Senate “Gang of 8” releases framework for CIR – organizations respond

Democratic Senators Dick Durbin (c.) and Chuck Schumer (r.) are among a bipartisan group of legislators leading the comprehensive immigration reform negotiations. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Today, the bipartisan group of Senators released their framework for immigration reform. It includes few details, but has both promising and alarming elements.

Here we provide links to the full text of the framework, as well as links to articles that provide feedback and critiques of the framework.

Breaking immigration news

Any expansion that CIR might include of immigration enforcement programs working with local law enforcement means more family separations and violation of civil rights. CIR should be about family unity, not expanding violation of human rights.

Update: The Senate “Gang of 8” has also release the framework that the bipartisan group will be working with. Read the Senate framework here and a response to the framework by our partners at the ACLU here.

Start taking your vitamins because the fight for comprehensive immigration reform is right around the corner.

Reports have just come out that President Obama will debut his plans for comprehensive immigration reform this Tuesday. The President will call on Congress to create a road map to citizenship for immigrants without papers.

Read the breaking news here.

In the past weeks, we have told you how important the fight for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) will be for the members of LUPE. We want to make sure that CIR includes legalization and a pathway to citizenship for as many of the 11 million undocumented Americans that contribute to the greatness of our nation.

Help us take 50 LUPE youth to Austin and DC to advocate for immigration reform! Make a gift by clicking here.

This is central to our struggle. There are already “immigration reform” proposals that would make citizenship next to impossible and other positions that would bar immigrants without papers from citizenship.

But a pathway to citizenship is not the only issues important to our members. Also topping the list are family unification and protection of the civil rights and liberties of residents of border communities. Every time immigration reform comes up, politicians use the opportunity to further militarize our border, extend the border wall, increase Border Patrol, and increase use of drones and other military technology along the border. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute notes that the U.S. spends roughly $18 billion on federal immigration enforcement, more than it spends on all other law enforcement efforts combined. Along with this increase in spending come increased reports of abuse by immigration agents. We are calling for increased accountability of immigration enforcement and protection of the rights of people along the border.

Our work for CIR will be redoubled in the coming weeks. Our members will travel to Austin to join folks from across the state who will march for CIR that includes a pathway to citizenship and protects the rights of border residents. We want to send a bus full of Dreamers who have received Deferred Action to march and share their stories. We will be calling on our supporters in the coming days with ways that you can help.

Just and Humane Immigration Reform! Si Se Puede!

Help us take 50 LUPE youth to Austin and DC to advocate for immigration reform! Make a gift by clicking here.

“I was a victim” – Francisca’s story shines light on need for humane and fair immigration reform

Francisca and her daughter participate in a planning meeting in response to raids. Francisca asked her face not be shown.

In light of the tragic yet hopeful events of last Friday–when immigration authorities entered the home of Arizona immigrant rights advocate Erika Andiola and arrested her mother and brother, but after public outcry released them the following day–we are re-posting a story from 2010, when Border Patrol agents increased raids in public areas around the lower Rio Grande Valley. Stories like Francisca’s below are being brought to the forefront of the fight for immigration reform. If you have experienced a situation like Erika or Francisca’s, you are encouraged to share it under the hashtag #WeAreAndiola.

“I was a victim. I believe that they violated my rights,” says Francisca of Edinburg. Her and her 6 children were detained by the Border Patrol early in the morning June 1, 2010 on their way to work in the tomato fields. Francisca and her four oldest children came to the US ten years earlier from a small town where women weren’t allowed to do the work men did. Looking for a better life for their children, and a place where Francisca could help her family financially, Francisca’s husband migrated to the US in 1996 and his family followed in 2000. In the US, after working daily for 10 years, they were able to buy a plot of land with a house. In 2001 and 2003 they had their 5th and 6th children. Francisca’s oldest daughter, 19, is in college and her second oldest, 17, was just accepted.

The morning of June 1, the family hoped to make some extra cash to help out Francisca’s husband, who worked all week on an area ranch and came home to be with his family on the weekends. On their way to the fields, a Border Patrol agent stopped the family. After two more agents arrived, one asked the first agent why he had detained them. His answer: “Because of the color of their skin.”

When the family was taken in, they were interrogated for hours. Francisca told the interrogating officer that she needed to have a hearing with a judge because of her 10 years in the country and two daughters that were US citizens. The agent responded that it wasn’t possible that she stay in the country, that it didn’t matter how many explanations she gave, she wouldn’t be able to stay in the country. She said she needed to see a judge, because her oldest daughter needed to be taking medicine that she didn’t have with her. The agent responded that he didn’t care and he’d seen worse cases than her daughter’s and that “what I do is bring an ambulance and we send them straight to their country. Let them get well there.” She responded that the medicine her daughter needed couldn’t be found in Mexico. He responded, “I already told you that I don’t care.” What would happen to her house that she just bought, she asked. “I don’t care about that either.”

