United 4 The Dream
MYTH: The American people want enforcement-only “solutions.”
FACT: Voters still strongly support comprehensive immigration reform. According to a November 2010 nationwide poll, support for comprehensive immigration reform is broad-based and crosses party lines. When comprehensive immigration reform was described to voters, 81% of voters supported the measure. Republicans were the most intense supporters, with fully 72% strongly supporting comprehensive reform. Additionally, 76% (62% strongly) agree with the statement that “deporting all 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States is unrealistic.”
MYTH: We could make jobs available for citizens and legal immigrants if we simply enforced our current immigration laws.
FACT: Although it might seem that deporting all unauthorized immigrant workers from the labor force would automatically improve job prospects for unemployed Americans, the fact is that employment is not a “zero sum” game. Mass deportation would actually reduce U.S. GDP by 1.46% annually, amounting to a $2.6 trillion cumulative loss in GDP over 10 years, and cost an estimated $206 billion to $230 billion over 5 years. The notion that unemployed natives could simply be “swapped” for employed unauthorized immigrants is not valid economically. There is little apparent relationship between recent immigration and unemployment rates at the regional, state, or county level.
MYTH: The granting of automatic citizenship to the children of foreigners comes from a misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. The framers never sought to guarantee citizenship to children of illegal immigrants. During the debate in 1866, the Senator who authored the 14th Amendment said it would “not of course include persons born in the United States who are foreigners.”
FACT: The framers intended to end discriminatory definitions of citizenship that create a permanent underclass. The quotation is taken out of context, and reaffirms birthright citizenship when read in full: “Every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons. It settles the great question of citizenship and removes all doubt as to what persons are or are not citizens of the United States. This has long been a great desideratum in the jurisprudence and legislation of this country.” In other words, the terms “foreigners” and “aliens” are used to describe those “who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States.” Constitutional citizenship as enshrined in the 14th Amendment and affirmed several times by the U.S. Supreme Court, was intended to ensure that all those born on U.S. soil are treated equally with rights of citizenship, and no state or national legislature may re-define citizenship to exclude certain groups of people.
(Source: tranqualizer)
GUIDE for UNDOCUMENTED YOUTH in REMOVAL PROCEDURES
Please read and spread!!
It really is a great tool to have around. You always want to be prepared for the worst.
One of the main things you as a DREAMer can do right this moment is, to start preparing letters of support from your fellow classmates, teachers and neighbors. Just have them write and sign a letter what you contribute to this society; then safeguard it in a folder.
Being caught under a criminal charge, these letters will prove that you are indeed a great positive asset to the community and society as a whole.
It’s always important and crucial that you and your family, IF YOU CAN, save bit of money time to time. Bonds can get expensive and companies, if they know you are going through ICE, will likely not cover your bond because of the uncertainty of your stay in this country.
And prepare PETITIONS!!
Like the ones you see me sharing here time to time, those petitions mean a great deal for those going through this process. Hence why I stress so much the need for you guys to share and sign those petitions.
While we are on the topic, I want to re-link the two petitions that are in great need of you, and your friend’s signature.
Release Oscar Josue Melesio Don Juan
and
Release Gabriel Garcia Ruiz from ICE Jail
Saludos,
Undocumented, Unafraid and Unapologetic
On a relevant note: THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP YOU.
In combined efforts with United We DREAM, states all across the U.S are holding Education not Deportation Campaigns.
END Coordinators and their teams ARE TAKING CASES and can START PETITIONS FOR YOU.
If you are worried that you may have deportation orders, if you are unsure, or if you know someone who is worried or unsure: please email me at lntranq(at)gmail(dot)com. Please put in the subject line: E.N.D Your City, Your State. We are stationed in North Carolina but we do have contacts for United We Dream END coordinators across the U.S. We’ll be able to direct you to the proper resources. In the email, please include your name and some form of contact information and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible. All information is confidential and you are not required to out yourself if you don’t want to.
(Source: theniya.org, via tranqualizer)
The memo was basically an outline suggesting that all “special agents in charge” and likewise stop the persecution of undocumented immigrants in the U.S that fall under specific characteristics, i.e: “the circumstances of the person’s arrival in the United States and the manner of his or her entry, particularly if the alien came to the United States as a young child” and “the person’s pursuit of education in the United States, with particular consideration given to those who have graduated from a U.S high school or have successfully pursued or are pursuing a college or advanced degrees at a legitimate institution of higher education in the United States”
Another large piece that should be mentioned is the encouragement of “prosecutorial discretion,” meaning that enforcement agencies pick and choose who they will be using the law against (folks who do not fall under the categories listed in the memo and in lists to come). Protected groups include DREAM eligible students/persons, folks married to someone who is a citizen or permanent resident, folks that have relatives in the military, folks that come from countries with high levels of violence and crime, folks that have made significant contributions to the community, primary caretakers of a person with “a mental or physical disability,” minors, etc.
