January 2008 U.S. Immigrant Alert!
Newsletter Please read the Newsletter, download
URL: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Jan08.pdf Immigrant Rights Movements for
2008 In This Issue: 1) Call to Immigrant Rights Actions 2008
2008 Analysis: Immigrant
Congressional Legislation, Presidential
Race The second session of the 110th Congress begins this week, when the House convenes. The Senate will be back next week. This is going to be an ugly year for immigrants, as Republican presidential candidates compete with each other to show that they are tougher on immigrants than the next guy, and Congressional candidates try to make immigration a wedge issue. But before we get into that, letâs review where we left off.
Congress Wraps Government Operating Funds into Giant Omnibus
Package For the most part, the immigration enforcement measures favored by immigration restrictionists were kept off the final bill. One exception was an amendment related to public housing. This amendment restricts eligibility for homeownership assistance funds to U.S. citizens or to immigrants who are lawfully present and authorized to work. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the restriction may go beyond barring undocumented immigrants, but may also prevent legal immigrants who are elderly or have disabilities (and therefore do not have work authorization) from receiving this assistance. Efforts to obtain relief for businesses that rely on certain temporary workers were also thwarted, including a provision to continue exempting returning H-2B workers (seasonal, non-agriculture laborers) from the annual cap. An increase in visas for the H-1B program was also set aside. With various factions pushing for changes to the immigration lawsâwhether to open them up for businesses, tighten labor standards for workers, protect the undocumented, or increase restrictions on immigrantsâthe final outcome was that almost everyone went home empty-handed. There was a provision in the Defense Department Authorization bill (signed in December) that would authorize admission of up to 5,000 Iraqis per year as âspecial immigrants.â This provision applies to persons who believe they are in danger as a result of aiding the U.S. They do not necessarily have to have fled Iraq; they may be processed inside that country. The provision also streamlines the process for admission of other Iraqi refugees and provides for better coordination of efforts to resolve the growing refugee crisis generated by the war.
The Presidential Race For that he got the endorsement of the Minuteman border vigilante group. Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO), meanwhile, discovered that the populist anti-immigrant wave he rode in to the Presidential race wouldnât lift his surfboard off the sand. In Iowa, where immigration was a hot topic in candidate forums, he polled a consistent two percent. On December 20th Tancredo announced that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing former Massachusetts Governor Mitt âget out of the country when you finish mowing my lawnâ Romney. As Dana Milbank of the Washington Post amusingly noted, Tancredo made his announcement in a hotel where, just steps away, there was a âSouth of the Borderâ lunch special being served. Tancredo dropped out in advance of the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Romney in part because Mike Huckabee, who Tancredo said had an âabysmalâ record of âinvitingâ undocumented immigrants, was surging in the polls. After getting Tancredoâs blessings, Romney promptly lost to Huckabee in Iowa. He then went on to New Hampshire andâlost again. To John McCain. The guy who co-sponsored the comprehensive reform bill that all the candidates are now distancing themselves from. Ouch! However, as Romney is fond of telling us, he did win in Wyoming, picking up eight of the 1,191 delegates he will need to win the nomination. The results of these early returns are repeating a pattern we have seen in the Congressional elections in 2006 and local elections in 2007. A candidateâs focus on immigration enforcement may please a segment of the electorate, but that is not necessarily good enough to actually win an election where voters with a variety of concerns come out to the polls. For an analysis of the elections of November 2007.
Shuler Bill Gains Sponsors To read more, please go to the newsletter, download URL: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Jan08.pdf Announcing New On-Line Tools for Congressional Advocacy and Community Activism! National Immigrant Solidarity Network,
along with ActionLA Coalition and Activist Design Studio, are launching a
breakthrough on-line activism tools: e-Activism.org and ActivistVideo.org
Beta version! e-Activism.org: a free open-membership
social networking site for the community activists for on-line activism
with different tools to create your campaigns, useful tools for the policy
research and on-line policy advocacy tools to contact the elected
officials. ActivistVideo.org: a free video-sharing site for activist communities! Can
create your own campaign pages to upload related
videos! Official Launch Date:
Spring, 2008 Please visit
our Beta version TODAY! Several Great Immigrant Rights Videos from ActivistVideo.org
T Don Hutto - America's Family Prison (link to the video: http://www.activistvideo.org/views.asp?id=155)
11/11 2007 Border Patrol agents violently Attacks No Borders Camp (link to the video: http://www.activistvideo.org/views.asp?id=21)
Useful Immigrant Resources on Detention and Deportation
Tracking
ICE's Enforcement Agenda - From
Raids to Deportation-A Community Resource Kit
Please subscribe to the US Immigration
Alert! Please Join Our
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organizing E-mail list Immigrant Deportation and Detention
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National Immigrant Solidarity Network
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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.
**NEW Activist Tools from Immigrant Solidarity Network!**
http://www.ActivistVideo.org
An Activist-Run Video Sharing Page!
http://www.e-Activism.org
On-line Congressional E-activism Tools!
======================================================================
National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles: (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Please consider making a donation to the important work of National Immigrant Solidarity Network
Send check pay to:
National Immigrant Solidarity Network/AFGJ
and mail to:
ActionLA / The Peace Center
8124 West 3rd Street, Suite 104
Los Angeles, California 90048
(All donations are tax deductible)
*to join the immigrant Solidarity Network daily news litserv, send e-mail to: isn-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
or visit: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn
*a monthly ISN monthly Action Alert! listserv, go to webpage http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn-digest
**Please join our following listservs:
Asian American Labor Activism Alert!
send-e-mail to: api-la-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
or visit: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/api-la
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania areas immigrant workers information and alerts
send e-mail to: nyc-immigrantalert-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
or visit: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/nyc-immigrantalert
US-Mexico Border Information: No Militarization of Borders! Support Immigrant Rights!
send e-mail to: Border01-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
or visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Border01/
Virginia state-wide immigrant organizing E-mail list,
send- e-mail to: va-immigrantrights-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
or visit: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/va-immigrantrights
Immigrant Deportation and Detention Alert!
send e-mail to: isn-deportees-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx