Iowa Reps Vote For Tancredo Amendment - Only Loebsack Opposed
by
Sam Garchik
on Sat 16 Jun 2007 05:19 PM CDT
Four Iowa Reps Vote For Tancredo Amendment - Only Loebsack Opposed
By John Deeth (Originally Posted in the Iowa Independent). In a surprise win, presidential candidate Tom Tancredo Friday successfully tacked on an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would withhold federal emergency services funding for "sanctuary cities" that protect illegal immigrants. The House passed the amendment, 234 to 189, with 50 Democrats voting in favor. In the Iowa delegation, Iowan Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell joined Republicans Steve King and Tom Latham in supporting the amendment; only Democrat Dave Loebsack opposed it. The amendment does not define "sanctuary cities," but Tancredo uses the term to describe cities in which local police don't assist the feds in arresting the undocumented. He lists Denver and Boulder as examples. Last year, Tancredo and other immigration foes bought billboards in Denver, including one reading: "Welcome to SANCTUARY CITY." Tancredo has introduced similar amendments at least seven other times since 2004, but each has failed -- often by wide margins. He told the Rocky Mountain News this is an indicator that the House would crush immigration reform if it passes the Senate. "If I were Nancy Pelosi, I'd be asking if she could pass a vote on amnesty on the House side," Tancredo said. "If she lost 50 Democrats on this one, and she says she needs 70 Republicans to pass the immigration plan, this is an interesting indicator of things coming down the pike, and that the times, they are a-changing." Monday, June 4
Establishing our Progressive Iowa Network (PIN) - Update
by
Caroline Vernon
on Mon 04 Jun 2007 09:30 AM CDT
Establishing our Progressive Iowa Network (PIN) - Update
By Caroline Vernon This Saturday, June 9th, progressive leaders, legislators and activists from various organizations across Iowa will come together for the first DFA-Iowa Networking Summit. We will be gathering at the Iowa City Public Library from 9am to 3pm (the last hour will be devoted to DFA-IA administrative business). Some of our great leaders who will be in attendance include Charlie Chamberlain from Democracy for America, Ed Fallon, Denise O’Brien, and Senator Joe Bolkcom, just to name a few… Once again, the purpose of this gathering is to establish a Progressive Iowa Network which will serve to better unite progressives across the state in order to support each others efforts around important issues, particularly if we hope to be more effective moving into the next legislative session. Besides providing an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow progressives, one direct benefit of an Iowa Network would be the enhanced ability to articulate our progressive world view by creating a state-wide echo chamber that will carry our unified message to all Iowans. As previously indicated, we have identified 5 issues in Iowa that require urgent action: 1. VOICE (Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections) 2. CAFO regulations / Farm Bill 3. Fair Share 4. Healthcare 5. Media Also, due to the recent vote on the Iraq supplemental bill, it is our hope that peace activists from across Iowa will take advantage of this opportunity to come together to discuss potential state wide initiatives that will effectively pressure those in Congress who voted for the bill. In addition to addressing the above issues, we are tracking organizations by their particular area(s) of focus. This list has also evolved since my last blog: 1. Policy / Research 2. Lobbying 3. Media & Blogs 4. Grassroots Organizing These 4 areas have been added: 5. Direct Action 6. Education 7. Funding (to identify potential sources of funding) 8. Political Campaigns (organizations who can be involved with campaigns) We are working on compiling a comprehensive list of all participating organizations, including contact information, primary areas of focus and primary issues of concern. If you or your organization will be attending the summit, we ask that you submit your information using the example below (4 stars = primary focus) Example: Organization: Progressive Action for the Common Good Address: 3707 Eastern Ave, Davenport, IA 52807 Contact Information: (name/position/phone/email): Caroline Vernon, Organizer, 563-676-7580, carolina1961@gmail.com. James Lee, Executive Director, 563-650-3922, jlee6367@yahoo.com Areas of Focus Rating Issues Rating Policy/Research VOICE **** Lobbying ** CAFO/Farm Bill *** Media/Blogs Media ** Grassroots Organizing **** Fair Share ** Direct Action *** Healthcare *** Education ** Funding * Other: _Peace _ **** Poltical Campaigns Please send the above information to carolina1961@gmail.com by Thursday, June 7th so we can be sure to include your information in the hand-out. It is important to note that we encourage ALL progressive organizations to attend this meeting and become part of the network even if we may not be focusing on your specific issues at this time. The goal of the network is to create a framework designed to support all progressive initiatives. We need everyone’s participation in order to succeed. If you have any questions, please call Caroline Vernon at 563-676-7580. Hope to see you Saturday! |
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BFIA Writer's Guidelines We welcome Submissions Iowa Sites Child & Family Policy Center - Iowa Genetic Engineering Action Network Iowa Citizen Action Network - ICAN Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility Iowa Public Interest Research Group Midwest Environmental Justice Advocates Progressive Action for the Common Good Progressive Coalition of Central Iowa QCAD (Quad-Citians Affirming Diversity - GLBT) Iowa Blogs The Deprogrammer (Quad Cities) Iowa True Blue (Gordon Fischer's Blog) Iowa Voters for Open and Transparent Elections Political FalloutFight Iowa Rapid Response Network - Iowa
Iowans for Better Local TV
Air America
The Counterpoint
National FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media Matters for America
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