Entries tagged as ‘luis gutierrez’
I am exhausted today. Yesterday was a whirlwind of marching, lobbying, writing, tweeting, picture taking, interviewing, chanting and more marching. But it was more than worth it.
I was standing side-by-side with more than 8,000 people (according to National Mall staff) as we marched to the front door of Congress to demand comprehensive immigration reform. Before the event, over 900 of those people talked directly to their members of Congress about supporting immigration reform and specific pieces of legislation such as the DREAM Act and AgJobs.
This number doesn’t even cover the more than 20,000 calls and faxes into Congress that were made by people across the country, as a part of yesterday’s action for reform. We showed power yesterday, both in DC and across the country.
The day culminated in Representative Luis Gutierrez, champion of immigration reform, introducing core principles for a progressive immigration reform bill, which he has promised to formally introduce later this year. Rep. Gutierrez said:
We simply cannot wait any longer for a bill that keeps our families together, protects our workers and allows a pathway to legalization for those who have earned it. It is time we had a workable plan making its way through Congress that recognizes the vast contributions of immigrants to this country and that honors the American Dream.
The event has garnered much media attention, though it was drowned out yesterday by the continuing health care debate.
Says Marisa Trevino of Latina Lista:
If you didn’t hear about the rally, it’s not surprising. It didn’t take place until late afternoon – after the passage of the health reform bill but news outlets are slowly getting around to writing about it.
And they should be because this wasn’t the usual caravan-to-Washingon-and-demand-immigration reform rally. This rally was different in that it served as the platform where Illinois Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, attempted to jumpstart the immigration debate by unveiling the “core principles” he wants seen included in any immigration reform bill.
She’s right: this wasn’t a typical march to the Capitol to call for immigration reform. There was substance and passion and true momentum behind yesterday’s event.
There are two big things that I am taking away from yesterday:
Number one, the fight for immigration reform has officially started.
Number two, we haven’t even begun to tap the potential support for a pro-migrant progressive bill. The fact that thousands of out-of-town people turned out in person, drove hundreds of miles, fund raised and even missed work to be at a pro-immigrant event where the main draw was only principles of a potential bill, sends a very clear message: we are ready for this fight.
That is not to say this won’t get ugly. I never underestimate the nativist lobby’s ability to stoop lower and lower in their demonization of immigrants and of our movement. But, the true power and the true majority is with us.
For a more about yesterday and full slideshow of photos, visit the Reform Immigration FOR America Blog.
Categories: Action
Tagged: immigration debate, immigration rally, immigration reform, luis gutierrez, october 13th, reform immigration for america
Thousands call for immigration reform on the West Lawn of the Capitol.
This is cross-posted from the Reform Immigration FOR America blog. I will have some more thoughts tomorrow, but for now, I’m too tired for further analysis. You guys understand, right?
I just came from the event on the West Lawn of the Capitol and let me start by saying we brought some serious fire power to the doorstep of Congress today. I’m eager to hear an official count of folks there, but it was a large crowd. The energy was high and people were poised and ready for action. It was clear: we are sending a message to Congress and they must listen.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to stay for the full event – I was trying to live-tweet but getting less-than-stellar service on the West Lawn. A few quotes from the elected officals are below, courtesy of NAKSEC’s twitter account:
From Rep. Luis Gutierrez: it’s been a long journey. gutierrez said too many good things. he just did a shout out to community organizers
From Rep. Nydia Velazquez: this is not going to be easy. i know together we’ll get to the finish line
From Sen. Bob Menendez: moral and economic imperative to realize immigration reform. today we see family values
From Rep. Jared Polis (in Spanish): “un mejor futuro para todos los americanos.” (“A better future for all Americans!)
I will be posting all my pictures from the event soon. And will be keeping you informed of any new updates. In the mean time, check out the New York Times article that just dropped about today:
Thousands of immigrants came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of lobbying and an afternoon rally calling for comprehensive immigration reform.
