Showing posts with label Dreamers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dreamers. Show all posts

Thursday, April 19, 2018

A vote for Dreamers today?


It’s time for a vote. A majority of Americans – and a majority of Congress – say it’s time to protect Dreamers. Today, 240 members of the House demanded a vote to protect Dreamers – now it’s up to Congressional leadership to act.

Today, Rep. Jeff Denham announced that he has enough supporters from both sides of the aisle to put four immigration bills forward for immediate votes.

Rep. Denham’s “Queen of the Hill” rule is designed to start a real debate – and find a real solution – for Dreamers. Denham and 239 other members of Congress are proposing putting four separate bills, spanning the political spectrum, on the floor for a vote.

We know Americans overwhelmingly support protecting Dreamers – they just need a chance.


Right now, a majority of the members of the House of Representatives support the "Queen of the Hill" motion to put four immigration bills on the floor immediately.

This is the will of the House and the will of the vast majority of Americans. The time is far past for Dreamers to get a fair up and down vote in the House. Please, enact Queen of the Hill and call for a vote today.


-Jeremy Robbins, New American Economy


Encourage your Representative to vote to protect the Dreamer today:

Sample Script: 

Hi, my name is _______ and I’m a constituent. 

I’m calling today because the repeal of DACA has created an urgent crisis. Nearly 20,000 Dreamers have already lost their work permits and deportation protections since President Trump eliminated the DACA program, and 122 more will continue to fall out of status every single day until Congress passes a permanent legislative solution to protect them.

There are enough bipartisan votes from both Democrats and Republicans to protect Dreamers in both the House and Senate. Congress must take decisive action to prevent 800,000 Dreamers from being fired from their jobs, ripped out of classrooms, and deported to countries they can’t even remember.

You can fix this — now. 800,000 hard working young people are waiting for you to act and it is urgent that we pass permanent protections for Dreamers.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

CALL TO ACTION - Demand that Rep. McSally Protect Dreamers NOW


Thursday, January 18th Indivisible will be joining forces with Mi Familia Vota-Tucson outside of Representative Martha McSally's congressional office from 4:00-5:00 p.m.

4400 E. Broadway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85711

We stand united in demanding the passage of a clean DREAM Act!

Last week Martha McSally unveiled her worst-kept-secret: she's running for Senate. Not so fast, Martha. You're still our representative, and we intend to hold you accountable. We've watched over the past year as her stances on immigration and border policies have morphed into whatever she thinks will get her the Republican nomination for that coveted Senate seat.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Dreamers are not pawns, and their right to citizenship cannot be tied to funding for a wall, or increased militarization along the border. While we fight to defend the status of more than 800,000 Dreamers, ALL 11.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States deserve protection, and a path to citizenship.

Stand up for our friends, our community, and their DREAMS!

JOIN US!

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Tell Your Member of Congress to Take the Dreamer Pledge


On Sept. 5, Trump announced that he was terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This Obama-era program provides relief from deportation for an estimated 800,000 young immigrants. Because Trump terminated DACA, over 10,000 Dreamers are estimated to have already lost their protections, and nearly 1,000 more will lose DACA each week and become vulnerable to Trump’s deportation force.

Ask your members of Congress to become Dream Heroes now! (Follow this link for the contact information of your representatives.)

Who are Dream Heroes? They are members of Congress who pledge to protect Dreamers. Congress needs to pass a government funding bill this week - and the DREAM Act must be part of that bill. There is bipartisan support for the Dream Act in both the Senate and House, and this is our last chance this year to protect DREAMers from Trump's deportation machine. The pledge is that they will only commit to vote on a “continuing resolution” that has the Dream Act attached. Call your MoC and tell them: A vote on a continuing resolution without the Dream Act, is a vote to deport Dreamers.

