Get to Know an Immigrant

The NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Immigration Survey found that the more contact a native born American had with immigrants, the more positively they viewed immigration.

This isn't surprising, congressional districts with high populations of undocumented immigrants tend to favor more rationale immigration policies. You would think the more "overrun " with immigrants a district is the more likely the citizens of the district would vote for a immigration restrictionist but the opposite is true. They love their immigrants.

Click here for a link regarding Tom Tancredo's district, what a shocker there are very few immigrants. For those of you who don't know, Tom Tancredo is the self appointed #1 anti-immigration crusader in congress.

Thanks to the American Humanity Blog for pointing out that Volunteermatch.org has a feature that allows you to search for volunteer opportunities specifically regarding Immigrants and Refugees. Go out, befriend an immigrant while helping your community at the same time.

The Schuler- Tancredo Bill

I hope everyone remembers to do their part in stopping the Schuler - Tancredo Bill, if you haven't yet click here
It only takes 2 min.

If you're more the calling type the congressional switchboard number is 1-800-839-5276 or 202-224-3121

Write to Your Rep! Takes 2 min.

Click here to write to them

Immigrant's List has a great service to streamline the process of writing to your Rep about opposing the SAVE act. Do it. It literally takes 2 min.

If you're more the calling type the congressional switchboard number is 1-800-839-5276 or 202-224-3121.

As a reward you can watch this video by Will Coley
* To USCIS, this is not my video, I had no part in making it.


The Video is in response to this contest.

You've got to be kidding me.

In a desperate move for attention nativists in the house are trying to force a vote on the draconian SAVE Act (also known as the Schuler-Tancredo Bill). Give me a break, you're losing your clout (McCain won despite your protests), elections (2006 elections & Foster beating Oberweis), and now you want to give up on your credibility? Scapegoating only works for so long, get over it. How much is this legislation going to cost us? So far the enforcement only approach has been incredibly expensive. Stop wasting my money because you think your constituents are racists hicks. For the most part they aren't. You are.

Give your congress person a call and tell them to start working on real solutions and not political stunts such as the SAVE Act.

It takes 2 min and the congressional switchboard number is 1-800-839-5276 or 202-224-3121.

You can also email them by clicking here.

Vigil for Sarjina Emy

Sarjina Emy is a 19 year old teenager who has been detained at the Broward Transitional Center for over seven months. Sarjina came to this country when she was four years old. Her parents have already been deported. The family's lawyer Dr. Petia Knowles has a case pending in Federal Court to keep Sarjina and her brothers here, but is asking ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to release them to their friends and family while their cases are pending. This vigil is to ensure that ICE knows how much Florida cares about Sarjina's family.

Before all this happened to me I had a good life, good people around me,and a good family, We never did anything to hurt anyone. But now I feel we have lost everything. My family is torn apart. I haven’t seen my mom in 7 months, since the day they took us and split us up. I can only see my brothers for an hour and a half every week, even though they are in the same facility. I spent my birthday and every holiday in jail (Broward Transitional Center).

Date:	Friday, February 22, 2008
Time:	12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location:	In front of Broward Transitional Center
Street:	3900 N. Powerline Rd.
City/Town:	Deerfield Beach, FL

Sarjina did nothing wrong yet she is being jailed for over 7 months for something she unwittingly did as a four year old. If Florida residents have any sense of justice, they will come out and support her.

If you would like to learn more about the conditions in detention facilities click here and here.

Her brothers Sam and Rumy were also brought here as children. Since their detention, Rumy is expecting his first child with his wife Solange, a US Citizen. Sam's wife, Munmun, a Legal Resident soon to become a citizen, has lost her home because she could no longer afford to live there due to her husband's detention.

Here is a statement from Sam's wife.

"All that I can say is I really want my family back. I have no support here. I didn't work before. My husband was the one that supported me. Since my husband has been detained I have been really sad and depressed. I can't sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night with bad panic attacks. I even had to go to the hospital and even saw a psychiatrist. I have to take sleeping pills to sleep. I work every day to support myself. Last month, we lost our home because we couldn't afford it. I feel like we have been left with nothing. I really hope my husband can come back home. I really wish we can all be a family again. "

Click here for a news story on Sarjina.

Great New Site

I came across this site today called WeCanStopTheHate.org. It's a great resource and long overdue. Check it out.

Sanctuary Policies -Keeping Everyone Safe

To many politicians sanctuary city is a dirty phrase. In a reality, a sanctuary policy in most cities includes an ordinance that forbids police officers from looking into the immigration status of victims and witnesses, not the criminals themselves.

If you have a rapist or murderer on the loose, you don't want a crime victim to remain hidden. Not only for their sake but for the community at large which would not be alerted of the predator preying on their city. It's still beyond me why anyone would be opposed to this.

Call and see and if your city has a sanctuary police policy. If it doesn't look into lobbying local officials and a community education initiative. Public safety should always be a top priority, no matter how you may feel about immigration.

Here is an article about a witness who discovered a body and reported it in Newark. The police then proceeded to question his immigration status even though he was not in any ways a suspect. You can see why a sanctuary ordinance is needed and in fact it was in place for Newark but untrained police officers acted inappropriately. Imagine the crimes that went unreported, the criminals that got off the hook because of victims and witnesses that were terrified of coming forward after this story broke.

FAIR is a Hate Group

The Federation for Immigration Reform that advocates against documented and undocumented immigrants alike has been labeled a hate group. The Southern Poverty Law Center's blog Hate Watch has a post on it if you wish to read further.

As many of you know, a good number of the anti-immigration organizations were started by John Tanton. SPLC 's article The Puppeteer highlights how he has orchestrated much of the anti-immigration activity we have seen in the last 40 years. EVERYONE should be familiar with this article.

Frank Sharry

The American Humanity Blog has a post about Frank Sharry who appeared on a POV (Point of View Documentaries that air on PBS) article called Border Talk. I love POV documentaries and was so excited when I thought they did one regrading this issue. What I can't figure out is if this stems from an actual documentary or is it just an online topic they are discussing?

Anyways, everyone who cares about responsible immigration reform should know who Frank Sharry is and anyone with knowledge on whether this was actually a documentary or not needs to let me know.

What Can I Do?

Oppose the Schuler - Tancredo Bill - Takes 2 min, click here
-Click here for more info on the bill

Register to Vote - click here for a link

Join a Local or National Organization -Click here for a list

Volunteer - Click here to search for volunteer opportunities (select immigrants and refugees in the interest section)

Hold the Media Accountable - click if you have 2 min to spare

Spread the Truth About Immigrants - this could be something as simple as writing a letter or sending an email to the editor of your local newspaper


Become a citizen -click her for a link

Internships ( Click here for ones in NY)