Hiro Nishikawa is a defender of civil rights, and a living witness to one of our nation’s gravest abrogations of them

The memories are all described from the point of view of a young boy.

The way he and his brothers played in the crawlspace beneath one of the buildings, alert to the Gila monsters, scorpions and rattlesnakes that also sought relief from the sun and 110-degree heat in that shaded space.

He recollects, also, the sandstorms that funneled through cracks in ramshackle walls and burrowed into clothing and skin. In another memory, he and his brothers don their good corduroy pants for a rare family portrait taken in front of the barrack they shared with other residents.

The government euphemistically called it a relocation or internment center, but the reality of the 71,000 acres of the Colorado River camp in Poston, Ariz., was much uglier. It was a concentration camp built on American soil specifically to incarcerate those of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Read the rest of this article by clicking here.

Philadelphia Deferred Action Network upcoming informational sessions

DACA information and screening session hosted by the Korean Community Development Services Center on Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013  from 6-8pm. Located at Free Library of Philadelphia, Greater Olney Branch, 5501 N. 5th Street (5^th and Tabor) Philadelphia, PA. Registration is necessary.  For more information, or to register, contact Stephanie at 267-331-9091 or stephanie(at)northfifth(dot)org.  The information and services provided at this clinic will be in Korean, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

House Bill 934 heads to State Senate

This just in from the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition:

"After state House leaders used a procedural tactic to shut down debate, the House voted 108-88 in favor of House Bill 934, legislation that would force citizens to show valid state-issued photo ID every time they attempt to vote. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has used the same rhetoric that characterizes his AZ copycat legislation to justify this bill, which would really impact the most vulnerable citizens of our Commonwealth. Pennsylvanians who don't hold a valid state-issued photo ID will be disenfranchised-- disproportionately senior citizens, people with disabilities, the poor, students & young adults, and mass transit users who don't need a drivers license."

The bill is expected to be considered by the State Senate this fall.

Help new citizens register to vote in Philadelphia

The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition is launching its Get Out The Vote campaign for the 2011 Primary Election. On May 17, voters in Philadelphia will go to the polls to vote for City Council members as well as other municipal officials. With 5 open seats on City Council, this will be a historically competitive and important primary.

Through its ongoing effort to register new citizens to vote at their naturalization ceremonies, PICC has registered over 4,000 immigrant voters in the city of Philadelphia alone. In the next month, PICC volunteers will call these voters to encourage them to learn more about the candidates and to go to the polls on May 17.

Consider volunteering for one of the phonebanking sessions listed below. All phonebanks will take place at 2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Training and a script will be provided. To sign up please contact Rebecca Hufstader at rebeccahufstader@paimmigrant.org

Tuesday, May 10, 6-8 p.m.

Sunday, May 15, 3-5 p.m.

Monday, May 16, 6-8 p.m.

Brave dreams: An interview with María Marroquín

Update: According to the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, María and the six other undocumented students arrested in Georgia on April 5 have been released. "ICE agents interviewed the students, but ultimately declined to get involved," said the e-mail release PICC sent out April 8.

When María Marroquín first came to the United States at the age of 13, she thought she’d be seeing Mickey Mouse. She was excited and anticipating her first visit to Disneyworld.

That’s what she told the Transportation Security Officer at Miami International Airport who asked which tourist sites she and her family planned to visit during their visit from Lima, Peru. And, in fact, she stayed long enough in Miami to see palm trees for the first time, to swelter in the near tropical heat she had never experienced before and to notice “how clean and beautiful” the streets of this American city were.

Her family did eventually board a bus but it didn’t take them anywhere near the Orlando resort. Instead, it deposited them in New Jersey and into a life María didn’t expect.

That is — the life a regular American teenager. Except for one thing. They were undocumented.

María’s father had a job lined up already — doing laundry and cleaning at a hotel. It was very different than the work he had done in Lima. The family owned a restaurant there — a going venture for 10 years — and María’s father drove a taxicab at night to make ends meet. But he came to realize that without radically changing the family’s economic circumstances María and her two siblings wouldn’t graduate from high school.