- Indivisible

Caller: Hello! My name is [name] and I’m calling from [place in state]. Could you please tell me whether the [Senator/Congressman] supports protecting Dreamers as part of the Continuing Resolution?
If MoC supports DREAM in the CR
Staffer: Yes! The [Senator/Congressman] is totally opposed to the decision to end DACA and won’t vote for a Continuing Resolution unless it includes the DREAM Act.
Caller: I’m glad to hear that. Will the [Senator/Congressman] pledge to be a “Dreamer Hero” and protect Dreamers from deportation? The Dreamer Pledge is a public commitment to do everything he/she can to pass the DREAM Act as soon as possible, including withholding [her/his] support for the Continuing Resolution unless it includes the DREAM Act.
Staffer: I’m not sure.
Caller: Please ask the [Senator/Congressman] to make a public commitment so Dreamers know he/she is standing with them. 27 members of the House and 6 members of the Senate have already taken the Dreamer Pledge, and an additional 34 Republican Members of Congress signed a letter saying that “we must pass legislation that protects DACA recipients from deportation” by the end of this year.

If MoC doesn’t support DREAM in the CR

Staffer: The [Senator/Congressman] doesn’t think that a legislative fix for DACA is an emergency; the president gave us until March to address this program, and we have more urgent concerns right now.
Caller: There are at least six senators and dozens of representatives— including Republicans—who disagree with you. Because Trump terminated DACA, over 10,000 Dreamers are estimated to have already lost their protections, and nearly 1,000 more will lose DACA each week and become vulnerable to Trump’s deportation force. For those young people and their families, this is an emergency and we must take this opportunity to protect them by including the DREAM Act in the Continuing Resolution.
Staffer: I’ll pass your thoughts along to the [Congressman / Senator].
Caller: Yes please do, and please take down my contact information so you can let me know what the [Congressman / Senator] decides to do.

Note from Jana of Desktop Activist Tucson:

I just got a hold of Rep. McSally's staffer at her D.C. office. (202- 225-2542)  When I asked the staffer if Rep. McSally would withhold her support of the Continuing Resolution unless it includes the Dream Act, she said she didn't know and she would look it up. Please, follow up on my call by urging Rep. McSally to do that. (Helpful script above.) I also spoke to Sen. Flake's staffer in Tucson. (520-575-8633He didn't know the Senator's position on that. Please, call and urge Sen. Flake to withhold his support for the Continuing Resolution unless it includes the Dream Act.

#DREAMACT #Protectdreamers #DREAMERS


Friday, December 8, 2017

URGENT calls needed: Senate Democrats must defend Dreamers and restore CHIP

protect our children

Democrats could protect more than 800,000 Dreamers from deportation and restore access to health care for 9 million children if they stand their ground during end-of-year budget negotiations. Will you make a call today to make sure they act?
Click below for a sample script and the number to call:
Take action now ►

Call key Senate Democrats: Protect Dreamers and save CHIP
In the next few weeks, Congress will decide the fate of millions of children most threatened by Donald Trump. Right now, Democrats have all the leverage they need to force Congress to protect them – but it’s up to us to make sure they act.
Congress must approve a budget bill by the end of the year to fund the government and keep it running – and Republican leadership needs the support of Senate Democrats to make that happen. If Senate Democrats form a united front on passing a clean DREAM Act and reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) during the budget negotiations, they could force a vote on a must-pass spending package that would save millions of children’s lives and protect hundreds of thousands of Dreamers from deportation.
We must make sure that every Democrat in the Senate holds the line and votes in lockstep to protect the immigrants and children under attack by Donald Trump and his administration. Call today.
Trump’s heartless attacks on immigrants and children are already ruining people’s lives.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) gave many people brought to the United States as children by their parents the ability to work and live in the country. Since Donald Trump ended the program, more than 100 Dreamers a day lose their work permits and protection from deportation. Nearly 150,000 could face deportation by March if Congress does not reinstate the program immediately.1
CHIP gives low- and middle-income children access to lifesaving health care. Republicans allowed it to expire in September. Now, more than a dozen states are preparing to shut down their CHIP program completely.2 If Congress does not renew funding for CHIP, more than 9 million children will lose their health care.
To keep Dreamers safe and millions of children healthy, we need key Democratic senators to stand strong. Can you help flood their offices with calls demanding that they fight for a clean DREAM Act and federal funding for CHIP?
Call key Senate Democrats: Time to fight. Do everything you can to pass a clean DREAM Act and save CHIP now. Click the link below to start your call.
Click below for a sample script and the number to call:
Take action now ►
References:
  1. Dara Lind, "Thousands of immigrants are losing their DACA protections already," Vox, Nov. 10, 2017.
  2. Colby Itkowitz and Sandhya Somashekhar, "States prepare to shut down children’s health programs if Congress doesn’t act," The Washington Post, Nov. 23, 2017.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Tell Democratic leaders: Stand up for Dreamers - without any anti-immigrant provisions


