Widowed immigrants face deportation trauma - Kansas City Star

Widowed immigrants face deportation trauma - Kansas City Star

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WHITE HOUSE IMMIGRATION MEETING:

***PRESS ADVISORY***

Contact: Lorena Melgarejo, SFOP at (415) 724-4987

President Obama postpones once more the WHITE HOUSE IMMIGRATION MEETING:
DELAY IS A MISTAKE, BUT NOT A SETBACK

San Francisco Faith Leaders and Families join a
NATIONAL DAY of ACTION for IMMIGRANT RIGHTS at a
Vigil and Press Conference at the Federal Building to tell President Obama that Immigrant Families can no longer Wait for Immigration Reform


WHO: Interfaith Clergy Leaders and Families from San Francisco


WHAT: Vigils and Actions will be held in major cities in the US to ask President Obama to keep his promise to immigrants of Comprehensive Immigration Reform this year. This call to action happened because the meeting the President was slated to have Wednesday (June 17th) at the White House with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on immigration reform has been delayed by the President for the second time. Advocates from around the nation want to let the President know that our immigrant families can no longer wait for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.


WHERE: 450 Golden Gate at the steps of the Federal Building

WHEN: TUESDAY, June 16th, 2009
4:00pm

For more information, contact Lorena Melgarejo at (415) 724-4987 or lorena@sfop.org

SFOP is a federation of 30 congregations, schools, and community centers representing more than 40,000 families in San Francisco . SFOP is a member of the PICO National Network.


PRESS RELEASE from Immigration Reform FOR America Campaign
For Immediate Release Contact:
June 12, 2009 Katherine Vargas: (202) 641-5198
Shuya Ohno (202) 309-5645
WHITE HOUSE IMMIGRATION MEETING:
DELAY IS A MISTAKE, BUT NOT A SETBACK
Washington, DC – A meeting the President was slated to have Wednesday (June 17) at
the White House with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on immigration reform
has been delayed. The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the
National Immigration Forum, speaking on behalf of the Reform Immigration FOR
America campaign, a recently launched national campaign to get comprehensive
immigration reform passed this year.
We think delaying the meeting is a mistake. Momentum is building for comprehensive
immigration reform with more and more Americans demanding solutions. The President is
too smart not to move on immigration reform this year. We don’t see this as a signal that
President Obama is stepping back from reform.
All the lights are green, with strong polling support for reform that helps strengthen the
economy; hundreds of thousands of calls and faxes into Congressional offices generated by
the campaign last week and more are expected next week; and both Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the debate on comprehensive immigration
reform is coming soon.
Reform that gets immigrants here illegally into the system and on the books, gets workers
and employers all playing by the same set of rules, and reestablishes a legal immigration
system that works so that people will use it – that is a winning political and policy
proposition. Americans want their leaders in Washington to solve tough problems and
immigration is no exception.
We fully expect the President’s strong leadership. Congress needs to act and delaying the
White House meeting doesn’t change that.
# # #
For more information on the Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign, please
visit www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org or www.reformamigratoriaproamerica.org