The fact that work as a cabbie during the night shift was becoming increasingly dangerous helped to finalize the decision to come to the United States on visas — which the family overstayed. They moved to Pennsylvania not long after their initial foray north. María was enrolled in a high school in Cheltenham.

“I didn’t realize what being undocumented would mean,” María said. “None of my friends knew. I felt really isolated (and) like I couldn’t trust anyone. I thought they wouldn’t understand if I told them about my status. I felt embarrassed and ashamed.”

María’s parents took English as a Second Language classes, they paid taxes, they enrolled their three children in school, and took them with them to Spanish-language Masses — especially the ones at St. William Parish in Philadelphia, at which the community of Philadelphia-area Peruvian immigrants celebrate feast days together. María’s mother started working as a nanny, and the family settled into building their lives.

They consulted with lawyers early on to see if there was a way to legalize their status, but it proved a fruitless pursuit. After that, María and her siblings stopped talking to each other about their irregular status. They lived with it, in silence. Even so, she credits her family and her faith with getting her through .

She lived, María said, scared.

Her junior year in high school was marked by depression. She never knew what to answer when her friends asked her why she didn’t drive or have a driver’s license, or why she couldn’t participate in the many activities that seemed so normal to her peers. Nothing that required a social security number or government I.D. was open to her.

“It was so difficult,” she said. “And I knew I couldn’t build my life on lies. I don’t blame (my parents) for bringing me here. I don’t know what I’d be doing if I were in Peru. They wanted us to have a future.

"They are just regular people who work hard and want to take care of their children.”

In 2004 she graduated from high school and enrolled in Montgomery County Community College. She attended part-time, paying international student tuition rates — much higher than in-state or out-of-state ones — out of pocket. No financial aid was available to her. Then, like now, she earned money by babysitting and at odd jobs, and put it all toward her tuition.

It took María five years to get her associate’s degree while she worked and saved money and took what courses she could. She maintained a 3.98 GPA, and majored in social science. She’d like to continue on to get a four-year-degree — she’d be the first person in her family attain that — and to some day go to law school.

But no matter how hard she works and what she accomplishes academically, María knows the future she faces is limited by her undocumented status.

“I consider myself an American,” she said. “Everything I know — all my friends, my ideals — come from this country. I want to make my life here.”

María had hopes that the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) — bipartisan legislation that would have made an estimated 65,000 young people eligible for permanent legal status upon completion of two years of college or two years of honorable service in the military — would pass in Congress. That dream was dashed in December of 2010, when the Senate rejected the bill.

The DREAM Act would have not only given María an eventual path to legalization, but would have made it possible for her to continue her education at an in-state tuition rate.

“My parents sacrificed everything for me to be able to continue with my education,” María said. “To know I couldn’t felt like I was letting them down.”

And, she had tired of hiding.

March 19th she and six other undocumented youths “came out of the shadows” and told their stories at a rally at of Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.

“We decided to share our stories,” she said. “All we want is to continue our education. We want to do the right thing, we want to contribute. This is the only country we know and we consider it home, and we wanted to put a face to the immigration issue.”

“I know that there were undocumented youth listening” in the crowd of 150 people that gathered, she said. “I wanted to talk to those (in the crowd) who feel as alone as I had.

"A state DREAM Act bill would be great — then (young people) could afford to go to college and not be dropping out of high school.”

The crowd at the rally, mostly high school and college age people, according to María, were receptive. “They give me hope,” she said.

Her advocacy for a pathway to legalization for immigrant youth (she is the co-founder of DreamActivist Pennsylvania and DreamActivist.org) has been supported by many people — the representatives from Catholic organizations who have stood by her at press conferences, her Filipino boyfriend (who is also undocumented) and her siblings.

María’s sister, 21, dreams of becoming a pediatrician; her brother, 20, a Navy SEAL. Both are experiencing the same frustrations María has, and the same thwarted desire to give back to the nation they love.

Her parents, though proud of their eldest daughter, are scared for her, she said.

And now they must be panicked.

Yesterday (April 5) María was one of seven young people who delivered a petition to the president of Georgia State University asking him to keep the institution's doors open to undocumented students — something GSU is slated to stop doing as of the fall semester.

The seven proceeded to engage in civil disobedience — including marching through the campus and disrupting traffic. An hour later, according to the Dream is Coming web site — which is tracking their tweets — all seven were arrested and placed in an Atlanta jail.

It is quite possible, maybe even likely given the jail's alleged working relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they will be turned over to ICE.

“(Deportation) is always in the back of your mind,” María said during our interview March 24. “But this is something that is much bigger than myself. Our cause is just and it is right. That’s enough for me.”


A Philadelphia vigil for María Marroquín and the other six undocumented youths who participated in the civil disobedience at GSU will be held tomorrow (April 7) at 5 p.m. at Senator Toomey’s office at 1628 JFK Blvd. in Philadelphia.

Photos of the March 19th rally courtesy of María Marroquín.

Is this Pennsylvania ... or Arizona?

It is increasingly hard to tell the difference between the two....
Below is a list of all the bills that have been introduced to the PA legislature this session relating to immigration:
HB 41: Requires applicants for a wide variety of public benefits to show government-issued ID to prove their legal status
HB 355: An omnibus bill including provisions prohibiting human trafficking, requiring local law enforcement and agencies distributing public benefits to confirm legal immigration status, and mandating participation in E-Verify for public employers
HB 361: Makes English the official language of Pennsylvania
HB 379: Mandates E-Verify for public works contractors
HB 380: Mandates E-Verify for construction industry employers
HB 439: Imposes sanctions on employers that employ unauthorized immigrants
HB 474: Creates a compact between states to issue a different birth certificate to children born here to undocumented immigrants, denying them birthright citizenship
HB 526: Imposes mandatory sentences for offenses committed by undocumented immigrants
HB 659: Amends the Public School Code to confirm that English is the sole language of Pennsylvania
HB 738: Requires local law enforcement to check immigration status and communicate its findings to ICE, requires agencies distributing public benefits to verify immigration status
HB 798: Requires law enforcement to check immigration status
HB 799: Provides for a memorandum of understanding between the Commonwealth and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to enforce immigration law
HB 801: Supports law enforcement authorities who detain people they believe to have questionable immigration status
HB 857: Defines citizens of Pennsylvania to exclude children born here to undocumented parents
HB 858: Mandates E-Verify for public contractors
HB 888: Makes English the official language of the Commonwealth
SB 9: Requires applicants for a wide variety of public benefits to show government-issued ID to prove their legal status
SB 515: Allows law enforcement officials to verify citizenship of arrestees
SB 637: Mandates E-Verify for public contractors

Opportunities for advocacy to block punitive and harmful anti-immigrant measures in our commonwealth: http://www.paimmigrant.org/programs/state-leg-advocacy-campaign

Anti-immigrant legislation introduced in PA Senate

This from the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition:

There is no time to lose -- SB 9, a bill requiring government-issued ID in order to apply for a wide variety of public benefits, was approved by the Senate State Government Committee on Tuesday, and could come to a floor vote in the very near future. Several other dangerous bill have already been introduced this session, including provisions mandating the use of E-Verify and making English the official language of the Commonwealth.

You may say that we're DREAMers

But we're not the only ones ...

DREAM Act Panel Discussion
Wednesday, Nov. 17
7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Barton Hall Classrooms, Room 109, at Temple University

The DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation that would legalize the status of thousands of undocumented youth in the United States. The bill would apply to students in both public and private schools, including Catholic schools. Young persons would become eligible for permanent legal status upon completion of two years of college or two years of honorable service in the military. Approximately 65,000 youth per year would benefit from the DREAM Act.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops supports the DREAM Act:

"On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), I write to express our support for S. 729, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act). This legislation would make a difference in the lives of undocumented youth who were brought to the United States by their parents and now, because of their lack of legal status, face obstacles to their future. By removing such barriers, the DREAM Act permits immigrant students to pursue a promising future through college education or military service."
-- USCCB letter to legislators, April 6, 2009

HB2479 - Et tu, Pennsylvania?

Per the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition:

"This morning, Representative Metcalfe (R-Butler) held a press conference to announce his intention to introduce Arizona-style legislation here in Pennsylvania. More information is available in his press release.

"Pennsylvania and America can do better. Polices that encourage racial profiling and create fear of police turn back the clock on the advances of the civil rights struggle and are counter to our values as Americans. Until we enact workable solutions at the federal level, local communities will continue to struggle with the impact of our broken system instead of moving forward together to rebuild our economy and secure our future.

"The Arizona law requires law enforcement to stop and question anyone whom they have 'reasonable suspicion' to believe is undocumented, requires immigrants to carry proof of their immigration status or else face fines and criminal penalties, and a provision that allows private citizens to sue law enforcement or other state and local government agencies over the issue. The Arizona law has raised concerns from law enforcement officers trying to focus scarce resources on their real job of protecting all of our communities, concerns about racial profiling and civil rights violations, and public condemnation from a wide range of elected officials. A number of organizations have announced their intention to bring a legal challenge."

Take Action:

1. Join people from faith, labor and immigrant communities this Thursday as they speak out against the Arizona law and any similar legislation here in PA, calling on the Senate to take action on reform at the federal level.

Thursday May 6, 10 AM
In front of Senator Casey's office in Philadelphia at 20th and Market. Followed by a procession down Market Street to Love Park (at 16th and JFK), to join people from all faith communities and participate in the Mayor's office of Faith Initiatives Day of Prayer. Faith leaders who are interested in offering prayers while at Love Park can contact Rev. Malcolm Byrd at the Mayor's Office of Faith Initiatives.

2. Call Senator Casey
Tell him: We need a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate.
Toll Free Numbers: English 866-877-5552 Spanish 866-901-3139

3. Contact the White House and call on President Obama to put an end to policies like 287(g) and secure communities, which promote racial profiling and undermine police community relationships. 202-456-1111

You can do it, we can help

On Oct. 13, 80 jornaleros (day workers) gathered early on the parking lot of Home Depot on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia. They were hoping for a day's work, a day's wage.

At 8:30 a.m., two police officers from the second district drove on to the lot and told them to disperse.

Parts of what happened next cannot be verified.

One of the day workers may have refused to leave the parking lot. Perhaps he became belligerent. Or perhaps he argued -- as other jornaleros would say later -- that the store's management had never before complained about them trying to get work on that parking lot ....

In any case, the eyewitness who called the Office of Hispanic Catholics of the Archdiocese moments after the incident occurred alleged that the jornalero in question was beaten with a nightstick and taken into custody by the police, his face bloodied.

The eyewitness, also a jornalero rousted that morning from the parking lot, didn't want to talk about it to anyone other than the staff at the Office of Hispanic Catholics. He didn't trust anyone else.

And that, as much as any other part of the story, is the story.

Not all day workers who gather outside of stores to find work are undocumented, but many are. They don't know each other's names or documentation status but they know some things:

1) If they taken into custody and found to be undocumented they'll be whisked off to a detention center. They may end up being repatriated so fast their names never make it on to the lists of those held for deportation. Their families may not find out where they are or what has happened to them until weeks after they have disappeared. Or, conversely, they may languish in detention centers for months, even years.

2) They can't report crimes or even come forth as eyewitnesses for fear that any such action will precipitate their deportation, or an investigation of the documentation status of their families, coworkers and friends.

3) They can turn to the Catholic Church in whose priests, sisters and committed laity they have found advocates for humane and compassionate treatment -- no matter what their documentation status.

Within minutes of the call from the eyewitness, the director of the Office of Hispanic Catholics, Anna Vega, had called the second police district trying to ascertain whether the jornalero who had been picked up had been injured. She had called the office of Councilwoman Marion Tasco (in whose district the incident occurred) and Regan Cooper, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition to make sure they were aware of the incident.

And she had called the archdiocesan Vicar for Hispanic Catholics, Msgr. Hugh Shields, to recount what the eyewitness had said.

By the time I found out about it, Msgr. Shields had already been to the second police district, where he had been able to confirm that an African American man was taken into custody that morning from the Home Depot parking lot. But without a name, the police officer he spoke to could not release any other information -- not whether the day worker was still in custody, what he was charged with, not even whether he was hurt.

Msgr. had also been to Home Depot, where a few day workers, at the edges of the parking lot, had re-gathered. Speaking to them in Spanish, he asked them if any of them had been there during the earlier incident. A few nodded their heads.

"We received a call that the man who was taken away was hurt," he said. "Did any of you see that?" Again some nods.

"Do you know his name?" This time the jornaleros shook their heads.

"And he was a Latino?" Msgr. asked.

"Haitian, Father," one of the jornaleros answered. After a beat he added, "It's the same island."

Haiti, the nation that shares its island with the Dominican Republic, isn't Hispanic. Haitians speak French and Creole, and ministering to the Haitian immigrant community isn't, strictly speaking, the purview of the Office of the Vicar for Hispanic Catholics.

But mercy and loving-kindness know nothing of purviews, or distinct languages, or man-made borders dividing one landmass into separate nations.

The Catholic Church has an incredible tradition of saints, blesseds and servants of God who have seen Christ on the breadline, in lepers, in the abandoned elderly -- in society's underclasses throughout the ages and throughout the globe.

Why not in the parking lot of Home Depot on Roosevelt Avenue?

Why not in the frightened day worker who feared his fellow human being was hurt and called those he knew would care?

Why not in the voice of a man, waiting for work, who recognizes that our world and our shared humanity means it's the same island for all of us.

Senate vote taking place now

This just in from the Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition:

Senate Amendment Fight

Two amendments passed earlier in the day yesterday:

1. Sessions Amendment 1371 making E-verify permanent and requiring its use by federal contractors and subcontractors. Both Senator Specter and Senator Casey voted for a motion to table the amendment (against the amendment). Once the motion to table failed, the amendment was accepted by voice vote.

2. DeMint 1399 expanding the wall and adding a deadline for completion. Senator Specter voted for the amendment, Senator Casey voted against it.

Today, amendment voting is expected to begin at shortly after 11:00 am

• Vitter Amendment 1375 prohibiting the administration from changing the no-match and e-verify regulations. This is an attempt to override the Obama administration’s announcement about ending the no-match program.

• Grassley Amendment 1415 requiring all employers to re-verify current employees through e-verify, not just new hires. Currently, they are prohibited by law from doing this. Given the high error rates of the e-verify system, employees that have worked for a company for years could have erroneous non-confirmations in the system. Additionally, many individuals may not have the Photo ID that is required under the system.

Take action: Call Sen. Specter at 202-224-4254

Call Sen. Casey at 202-224-6324

To oppose the Vitter Amendement (#1375) overriding President Obama's decision to rescind the flawed Bush administration SSA No Match rule.

To oppose the Grassley amendment (#1415) which jeopardizes U.S. workers and could shut millions of U.S. citizen and lawful immigrant workers out of jobs.

To support having a real debate about immigration issues and only way for that to happen is by starting comprehensive immigration reform this year, not hurting U.S. workers.

Thank Sen. Casey for his vote against the DeMint Amendment (#1399) yesterday.