The petition to Democratic leaders reads:

“Demand that legislation to protect Dreamers does not include compromises with Republicans’ anti-immigrant agenda. Refuse to trade Dreamers for expanded immigration enforcement, walling off our borders, or attacking other immigrants and refugees.”

Add your name:
Donald Trump does not care about Dreamers. First he killed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Now he is using Dreamers as bargaining chips to advance his racist, anti-immigrant agenda and put Dreamers’ families and communities at risk.

Trump just demanded that any congressional effort to restore DACA must also fund his border wall, make deportations easier, crack down on sanctuary cities and fundamentally restructure and shrink our immigration system.1

Democrats must hold a hard line and refuse to allow protections for Dreamers to come at the expense of their families and communities. Can you help keep the pressure on Democratic leaders today?

Tell Democratic leaders: Stand up for immigrants with no compromise and no strings attached. Click here to sign the petition.

Last month, Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer forced Trump to strike a deal on raising the debt ceiling and government spending limit that will force Republicans back to the bargaining table before the end of the year.2 It was a move that gave Democrats short-term leverage to block Trump’s extreme agenda and keep his dangerous priorities out of must-pass spending bills.

Standing with immigrants after Trump’s attack on DACA, and refusing to let Dreamers be bargaining chips, should be one of their top priorities. But less than a week after they forced Republicans’ hands on the debt ceiling, Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer seemed too willing to compromise. They announced, and the Trump administration immediately refuted, that they had struck another deal with Trump to “enshrine the protections of DACA into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the wall, that's acceptable to both sides.”3

Trump is a xenophobe and a racist whose entire administration is premised on demonizing and terrorizing immigrants. He leads a Republican Party that has spent decades blaming its base’s economic insecurity on immigrants and people of color instead of its billionaire backers. This is not the time for Democrats to “accept” any part of their agenda. We have to make sure that Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer lead their caucus in complete resistance to Trump. They must demand that a clean version of the DREAM Act is part of must-pass end of year legislation, stop anti-immigrant Republicans from leveraging DACA to ramp-up immigration enforcement or wall off our borders, and refuse to compromise when it comes to Dreamers.

Tell Democratic leaders: Stand up for immigrants with no compromise and no strings attached. Click the link below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/DACA_Dems?t=7&akid=25467%2E3130208%2E953yRg

- Heidi Hess, Senior Campaign Manager

CREDO Action from Working Assets


Add your name:



References:
David Nakamura, "Trump administration releases hard-line immigration principles, threatening deal on ‘dreamers’," The Washington Post, Oct. 7, 2017.
Ronald Klain, "Schumer and Pelosi just totally suckered Trump," The Washington Post, Sept. 7, 2017.
Maggie Haberman and Yamiche Alcindor, "Pelosi and Schumer Say They Have Deal With Trump to
  1. Replace DACA," The New York Times, Sept. 13, 2017.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Hold Rep. McSally to her word. Call now to tell her to support a clean DREAM ACT.


DACA recipients deserve better. They deserve representatives who follow through on the promises our country made to them. They deserve more than being unfairly held in limbo as part of a backroom deal to build a wall, or cut legal immigration.