Tuesday’s event was sponsored by various immigrant advocacy groups, including the Reform Immigration For America campaign, the National Capital Immigration Coalition, and Families United/Familias Unidas. It attracted convoys of buses, vans and cars carrying more than 3,000 protesters from at least 17 states.
Also, we are featured on the front page of the C-Span at the moment, with the promise of video footage to come!
Today has been a huge success and we are still going! Stay tuned for pictures and more updates!
Categories: Action
Tagged: family unity, immigration reform, luis gutierrez, october 13th
On Saturday, the Famliy Unity tour made a stop in Northglenn, Colorado – one of 23 cities visited on the tour to date. Our partners at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) helped organize turnout for the event. Over 1500 people gathered at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church to hear testimony from families who have suffered at the hands of our broken immigration system.
The Family Unity tour has brought together lawmakers, religious leaders, families and advocates in an unprecedented glimpse into the human side of the immigration debate.
At Saturday’s event, attendees heard testimony from (among others) a child whose father had been arrested, a mother who feared for the safety of her family and a teacher who has seen the future of bright students destroyed by the broken system.
U.S. Rep Jared Polis and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Immigration Task Force, were joined by Polis and Gutierrez were joined by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, the Revs. Greg Ames and Andrew Simpson, Imam Abdur-Rahim Ali and Rabbi Tirzah Firestone at the event, pushing for reform of a system that continues to separate children from parents and destroy families everyday.
“President Obama, you made a promise for comprehensive immigration reform, but in May you canceled a meeting and last Wednesday you canceled a meeting. You should cancel those orders of deportation, that’s what you should be canceling.
“It’s time we stop this immigration system that destroys families.”
You can find a roundup of coverage below.
Categories: Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Tagged: family unity, luis gutierrez
Today, Politico has a full-length article about the Obama administration’s courting of their most vital demographic – Latino voters. This is something that I’ve been blogging about since well before the election. Last November, Latinos turned out in record numbers to support the now-President Obama. Much of that support was based on his promise to push for immigration reform, a priority issue on the Latino community’s agenda.
In February, President Obama went on the El Piolin show (an outrageously popular Latino radio show hosted by El Piolin, Eduardo Sotelo) And last week, the administration invited Sotelo to the White House to have a sit-down conversation with the President.
“We need to be able to communicate through radio and obviously you’ve got the biggest listenership so we’ve got to make sure you’re involved,” Obama said in the interview.
The blossoming friendship between the administration and El Piolin is just the tip of the iceberg of the new inclusion of the Latino community. Latinos have been included in all major policy discussion since Obama took office. And many already feel the doors of opportunity being opened. The President has also visited Arizona (a border state with a high Latino population) twice in his time in office, including giving the commencement speech at Arizona State University last night.
However, as Luis Gutierrez, the Congressional leader on immigration reform puts it:
“He will ultimately be judged by the Hispanic community on what he does for the weakest and most vulnerable,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, the veteran Chicago Democrat, referring to the issue on which he’s become a national leader, comprehensive immigration reform.
Obama has committed to immigraiton reform publicly – the story broke in April, with a HUGE response from advocates to support the gesture. He noted he would be making a public statement about reform sometime this May, though we are still waiting for this cue.
Even Rahm Emanuel, who has been an opponent of previous reform bills, has acknowledged his support for reform. Rep. Gutierrez notes that Rahm, who is well-known for his shrewd and calculating politics, has to make good on reform if the administration wants to stay in good favor with Latino voters.
“If Rahm thinks he can get away with not doing anything on immigration and still have the support of Latino voters, it won’t get done,” said Gutierrez, who has had a long and at times contentious relationship with his fellow Chicago pol.
While there are certainly other issues on the docket for the Latino community, it seems that immigration reform is the most pressing and the most widely supported. The administration acknowledges it will be a tough battle to pass a reform bill, but as I’ve said before, it seems that the momentum for such a bill continues to grow by the day.