More details on SSA No-Match and E-Verify Policy Decisions -

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the administration’s intention to rescind the Social Security Administration's (SSA) No-Match rule, issued under the Bush administration. The rule had never been implemented due to a lawsuit; the system was not set up to verify employment eligibility and would have caused the termination of countless thousands of American citizens and work-authorized immigrants.

Instead, they are supporting a regulation for E-verify for federal contractors and subcontractors, to go into effect September 8, 2009. This policy decision was originally made under the Bush administration and has been delayed several times, under the Bush administration and again under the Obama administration. Numerous concerns remain about the quality of data used for employment verification under these systems. From the DHS statement, “The federal contractor rule extends use of the E-Verify system to covered federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. After a careful review, the Administration will push ahead with full implementation of the rule, which will apply to federal solicitations and contract awards Government-wide starting on September 8, 2009.”

The full Department of Homeland Security statement on these policy points is available at: http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1247063976814.shtm

Great information about these programs and the numerous problems with them is available from the National Immigration Law Center at the following links.

"Facts about E-Verify: http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/e-verify-facts-about-2008-10.pdf

Basic Pilot/E-Verify: Why Mandatory Employment Verification will Hurt Workers, Businesses, and the Struggling U.S. Economy: http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/e-verify-facts-2009-01-29.pdf

Facts about Social Security "No Match" Letter: http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/SSA-NM_Toolkit/factsaboutno-matchletter_2008-03-26.pdf

Health Care Alert from NILC

Health Care Reform Update:

Tell Congress This Week to Include in Health Care Reform the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009
(H.R. 3090)

On June 26, 2009, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009 (H.R. 3090) on behalf of the Tri-Caucus which also includes the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). H.R. 3090 focuses on addressing health disparities in coverage and access and aims to create an equitable health care system that works for everyone in the U.S.
The House will be reviewing H.R. 3090 this week. Because the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009 (H.R. 3090) addresses many of the barriers faced by low-income immigrants in seeking health care (see below) which have not yet been addressed by any of the other current health care reform legislation, Congress must include H.R. 3090 as part of health care reform to address the inequities of our health care system and to achieve real reform.
Please contact the Members in the House listed below IMMEDIATELY to let them know you support H.R. 3090 and that it must be included in any comprehensive, health care reform legislation.
Suggested Message:
"[My organization and state] supports H.R. 3090 which provides equity in coverage and access in the health care system that is needed for real health care reform. We urge you to include H.R. 3090 in any final health care reform legislation that Congress passes this year."
Key Provisions of the Act that will address the needs of low-income immigrants include:
Restoring Medicaid and CHIP to otherwise eligible, lawfully present immigrants without a waiting period and sponsor-related barriers;
Ensuring that otherwise eligible, lawfully present immigrants can buy into Medicare and can qualify for the Medicare Savings Programs (administered under Medicaid);
Ensuring that ALL children, regardless of status, can receive Medicaid or CHIP (if otherwise eligible);
Ensuring that ALL pregnant women, regardless of status, can receive affordable prenatal care for a healthy pregnancy through Medicaid or CHIP (if otherwise eligible);
Ensuring that lawfully present immigrants have access to nutrition assistance;
Improving federal investment and standards for cultural competency and language access for providers and public health programs;Requiring more comprehensive collection of data on race, ethnicity, and language in all federal health programs as a strategy for addressing health disparities.

H.R. 3090 is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/

Please immediately contact the following members of leadership in the House of Representatives and Chairs of the three key House health reform committees by email or phone at 866-210-3678:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-0100; http://speaker.gov/contact/

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: (202) 225-3130; http://majorityleader.gov/email_and_rss/email_the_leader/

Representative Henry Waxman, Chair of House Energy and Commerce Committee: (202) 225-3976; E&C Committee: (202) 225-2927
Representative Charles Rangel, Chair of House Ways and Means Committee: (202) 225-4365; https://forms.house.gov/rangel/forms/contact.shtml
Committee: (202) 225-3625; http://waysandmeans.house.gov/contact.asp
Representative George Miller, Chair of House Education and Labor Committee: (202) 225-2095; http://georgemiller.house.gov/contactus/2007/08/post_1.html
Committee: (202) 225-3725

