Resources for National Campaign to Stop S-Comm at the Local Level

Download Our Updated S-Comm Toolkit! Background The increasing merger of federal Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and local and state law enforcement agencies has turned police officers into a primary gateway for deportation and resulted in record-breaking detentions and deportations, serious civil rights and due process concerns, and damaged trust between immigrant communities and local [...]

Written by Andrew Wainer, Immigration Policy Analyst at Bread for the World Institute.

2011 was a record year for U.S. farmers, with farm income topping $100 billion. This includes sales of $22 billion in fruits and nuts and $21 billion in vegetables and melons – crops that rely on immigrant farm labor.

But even as U.S. farmers prospered in 2011, those working on farms had less to celebrate.

The nation’s agricultural mecca – Fresno Country, California – had the state’s highest agricultural sales ($5.9 billion) and its highest poverty rate – 27 percent. More than 36 percent of the county’s children were poor, also the highest rate in the state. As one agricultural expert puts it, “High farm sales and high poverty rates often go together.”

Read the complete blog here.

From Melanie Fox, Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Small steps may be the key to reforming our largely unjust and broken immigration system.

One of those small steps is exactly what the nation witnessed when H.R. 3012 was passed by a whopping 389 votes in the House. The vote, which took place last Tuesday night, marks the first immigration bill that has passed either chamber of Congress with bipartisan support since the DREAM Act passed the House in 2010. H.R. 3012, also know as The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011, has two main pieces to it.

Read the complete article.

From Kathy O’Leary, Coordinator at Pax Christi NJ.

As I sat down to write this blog post, about our upcoming protest on December 7th in Newark over the for-profit immigration detention contract, I was tempted to lead with statistics about the percentage of foreign born residents in Essex County. Then I remembered a quote from a book on racial justice by Father Bryan Massingale. “We act justly not because we are intellectually convinced, but because we are passionately moved. Compassion moves the will to justice.”

As a movement and as individual activists, there is a tendency toward providing facts, data and statistics that support just immigration policy. There is the belief that if only we could effectively combat the tremendous body of misinformation we would prevail. The problem is that one of the primary tactics of the campaign against immigration reform is an attempt to dehumanize an entire group of people.

Read the complete article.


Take Action on the DREAM Act

Join faith communities around the country to advocate for the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented young adults brought to the United States as children who complete two years of college or military service.

Click here to learn about DREAM Sabbath 2011, which will take place in congregations around the country from September 16th to October 9th.

Click here to urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor the DREAM Act.

Let My People Stay

Let My People Stay is a campaign to promote the cases of individuals and families set to be deported, spreading the word on how to act. Click the link above to learn more and to help us with this project.

Help Mercedes! Help Mercedes, a DREAMer in TN, get deferred action! She was put in deportation proceedings after being told by immigration officials that she would never graduate or see her family again. Click Here to demand justice against this cruelty!

Update on Erick Velazquillo's campaign: Thanks for your petition signatures! Erick remains in his home in this country. His case has been administratively closed, which means it has been temporarily closed. Erick Velazquillo was stopped as he was going home from the gym and ended up in deportation proceedings after spending 3 days in jail. Erick is a solid community leader and local volunteer.

Help Ricardo! Help Ricardo Muniz, 22-year-old student and active volunteer, stay in the US, his home since he was 7 years old. Click Here to sign a petition to STOP his deportation. (For more info, check out California DREAM Network's YouTube Vid about Ricardo for his story and updates.)

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