Senator Reid said he has the votes for immigration reform this year

June 10 2009, 09:20 AM
Washington, June 10 (EFE) .- The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Harry Reid, said today in an interview with Efe that "there arithmetic" for approving an immigration bill this year that "out of the shadow "on undocumented immigrants. Reid encourages the Senate since the reforms of health, energy and immigration, in that order, are the three main priorities of President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress this year, and is convinced that will be approved despite objections Republican . "The Republicans are doing this as well as trying to do with the health issue: maintaining the status quo. Acknowledge that the 1986 immigration law has not worked well, and we need to reform the system," Reid said from his office in the broad Senate. The senator from Nevada referred to the 1986 law that once gave an "amnesty" for some three million undocumented. Opponents of reform have turned this law to insist that it did not stop illegal immigration in the U.S., now estimated at some 12 million illegal immigrants. Reid said he was convinced that, at least in the Senate, his party has the arithmetic to approve immigration reform this year. In the Senate, it requires 60 votes out of 100 seats, while in the House of Representatives, supporters of the reform required a total of 218 of 435. "I can not speak for the House of Representatives, but I can give the mathematics in the Senate and I think there is no doubt that we can approve it," he said. At present, Democrats and independents who usually vote with them, added 59 seats in the Senate, since a federal court must still rule on the winner in the general of Minnesota, where Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. So the Democrats have one vote less than they need to prevent dilatory tactics of the opposition. Reid tried to minimize the skepticism that is on the reform among some moderate Democrats in court, facing the legislative elections of 2010. He added that even if legislation does not have the support of all democrats, the obstacles he had overcome the failed reform of 2007. "Say you lose 12 votes (Democrats), that leaves 48. But I am sure you will find 12 Republicans (who support the reform), I have no doubt that this is the case," he said. "We do not have the financial nor human resources to deport undocumented immigrants, as some want. Immigration is a source of strength in our country: here we bring waves of people who excel in education and the labor force, and that is good, "he said. "We must remove them from the shadows so that when someone comes out to buy milk for her child, is not subject to an arrest. We need a clean slate, a new program on immigration," he said. For Reid, a reform bill should include elements to strengthen security along the borders with Mexico and Canada, and require recipients to pay fines, learn English, are current with their taxes, have no criminal records and "put at the end of the row. " Are, in fact, almost all the elements contained in the 2007 immigration reform, which failed due to lack of consensus between Democrats and Republicans on an issue as volatile and polarized as immigration. Reid said so well, and understand intimately the migration phenomenon in the U.S., noting that his father emigrated from Russia to Lithuania and his mother-in-law, and his grandmother was born in England. During the election campaign, the president Barack Obama pledged to push immigration reform in his first year in office. On Wednesday, Obama will meet at the White House with Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress for a "common ground" and a strategy to achieve reform. That meeting had been scheduled for last Monday but was postponed for "scheduling conflicts" as the White House, which has not yet disclosed the list of participants. EFE

Obama reverses stance on immigration

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/08/obama-enforcement-first-for-immigration/
Friday, May 8, 2009
Obama reverses stance on immigration
Stephen Dinan (Contact)

On the thorniest of political issues, President Obama has embraced the enforcement-first position on immigration that he criticized during last year's presidential campaign, and he now says he can't move forward with the type of comprehensive bill he wants until voters are convinced that the borders can be enforced. Having already backed off his pledge to have an immigration bill this year, Mr. Obama boosted his commitment to enforcement in the budget released Thursday. The spending blueprint calls for extra money to build an employee-verification system and to pay for more personnel and equipment to patrol the border. This security-first stance is not unlike that of President George W. Bush, Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, who said their immigration bill failed in 2007 because voters didn't trust the government to be serious about enforcement. "If the American people don't feel like you can secure the borders," Mr. Obama said at his press conference last week, "then it's hard to strike a deal that would get people out of the shadows and on a pathway to citizenship who are already here, because the attitude of the average American is going to be, 'Well, you're just going to have hundreds of thousands of more coming in each year.' " Republicans say the shift is a sign that Mr. Obama, who during the campaign repeatedly called the issue a priority, is uncertain how to move forward. "I don't think Barack Obama understands the immigration issue. I don't know that he has spoken about it in any depth during his entire political career," said Rep. Steve King of Iowa , the top Republican on the House Judiciary subcommittee that handles immigration. "I think he's finding his position, and I think that's why we're getting these moving positions." Immigration questions dog Mr. Obama. He was asked about the issue at a town hall in California and has been prodded by Spanish-language reporters, to whom he has given plenty of access. But so far, even as he puts off a target date for signing a comprehensive bill, he has kept the support of immigrant rights groups, who applaud his changes at the Department of Homeland Security and say he's still committed to their top priority - a bill that would legalize most illegal immigrants. "Given all the givens - you can't look at any one priority in isolation - he's made a decent start," said Angela M. Kelley, who used to be director of the Immigration Policy Center and is now vice president for immigration issues at the Center for American Progress. But, she said, he will need to show some progress before the year is out. "The president needs to help Congress steer this issue, so there has be a pretty clear road map that he's stating publicly about how he wants us to proceed, and then have the internal workings of the White House support what he says publicly," she said. The 2007 bill was blocked in the Senate by a bipartisan filibuster, but Republicans provided most of the "no" votes and took most of the blame. Even with expanded Democratic majorities and a sense among immigrant-rights groups that voters' attitudes on the issue have shifted in their favor, Mr. Obama still will have to win Republican votes. Mr. King said that math may be part of the reason why the president is now talking about enforcement. "It looks to me that Obama has a clear instinct to lurch as hard to the left as possible, but I think he also recognizes now there are some real limitations to what you can do because you've still got to get 60 votes in the Senate," Mr. King said. Last summer, as a candidate, Mr. Obama said stepped-up enforcement had to be coupled with rewriting immigration rules and giving both instant legal status and an eventual path to citizenship for most illegal immigrants who are willing to pay a fine and learn English. He also told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials that comprehensive immigration - the term backers use for a bill that includes legalizing illegal immigrants - would be "a priority I will pursue from my very first day." But last month, on Univision's "Al Punto" Sunday political talk show, host Jorge Ramos tried to pin down Mr. Obama on his campaign "guarantee" that "we will have, in the first year, an immigration bill that I strongly support." "You are absolutely right, the economic crisis has meant that I have been putting a lot on Congress' plate," Mr. Obama told Mr. Ramos, according to Univision's transcript. "So what that's meant is that just in terms of the calendar, I can't guarantee that I will have a bill on my desk before the end of the year." At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was asked whether Americans have enough confidence in border security. "It depends on who you ask and when," she said. Those who want to see stricter limits on immigration say they have been amazed at how much leeway Mr. Obama is being given by immigrant rights groups who have been harshly critical of calls for enforcement first. "I'm just surprised at how muted the reaction has been to Obama's complete lack of action on immigration," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, who said immigrant rights groups are giving Mr. Obama "a lot more slack than they would have given a President McCain." Earlier this year Mr. McCain told The Washington Times that immigrant rights supporters were mistaken if they thought Mr. Obama's promise to conduct meetings meant they will see a bill. "I was fascinated the Hispanic Caucus came out all excited - 'Hey, he said we're going to have forums and meetings and conferences on it' - is there somebody that doesn't understand the issue of immigration? So if the president wants to lead and make a proposal on comprehensive immigration reform with the principle of securing our borders first, then I'm ready to join in. But the president has to lead," Mr. McCain said.