Check on your DACA status at USCIS website

Hope you had a great Christmas holiday. At the LUPE DACA youth meetings last week, a few people asked how they can use the USCIS.gov website to check on the status of their DACA and work permit applications. Below are step-by-step instructions. If you would like to receive helpful information via email about DACA and the Dream Act, subscribe to our DACA list here.

Hope you have a happy New Year!

Tania Chavez, DACA case worker with La Union del Pueblo Entero

Help us take 50 LUPE youth to Austin and DC to advocate for immigration reform! Make a gift by clicking here.

Check on your DACA status at the USCIS website

1.   Direct your internet browser to: WWW.USCIS.GOV

2.   Under the “Case Status” Box (located on the upper left corner) enter your receipt number (LIN#######)

International Human Rights Day: Our Declaration of Human Rights

Declaration of Human Rights

Convention Equal Voice for Human Rights
November 30, 2012

Community Center, Precinct #2
1429 S Tower Rd
Alamo, TX 78516

The power of human rights lies in the simple but profound idea that we all have basic rights solely by virtue of our humanity. Each individual, family and community should live in equality, dignity and freedom, with the power to participate and shape government policies and institutions that affect our lives.

Love is an emotional need that we all have. Love for thy neighbor and mutual aid leads us to the point that we all take responsibility to defend and take care of each other.

The right to have good jobs with fair wages is important because it is necessary to provide healthy food, decent housing and opportunities for the family.

It is very important to have immigration reform. We deserve to have our families united and that is why we reject separation of families. As part of reform, we should have equal access to the services we need for a dignified life, regardless of immigration status. For example, a driver’s license, an education for our children and our parents, health care and public services.

Education is important to develop intellectually, for both youth and adults. A good education opens the doors to opportunities we need to live a dignified life.

To live a dignified life, we have to live in decent housing. We need proper housing with adequate infrastructure to protect us from floods and other natural disasters.

As each and every one of us lives on this planet, the right to live in dignity also means that the environment has to be cared for. It is not fair that some enjoy a healthy natural environment when others lack this.

Health is very important because with good health, we are ready to serve our families and communities. This is why we need comprehensive medical care, of the body and mind.

Our faith guides us in our daily lives. And because we are different people with different beliefs, the right to religion should be protected in our community.

We have the right that our representatives respond to our requests and take actions to ensure our needs are met. Representatives should represent everyone, regardless of socioeconomic level, sex, gender, religion, race, or immigration status.

As an organized community in dialogue with our neighbors and loved ones, we recognize that many of our basic needs are not taken into account.

Therefore, although each and every one of us has dignity, the fact that our needs are not taken into account affects our ability to live a dignified life. We believe that a just society should ensure a decent life for every individual, family and community.

Therefore we declare:

We all have human rights because we are all human beings.
We strive for:
• Fair jobs with just wages,
• An immigration reform that will treat us like human beings,
• An education that recognizes our diverse needs to develop intellectually with access to technology,
• Adequate housing that will protect our families
• Protection to our communities so they can live in peace with space to play and exercise
• Adequate and affordable health care, regardless of immigration status or socioeconomic levels

To achieve this new society, we need to start by making our commitment to work for it. We recognize our rights because we need them. However, we are denied them. That is where our participation comes in, to demand that our human rights are respected. We commit ourselves to work to create a society that respects our rights. We are guided by these principles as we aspire to a better world – universality, equality, protection of public goods, participation, transparency and accountability.

In the same manner, we welcome other members of the community, representatives of our city, county, state, and nation, businessmen and women, leaders of faith, and each person with sincerity, to also take the opportunity to make their commitment to work for human rights.

Approved and ratified on November 30, 2012, by participants of the Equal Voice for Human Rights convention.

First LUPE DACA Work Permit Arrives

Felicidades to Iara Aldape of Mercedes, our first LUPE youth to receive a work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program! A number of LUPE youth have received their approval letters, but Iara was the first to receive her work authorization card!

Above, an example of the newly redesigned work authorization cards that DACA approvals have begun receiving.

President Obama was re-elected, which means the DACA program will be around for at least four more years. If you are ready to apply, LUPE is ready to help you. Come to any of our LUPE offices to receive more information and to start your case.

We invite all the youth that have received their permits to travel with us to Austin this legislative session to defend in-state tuition for Dreamers and fight against anti-immigrant legislation for our state. If you would like to join the action, take the online pledge today and we’ll connect you with opportunities to get involved!