We're still waiting for Rep. Martha McSally to deliver -- and we know exactly how she can:

She can refuse the outrageous immigration demands the White House just released. She can refuse to use DACA recipients as a bargaining chip to pass bad policies that put the rest of the immigrant community in danger.

She can help bring a clean version of the DREAM Act -- the only solution that gives permanent protection to these young people, along with a real path to citizenship -- to the House floor for a vote, without delay.

The deadline to submit DACA renewal applications has passed, leaving the futures of hundreds of thousands of young people up in the air. Just weeks ago, Rep. McSally made a promise to protect DACA recipients:
The administration has ended DACA--ripping away hope for the program's nearly one million recipients.


It's time for her to lead the way.

These young people deserve a clean DREAM Act. Call now and make sure Rep. McSally knows it:

Make the call


-Saumya Narechania
Organizing for Action

Monday, October 9, 2017

Tell Trump: NO DEAL. Dreamers won't be bargaining chips.


The White House just released a white supremacist wish list of demands, including Trump's ridiculous border wall, the Department of Homeland Security’s new rule on recording and sharing the social media activities of all immigrants and a denial of federal funds for sanctuary cities - in exchange for protecting Dreamers like Abril Gallardo.

As Abril explained, and as we've said again and again, Dreamers will NOT be used as bargaining chips for Trump's hateful anti-immigrant agenda.

Help us tell Trump: NO DEAL. Keep urging Congress to pass a clean Dream Act!

Trump's repeal of DACA (Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals) has left the lives and livelihoods of 800,000 undocumented youth and their families at risk.

Congress must pass a permanent solution immediately in the form of a clean DREAM Act that protects DACAmented youth without any amendments or deals that promote Trump’s mass deportation machine.

Contact your Members of Congress (both senators and representative) on social media, email, and phone to demand a #CleanDreamAct now!

-Ana Maria Archila
CPD Action


Sen. Jeff Flake:

Washington, D.C. Office
P: 202-224-4521
F: 202-228-0515

Phoenix Office
2200 East Camelback Road, Suite 120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
P: 602-840-1891
F: 602-840-4092

Tucson Office
6840 North Oracle Road, Suite 150
Tucson, AZ 85704
P: 520-575-8633
F: 520-797-3232

Sen. John McCain:

Washington Office
Main: (202) 224-2235
Fax: (202) 228-2862

Phoenix Office
2201 East Camelback Road, Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Main: (602) 952-2410
Fax: (855) 952-8702

Tucson Office
407 West Congress Street, Suite 103
Tucson, AZ 85701
Main: (520) 670-6334
Fax: (855) 952-8702

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Ask your Representative to DEFEND DREAMers!

Dreamers trying to connect to family through new mesh on border wall 
Trump rescinded the Obama-era DACA program which allowed 800,000 undocumented young people to stay and work in the country. By working with the government despite their undocumented status, these young people put themselves and their families on the line.

Hello, my name is _____ and I live in Tucson,
I am calling about Trump's decision to end the DACA program, upending the lives of 800,000 undocumented young people in this country. I stronly urge Representative Martha McSally to support the passage of the DREAM Act of 2017 to remedy this injustice.
Passing this bipartisan bill must be a priority for Rep. McSally in this legislative session, and I believe we have a moral imperative to take care of undocumented people in this country.
Thank you.

Who did you call?
 