Keeping faith for "The Illegal Extraterrestrial"

Every year is a different experience, every year I learn something new. But this year, it was like I was dragged from one place to another to hear a message from God. The swine flu, the rain, the new president, the unemployment and bad economy, everything plays an important factor for people to come out and show support to "La Causa" or hide in the shadows and do nothing.

Everything started like any other event, looking for the perfect venue so we can have the greatest number of people involved. We thought that our local Church will be the perfect place. Have a spiritual vigil, community speakers and end it with a mass. Everything looked perfect! For reasons out of my reach, the father from the Church did not let us use the Church as our venue. OK, we started with plan B: a public park. We did all the arrangements, pay the city dues and on May 4, around 4:00 p.m., the majority of the board of directors decided to cancel our event "for safety reasons". What! After all the hard work, besides more people die crossing the border every year than from flu. What about all the people that called me to confirm the date, time and spot. The swine flu is a justified cause; on the other hand, my compromise with the people that called and I said I'll be there. I called the other organizers and said to them "llueva, truene o relampage, I'll be there" So I did.

On May 1st. at 5:00 p.m. I was standing at the Napa Veteran's Park in downtown Napa with my umbrella, a light blue sweater, jeans and sandals. Why sandals? I was positive hoping for a sunny day and something comfortable to walk. Two other members Marcos and Ricky, arrived with their umbrellas too. Their umbrellas were twice as big as mine and they were dressed accordingly to the rainy weather. We stayed there for an hour. Because it was raining so hard, nobody else showed. It was kind of a disappointment because we worked so hard all the month of April and have this canceled at the last minute.

I invited my two good friends to have a cup of hot coffee a few blocks away from the Park. They agreed with me, so we walked to this place that neither of us had ever been before. When we were ordering we noticed that they were setting a small stage with a camera, speakers and a microphone. We thought it was normal since it was Friday and maybe locals go there to have coffee and listen to live music. Each of us grabbed a chair and sat down, we started to talk about strategies for future events, but at the same time we were curious and waited to see what was the show about. We noticed that every person, mostly High School students and young adults, arrived with a guitar on their hands. In less than 10 minutes, about 40 people gathered in the small coffee shop, the six tables were rapidly occupied by them. People started to wait outside of the coffee place, some started to prepare their numbers, and others just stood there waiting for the performance. One of them announced that they will start at 6:40 p.m. and that they only could play 3 songs. After making more adjustments to the microphone, he announced the first person: Julio Soriano Soriano. I believe that besides us three, he was the only Latino there. In the middle of different conversations among the people inside the coffee place, the espresso machine and the rainfall, he approached the crowd by introducing himself. He said something about a mix of Native Indian and Mexican, Illegal Immigrants, and he did not have a guitar with him. These three things got my attention. Then he started to read a poem of his own inspiration. The crowd started to quite down to the point that only his words and his breath were left in the room: “Just imagine! A human wannabe asking for fair wages? Asking for representation, opportunity and justice. Absurd!”