Basically what this means is that ICE and Dept of Homeland Security are asking that folks stop trying to deport undocumented immigrants eligible for citizenship.
This is by no means a solution to all of the pressing issues undocumented immigrant communities face, but this is action in the face of pressure from thousands of individuals nation wide. This memo is now a tool we can use when petitioning for the removal of deportation orders and also a tool we can use in face of wrongful profiling and anti-immigrant legislation.
(Source: tranqualizer)
reblogging for later
holy shit look at all this information
Exactly what I need right now. I may be the only out queer person in the immigrants’ rights group here, but I’m about to drop off extra loads of queer.
(via tranqualizer)
Vigil for Erick Velazquillo in solidarity against his deportation.
Photo by Jeff Siner
Last October, Erick was pulled over for not having his high beams on. He was then arrested for not having a renewed driver’s license. And he didn’t have that because in 2006, the laws changed requiring that all persons getting a license must provide a Social Security number. Erick is undocumented and cannot receive the privilege of having a 9 digit number. He was then detained for 3 days and released on a $5,000 bail bond. Since then, he and his family have spoken to various organizations and immigration lawyers - all of which have only given him two options: deportation orders or voluntary departure. In march, his sister, Angelica, met a few organizers from NC Dream Team that provided them with a better alternative: fighting back. Erick is in the beginning steps of going public with his story and with his case. He is a student at CPCC and just finished his second year. He’s been in the United States since coming from Mexico at age 2. In North Carolina, roughly 51,000 students like him suffer from the threats of no papers: not being able to afford post secondary education at universities, not being able to drive to get to school or work (at least in a “lawful” way), not being able to live their lives as United States residents.
Even when push comes to shove as the government here and governments across the nation continue to criminalized undocumented people, there are ways around and we have to keep doing more.
I’m asking that you take a few moments and take an action (or a few) that Erick, his sister Angelica, and his family depend on.
1. Call Senator Hagan (202-224-6342)
Sample Script: “Hi, I was calling to ask that Senator Hagan introduce a private bill for Erick Velazquillo (A# 200-97-0380). Erick has been living in the United States since he was 2 years old. If deported, he will be returned to a country he hasn’t been to in 20 years. Erick wants to contribute to this country as a nutritionist. Please introduce a private bill for Erick.”
2. Call DHS – Janet Napolitano (202-282-8495) and ICE – John Morton (202.732.3000)
Sample Script: “Hi, I was calling to ask that Erick Velazquillo’s deportation be deferred . Erick (A# 200-97-0380) has been living in the United States since he was 2 years old. If deported, he will be returned to a country he hasn’t been to in 20 years. Erick wants to contribute to this country as a nutritionist. Don’t deport Erick.”
3. Sign the petition to your right and ask all of your friends to sign it!Hundreds of thousands of stories like this exist across the country, and slowly (but surely) these stories are coming out of the shadows unafraid, unapologetic, and unashamed.
(Source: tranqualizer)
Often I am contacted by desperate immigrants about their immigration cases which have been harmed by so called “immigration consultants”, “notarios,” or “green card agencies.”
These people often operate in the shadows in immigrants’ home countries or in areas in the U.S. in which many immigrants live, they speak the immigrants’ language and offer “help” in applying for visa, green cards, asylum or any other immigration benefit.
Sadly, many immigrants either think these people are lawyers, or, even worse, they think that they can get legal services cheaper than from a lawyer.
Usually both assumptions are wrong: in many cases that I see, the clients paid more to the “notario” than I would have charged. And of course, in the end they pay much more, because the mess has to be fixed.
In the United States it is illegal for anyone to give immigration advice or to assist immigrants with applications unless the person is a licensed lawyer, or, is licensed by the USCIS to assist free of charge (usually consultants working for charities).
In some other countries, like Germany, sadly the law is not as strict. Some entrepreneurs have become pretty rich by offering “green card services” for a lot of money, but often their work is not up to par.
Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that someone who has been defrauded or otherwise harmed by such an unlicensed “consultant” cannot use the “ineffective counsel” argument, but, sometimes, might claim “exceptional circumstances.” The case was about a “consultant” who took a lot of money from the immigrant to file an asylum claim, but filed it 3 months after the filing deadline.
The immigrant was processed to be deported and the immigration judge declined to give her relief. The Appeals Board and the Appeals Court first agreed with the judge, but a rehearing in the Appeals Court now decided that the IJ should have checked, if the immigrant can claim “extraordinary circumstances.”
The moral of the story: to avoid such a hassle and the vast amount of money litigation will cost, go to a licensed lawyer in the first place. Do not trust “notarios, consultants or agencies.”
(via tranqualizer)