Monday, September 11, 2017

Tell Congress: Stand up for Dreamers


The petition to Congress reads:
“Pass clean legislation to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program with no strings attached and block all right-wing attempts to use DACA as a bargaining chip to insert legislative poison pills to expand immigration enforcement, wall off our borders, or ramp-up attacks on other immigrants and refugees.”
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►

Tell Congress: Stand up for Dreamers
The white supremacist in chief just struck again. Donald Trump killed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and put more than 800,000 immigrants at risk of deportation.1
DACA gave immigrants who came to the United States as children, known as Dreamers, the ability to obtain driver’s licenses and work permits and live safely in the only country many of them have ever known. President Obama created DACA after thousands of undocumented young people took the risk to come out of the shadows and fight for protected status.
Trump knows that ending DACA is cruel and unpopular. He was too cowardly to make the announcement himself and has now put Dreamers’ fate in Congress’ hands. Republicans in Congress have had a bigoted, anti-immigrant agenda for years. And Trump premised his entire administration on a racist war on immigrants. Now, Trump and his racist party want to use Dreamers as a bargaining chip to advance their hateful agenda and put other immigrants at risk. Now more than ever, we must stand with our allies in the immigrant rights movement and make our demands crystal clear: No trade-offs. No compromises.
Democrats and Republicans of good conscience must pass clean legislation to reinstate DACA with no strings attached. They must also stop right-wing extremists from using Dreamers as a bargaining chip and inserting legislative poison pills to expand immigration enforcement, build Trump’s wall or shut down our borders. Can you add your name?
When Trump set his anti-immigrant agenda in motion, he said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would focus on removing dangerous criminals from the country and told DACA beneficiaries that they could “rest easy.” Trump was lying. His rogue deportation force has targeted and attacked all immigrants since day one of his racist regime. Going after Dreamers is just another way to advance his white supremacist agenda and terrorize immigrant communities.
Racist, anti-immigrant attorneys general from 10 states threatened to sue the Department of Justice if it did not end DACA by Sept. 5.2 Their threats gave Trump license to kill the program. Trump says he admires Dreamers, but he is a coward and a liar. His attempt to shift the burden to Congress and give them six months to act is nothing more than a desperate attempt to appear compassionate and use Dreamers as political cover to advance his reckless and dangerous anti-immigrant agenda. Trump is now planning to phase out DACA, saying that current DACA beneficiaries will not be impacted until March 2018. But we cannot trust him to keep his word. To protect Dreamers, Congress must take bold action immediately.
Democrats and Republicans have already introduced the 2017 DREAM Act and The American Hope Act, sister bills that would restore and expand DACA.3,4 If Congress passes the 2017 DREAM Act as-is, with no amendments, it would:
  • Immediately protect current Dreamers from deportation.
  • Raise the program’s age entry requirement to 18. Immigrants who entered the country before the age of 18 would qualify for DACA under the new law.
  • Expand eligibility for DACA to include college students, members of the military, workers and full-time caregivers of minor children.
  • Add new paths to citizenship for Dreamers.
Dreamers embody the spirit of the United States in a way that small minded xenophobic Republicans like Trump will never understand. They came to the United States with parents who made the courageous and extremely difficult decision to leave their families, communities and countries of birth behind in the hopes of building better lives. Some families are displaced by war, others by climate change or corporate greed. All are seeking refuge, freedom from persecution and better economic opportunities for their families. There is nothing more American than that. Trump’s attacks on immigrants are attacks on the very fabric of our nation. We must push Congress to act now.
Government funding is set to expire at the end of September, and Trump has threatened to shut down the government if Congress does not approve funding for his southern border wall in a broader must-pass government funding bill.5 Our activism pushed Senate Democrats to block funding for Trump’s wall before. Together, we can do it again. That is why CREDO is teaming up with our friends at United We Dream to make sure Democrats and Republicans of good conscience advance strong legislation to reinstate and expand DACA and stop anti-immigrant Republicans from leveraging the program to ramp-up immigration enforcement or wall off our borders.
Restoring DACA will not protect all immigrants from Trump’s hate, but it would bring us one step closer to reaching that goal. Can you help us make sure Congress takes a stand for Dreamers and does not use them as bargaining chips?
Tell Congress: Immediately restore and expand DACA by passing clean legislation without any poison pills from the extreme right wing. Click the link below to sign the petition.
- Nicole Regalado, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
References:
  1. Matthew Yglesias, "Trump isn’t delivering his own DACA policy because he’s cowardly and weak," Vox, Sept. 5, 2017.
  2. Molly Ball, "How Immigration Hardliners Are Forcing Trump's Hand on DACA, The Atlantic, Aug. 31, 2017.
  3. E. A. Crunden, "Sweeping new effort aims to protect undocumented immigrants," ThinkProgress, July 28, 2017.
  4. These bills are not perfect. They include xenophobic language requirements and exclude some applicants with criminal records, with no acknowledgement that communities of color are heavily policed or that people of color are unfairly targeted by our racist criminal justice system. But we and our allies in the immigrant rights community believe that clean, stand-alone versions of these bills are worth supporting.
  5. Matthew Cooper, "Wake Trump up when September ends: President, Congress face debt limit, government shutdown deadlines," Newsweek, Aug. 28, 2017.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Urgent: Can you call your member of Congress right away? Tell them to do everything in their power to pressure Trump from revoking DACA.