In the less expected place, his words came and reminded me that I have to keep my faith and hope up high because sooner or later, there will be a change in this world where everyone will be treated equally regardless of race, religious beliefs, or gender. To me, he was like a messenger from God. Maybe I am simply doing my job too: Fulfilling and manifesting my destiny.

Marisa Loza

Immigration Consultant

Enjoy this young man poetry.

The Illegal Extraterrestrial

I was born here on earth.
Born from two human parents.
For as long as I can remember
I have lived among the human species.

I can see, touch, and taste.
I can hear and speak.
I have a family; I have emotions.

I’m able to love.

I’m able to hate.

I’m able to cry.

I’m able smile.

I have the same organs that everyone else has.

I have only one brain, only one heart, just two lungs.

Still don’t believe me?

Well, I have 46 chromosomes.

You can check my DNA if you want.

I promise I’m really the same as you.

I’m sorry undocumented immigrant, whoops,

Did I say undocumented immigrant? I meant illegal alien.

Lets not go and call you undocumented immigrant.

We don’t want you poking around thinking that

You have a chance to be like us humans.

Just imagine! A human wannabe asking for fair wages?

Asking for representation, opportunity and justice.

Absurd!

What about us you say, we’re immigrants too?

Well, you see,

We’re the GOOD kind of immigrants.

We were chosen by God.

When we came into these lands, we were simple doing our job:

Fulfilling our Manifest Destiny.

We came to civilize the savage beings of the Americas.

We actually brought goodness to these lands. We made it a better place.

See those great concrete cities spread across the nation? We made them.

See the millions and millions of great cars? We made those too.

See the vast fertile fields with grains, fruits and vegetables? We put those there and removed the savages.

This nation, in fact the whole world, should be grateful for our existence.

Unlike you, who brings nothing useful. You’re just an annoying pest.

You, illegal person, you are not one of us.

You can’t come to us and demand complete human rights and equality.

Or we’ll spend millions of dollars hunting you down when you are no longer needed.

Don’t complain if we take your illegal mother from you and throw her out.

Don’t start crying when your baby is left without parents.

Stay away when we don’t need you or we’ll spend another billion to make the New Great Concrete Wall bigger and better.

But if I’m illegal, does that make everything I touch also illegal?

Why do you eat the fruit I pick with my illegal hands?

Why do you drink the wine that comes from illegal hands?

And why do you go into a restroom and defecate in the toilet that is cleaned by illegal hands?

If I’m illegal, does the air I exhale 50,000 times a day become illegal?

Does it make everyone else who breaths a molecule from it illegal?

Does it make them my accomplices?

What if I die and my body decomposes?

Does my carbon body that disassembles into infinitely many pieces and becomes part of plants and animals still remain illegal?

It must, matter cannot be created or destroyed right?

No, you are wrong, you are not one of us.

Since your annoying me,I’m going to throw you back into you’re illegal home.

Sorry, there is no time to say goodbye to your friends and family.

Hopefully you’ll know which way to go when we dump you over the border into a city where you have never been before.

Well, you, illegal alien

--whose existence is illegal and unrecognized--

Have a nice trip!

After the person is kicked out, a light approaches her and says:

You are not an illegal alien.

But everyone seems to be an alien to this planet.

If we really belonged here then we wouldn’t be destroying our own planet.

We wouldn’t harm human kind.

We wouldn’t use people for labor and then kick them out when we were no longer needed them.

We wouldn’t spend great sums of money on things that destroy, rather than on things that create.

What kind of human beings would have readily available weapons capable of destroying every continent several times over?

What kind of species consumes so much that it causes other species to become extinct.

Would the people from this beautiful planet really allow genocide after genocide to occur?

Don’t worry; you are not an illegal alien.

After all, others tell me that you didn’t cross the border, the border crossed you. Because your family used to live here, but a group of men drew borders on a map and redistributed the land to their advantage.

You have done nothing wrong don’t worry.

But the person was still sad.

She had left part of her family on both sides of the men-made border.

She wished she really was an alien, so that her alien family could come and take her away in a spaceship.

Then she could go wherever she wanted.

Maybe people cared more about aliens than humans.

Maybe people would care more about her.

Julio Soriano Soriano