From Politico:
When Piolin asked Obama if he had the votes in Congress on immigration reform, the president was candid.
“Probably not yet,” he said
But when it comes time to rally support for the bill, Obama said he would need the talk show host’s help.
“You can count on me,” Piolin assured.
Categories: Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Tagged: immigration reform, latino voters, luis gutierrez, obama and latinos, rahm emanuel
On Saturday, a standing-room only crowd gathered at Pabellón de la Victoria, a Hispanic evangelical church south of Orlando, FL to call for immigration reform and family unity in the United States. Attendees, who included pastors from dozens of churches of various denominations, activists and local politicians, and many Latino community members, heard emotional testimonies fro
m families who had been ripped apart by the current immigration system.
A native-born United States citizen recounted the day he got a call from his frantic 7-year-old son telling him that police had taken his mother. The couple went on stage with their three boys — the Honduran woman still wearing an electronic ankle bracelet tracking her whereabouts. The husband, Robert Cote said:
“I am an American citizen, and I am a veteran of this country,” said Robert Cote, who fought with the U.S. Army in Operation Desert Storm. “I’m ashamed and I’m angry at the way Latino immigrants are treated in this country. … I fought in war for this country, and I’m going to fight this war for my family” and all immigrants.
Outside of the church gathering, our partners at the Florida Immigrant Coalition urged people to get involved in the same fight for immigration reform.
The next day, in Miami, another large crowd gathered to hear more testimonies, including speeches by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (who is spearheading this 17-stop Family Unity tour). Diaz-Balart spoke out about the seperation of families and noted that taking parents away from their US-born children is not the right approach to immigration enforcement.
One woman, a United States citizen, sobbed as she told the story of her husband’s arrest. The testimonies at these events show that it is not just the immigrant community who is affected by the outdated immigration system – its everyone. 
Categories: immigration news
Tagged: family unity tour, florida immigrant coalition, immigration enforcement, immigration system, luis gutierrez
On the most recent stop of the Family Unity tour, a national listening tour to hear testimony from families impacted by the nation’s broken immigration system, more than 1,500 people showed up in El Paso, Texas to call for reform, not raids in the immigration debate.
The meeting was led by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Chicago, who stopped in El Paso in the latest of a 17-city tour of the United States aimed at hearing testimonials from immigrant families about how deportations and current U.S. immigration policy is breaking apart households.
“The issue of immigration is a national issue since we have families divided across America,” he said. “Comprehensive immigration reform is going to bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the day, and out of the state of exploitation they’re in.”
The event was held at El Templo de Alabanza church in El Paso. The tour, which was launched by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, is partnering with faith-based community during its multi-stop trek across the country. In El Paso, Luis Gutierrez was greeted by a standing-room only crowd.
During a revival-style presentation with lively religious invocations, three U.S. citizens whose households have been split by deportation told their stories.
Blanca Gonzalez said her nephew was at a farmers market when sheriff’s deputies asked him for his identification, then reported him to immigration officials who began deportation proceedings. People in her community, she said, fear contacting law enforcement when they need help because they might get deported.
Galindo (pictured above), a pregnant mother of six, said her husband has been at the Otero County Detention Center for almost three months and will be repatriated to Mexico soon. Galindo fears he’ll never make it back to the United States, or that she’ll have take her children to Mexico, where they could starve.And 11-year-old Iván Cadena, who was born in a Las Cruces hospital and has a heart condition, told how his mother was detained for allegedly claiming to be a U.S. citizen when she is not. She did that, he said, because she didn’t understand the English-language document she signed.
“I don’t really feel good when she’s not around. I feel there’s an emptiness in the house,” he said, standing next to his father. “She said that if she crossed the border, she would never see me again.”