Congratulations to Iara and all the other youth that will have new doors opened to them after receiving their work permits. ¡Sí se puede!

Presidential and Senatorial races will have major impact on dreamers and their families

This month LUPE is preparing to begin another big GOTV campaign. Although it may be hard to see, election results have a major impact on the lives of immigrants and colonia residents, as there are major differences between candidates on issues that matter to LUPE members.

This year, the outcome of the upcoming presidential and senatorial elections will be particularly important for Dreamers. In the US Senators race in Texas, Republican Candidate Ted Cruz says he wants to give more power to police officers to ask about immigration status, and triple the size of the Border Patrol. He also wants to defund, repeal and replace federal healthcare, including Medicare and Medicaid, with a free-market system whose number one priority is profit, rather than providing quality and affordable healthcare. And his support of tax cuts for the wealthiest American elite would put even more of the tax burden on working families. Hear more from Ted Cruz on the issues here.

Candidate Paul Sadler, Cruz’s Democratic opponent for the US Senate seat from Texas, supports the DREAM Act and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented Americans of all ages. He supports Obamacare and quality healthcare for all, and wants the wealthiest American millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes. Hear more from Paul Sadler on the issues here.

At the presidential level, President Obama implemented Deferred Action and has publicly advocated for passage of the DREAM Act. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said that he would veto the DREAM Act if he were president. His selection for Vice President, Paul Ryan, authored a congressional budget bill that would dismantle Medicare, privatize social security and cut taxes for millionaires while raising taxes on working families. And while both parties are at fault for the drastic increase of deportations, those politicians will have to see higher turnout of Latino voters before they begin to use their power to decrease Border Patrol and ICE persecution of immigrants.

Volunteer to get out the vote by contacting your nearest LUPE office or your organizer today.

Angel’s bright future turns into a nightmare

A promising young business student sits behind bars on an immigration hold, his once bright future unraveling into a nightmare.

Angel is scared and a million thoughts race through his mind as he sits contemplating the events of the previous night. As he was coming back from the bathroom at a restaurant a man began to throw racial slurs his way. Naturally, Angel became angry and in a burst of fury shattered the restaurant window. When he was unable to pay for the damage, the manager called the police. Before he knew it, Angel was detained with an immigration hold.

Once detained, a 48 hour immigration hold was placed on him; however, what was supposed to be two days in jail turned into three weeks for nothing more than a broken window. That is because he fell under Secure Communities. Secure Communities (S-Comm), is a federal program that has been expanded by the Obama administration to local and county police departments throughout the nation. This program has facilitated in the deportation of mass amounts of people. It has contributed to over 2 million deportations in Obama’s first term alone, which is more than the last four presidents combined. Just like many others, once Angel was detained, law enforcement officials took his fingerprints and sent them to ICE, whereupon ICE determined his immigration status.

In an effort to put an end to S-Comm in Texas, the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance has written a letter to president Obama accompanied by a written and electronic petition, and a photo petition. Anyone can write their own message to Obama and take a picture with it in order to show the faces of those who have been or have the potential to be affected by this program.

Angel still awaits his court date with ICE which will determine whether or not he will be deported. Brought to the U.S. as a baby, Angel may be thrown into a country and a culture that he knows little about and may never be able to see his family again just because of a broken window. We now have an opportunity to take action on behalf of Angel and people like him by signing the petition and being involved in the photo petition.

Take action for Angel and people like him. Sign the petition now!

Print out the “End S-Comm” sheets , take a picture with your message and e-mail it to Colbie Devost. Colbie will upload the pictures to a blog that includes photos from across the state.

Thank you for your involvement in putting an end to S-Comm!

With Obama Administration Announcement, a Sprinkle of Justice

Today we feel a sprinkle of justice.

With the announcement by the Obama administration, immigrant youth in the RGV are feeling a refreshing moment of hopefulness. After years of organizing for the DREAM Act, we are finally seeing a change in policy at the highest levels of government concerning our undocumented youth brothers and sisters. This is a recognition of the value that undocumented youth bring to this nation. Youth are hearing from the President himself that their lives are valuable and that they deserve to stay–and that he is willing to take action to make that happen.

It is refreshing as a cool summer shower.

But make no mistake, DREAMers made this happen.

BREAKING: RITA responds to Obama Announcement on DREAMer deportations

(EL PASO, Texas) — The White House announced today that the administration will provide Deferred Action for some undocumented youth.

The Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance congratulates the undocumented youth whose leadership and bold action forced this announcement. DREAMers have been occupying Obama campaign offices for weeks demanding action. And today, the White House had no choice but to respond.