URGENT: Reports are saying that Trump may revoke DACA--the Obama-era program currently protecting from deportation young people who immigrated to the United States as children--this week.1
This is an emergency. 800,000 kids who know no other country but this one, and who entrusted their personal information to the federal government on a promise that it won't use that information to deport them, are in danger of being snatched in their homes and deported by immigration agents. This is not a partisan issue: 71 to 75 percent of voters, and dozens of Republicans in Congress, don't want Trump to revoke DACA.2
We need to act fast and demand Congress protect the 800,000 young people in imminent danger. Can you call your member of Congress right away? Tell them to do everything in their power to pressure Trump from revoking DACA.
You can choose from these numbers to call. 
It's best to speak in your own words, but here are some points to get you started.
  • My name is ___ from (your city). I oppose Trump's attempt to target immigrant kids and want DACA to remain in place.
  • More than 70% of voters, both Republicans and Democrats, want young immigrants protected from deportation.
  • 800,000 kids are in imminent danger of being stolen away from their homes and deported by Trump. Will the representative/senator do everything they can to pressure the White House to keep it in place?
Trump is under competing pressures from his bigoted base and Republicans and Democrats who want DACA protections to stay put.4 Congress can do a lot to pressure Trump, so they need to hear from us fast and loud.
Will you call your Congress members and tell them to do everything they can to protect DACA?
- the UltraViolet team

Sources:
1. Trump's DACA decision looms, CNN, August 29, 2017
2. National Immigration Poll Summary, memo from FWD.us, the Emerson Collective, and Public Opinion Strategies, June 27, 2017

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Sign the petition in support the DREAM Act


Nearly 800,000 Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children — are under attack. Officials from 10 different states are trying to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) that allows these Dreamers to live and work legally in the U.S.

But minutes ago, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced the DREAM Act in Congress. Momentum is building to protect Dreamers.

It is time to enshrine a more permanent legislative solution for Dreamers and their families. If DACA goes away, the consequences of repeal would be truly terrible: 800,000 Dreamers would lose their ability to work and be subject to immediate deportation.

The DREAM Act would create a three-step process to allow hardworking young people who came to this country as children to earn a path to citizenship. We must show our support for this bill right away.

Sign the petition today. Show you support the DREAM Act and stand for protecting Dreamers.

The consequences of repealing DACA, as officials from 10 states want to do, would be massive and cost the country an estimated $460.3 billion in lost Gross Domestic Product over the course of a decade.

Nearly two million Dreamers currently live in the United States without a permanent solution. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — and well over 80% of Americans — want legislation to provide Dreamers protection from deportation and the ability to earn citizenship.

Now is the time to make this happen while momentum is in our favor. We need to be clear: we need to keep DACA’s protections in place and push Congress to pass a permanent DREAM Act right now.

Dreamers are critical to our communities, creating jobs and raising wages for U.S. citizens. Providing a pathway to legal status for them will make everyone safer by bringing people out of the shadows and allowing law enforcement to focus their limited time and enforcement resources on true public safety threats.

Todd Schulte