These are American citizens whose lives are being torn apart by outdated and broken immigration laws. With everyone from Condoleezza Rice to President Barack Obama to students in California calling for comprehensive immigration reform, don’t you think its time that we got it done? Especially for the sake of families like the ones in El Paso who have suffered for long enough at the hands of broken, Bush-era policies?
I think so.
Categories: immigration news
Tagged: el paso texas, familias unidas, family unity, immigration reform, luis gutierrez
Last Sunday, the Family Unity Tour, headed by Congressman Luis Gutierrez, stopped in San Francisco in its effort to keep families together in the face of destructive immigration enforcement policies. During the San Francisco event, leaders were joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who gave a powerful speech calling for an end to immigration raids.
“Our future is about our children,” Pelosi told a crowd of mostly Latino families at St. Anthony’s Church.
No matter if those families arrived two days ago or centuries ago, Pelosi said “that opportunity, that determination, that hope has made American more American.”
She said, “Taking parents from their children … that’s un-American.”
It is about time that a Washington leaders take a stand and call for an end to the raids. They are destructive, costly and tear apart not just families, but entire communities. Click here to find a full schedule of events on the Family Unity Tour.
Categories: immigration news
Tagged: end the raids, family unity tour, immigration raids, luis gutierrez, nancy pelosi, reform not raids
In an unprecedented nationwide campaign, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is visiting local communities and churches to promote the Family Unity Campaign, working to keep families together in the face of destructive immigration enforcement policies. Check out Gutierrez’s website for a full listing of events.
“As a nation -as citizens- we cannot wait any longer for fair and just immigration reform,” said Rep. Gutierrez. “Across America, parents and children, husbands and wives are being torn apart by a system that values quotas over family values and which undermines our economic security in a time of crisis. It is for this reason that U.S. citizens in each of these cities are joining this effort and standing up for real, lasting change.”
The event for the El Paso Metropolitan Area will take place on Friday, March 13th. Yesterday, a Press Conference was held to formally announce the event.
Be sure to stay tuned for announcements of other local events being hosted by Congressman Gutierrez.
Categories: Action · Interfaith
Tagged: el paso texas, family unity, immigration reform, luis gutierrez
TODAY, December 4th, over 1500 grassroots leaders will gather in DC to talk directly with members of Congress and Obama’s transition team, to help shape the agenda for the new administration. “Realizing the Promise: A Forum on Community, Faith and Democracy” will mark the first large-scale progessive event since last month’s historic elections. No longer are our communities on the outside looking in at the powerful decision-makers: we have become the decision-makers.
And YOU CAN BE A PART OF IT! Watch the LIVE WEBCAST TODAY from 3PM to 6PM at www.realizingthepromise.org and check out the LIVE-BLOG.
Community members, REAL PEOPLE, will be sharing open dialogue with people as powerful as Valerie Jarett, who aims to be on of the 3 to 5 people IN THE ROOM WITH OBAMA when major policy decisions are made, AND Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who is the 3rd most powerful Congressman in the House. This is our time to be heard, this is our time to make sure that the agenda for the next administration is the agenda OF THE PEOPLE.
And IMMIGRATION is sure to be on that agenda. Prior to the Forum, there will be a press conference on the Hill, where Rep. Luis Gutierrez will push immigration to the forefront of the country’s political landscape, and ask the new Congress and new Administration for an immediate moratorium on the raids and a renewed effort for comprehensive immigration reform. In the afternoon, Rep. Gutierrez will join “Realizing the Promise” to engage in more dialogue around these demands.
This is truly a historic moment in our Nation’s history and YOU can be a part of it. TODAY, visit www.realizingthepromise.org from 3PM to 6PM to watch the entire event LIVE on our WEBCAST. We will be live-blogging the event here at Standing FIRM, so be sure to check back for that too.
Categories: Actions
Tagged: agenda for new administration, chris van hollen, dec. 4th, luis gutierrez, obama administration, realizing the promise, valerie jarett