Letters of Support
You may also send a letter of support of H.R. 3090 to the Tri-Caucus:
U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)
http://thecongressionalblackcaucus.lee.house.gov/
U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
http://velazquez.house.gov/chc/
U.S. Representative Mike Honda, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)
http://honda.house.gov/capac/

Make sure Congress knows that federal health care reform must include EVERYONE and that true reform will not work for all of us unless immigrants are also able to contribute and have access to coverage and care

Of swine and flu

It was inevitable I suppose.

As soon as the media started barraging us with information about the swine flu pandemic, anti-immigrant commentators and talk radio hosts started in on their favorite targets.

And I don't mean pigs.

Neal Boortz, Michael Savage, Michelle Malkin, ALI PAC's William Gheen, CCIR's Barbara Coe have all weighed in on the airwaves or through mass e-mails. There is no doubt in their minds who is to blame for the flu -- Mexican immigrants.

But wait, there's another.

You might want to think of what follows as stage 5 in the anti-immigrant epidemic of the past few days:

Boston talk radio host Jay Severin was suspended indefinitely from his afternoon drive-time show on WTKK-FM radio for, as The Boston Globe reported, 'calling Mexican immigrants "criminaliens," "primitives," "leeches, and exporters of "women with mustaches and VD," among other incendiary comments.'

Here are those comments, in full context:

“So now, in addition to venereal disease and the other leading exports of Mexico — women with mustaches and VD — now we have swine flu.”

“We are the magnet for primitives around the world — and it’s not the primitives’ fault by the way, I’m not blaming them for being primitives — I’m merely observing they’re primitive.”

“It’s millions of leeches from a primitive country come here to leech off you and, with it, they are ruining the schools, the hospitals, and a lot of life in America.”

“We should be, if anything, surprised that Mexico has not visited upon us poxes of more various and serious types already, considering the number of criminaliens already here.”

(Thanks to El Diario/La Prensa for alerting me to the story in the first place and to the Southern Poverty Law Center blog for including the unexpurgated comments in their post.)

We've all gotten plenty of advice from broadcast news, both local and national; the CDC; the NIH; WHO; President Obama; even the U.S. Catholic Bishops, on how to best protect ourselves from the swine flu -- wash our hands often, cover our coughs and sneezes, stay home if we're sick.

But how do we protect ourselves, our nation, from the outbreak of virulent anti-immigrant flu?

I don't have the answers but I know it's not by washing our hands.

A few possibilities:

• Advocate. If you live in Pennsylvania, join your voice to those of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition. They will be gathering at the State Capitol in Harrisburg on Tuesday, May 5, from 10:30 p.m. until 5 p.m.to lobby lawmakers to ensure that immigrants' rights are protected and their dignity respected in the Commonwealth. (For more information, call 215-459-2456.)
• Stand up and be counted. Join the Southern Poverty Law Center's "Stand Strong Against Hate" campaign (http://www.splcenter.org/center/petitions/standstrong/).
  
• Unite in community. Download NCLR's tool kit for community engagement (http://www.wecanstopthehate.org/site/what_you_can_do).
• Vote with your dial. When the hatemongers take to the airwaves, turn them off.
  

(Pig photo is from Wikimedia Commons' public domain images.)

Two immigration-related events scheduled in Pennsylvania

Two events announced today by the Pennsylvania Immigration & Citizenship Coalition (the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition is a diverse coalition of organizations and individuals that represent the needs of immigrants, migrants, refugees, and other new Americans living in Pennsylvania. They seek to educate the public and develop support for fair policies that welcome and sustain immigrants):

On April 4 Esperanza, the Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia, and the PICC will host the "Familias Unidas" (Uniting Families) immigration community gathering here in Philadelphia. This gathering seeks to educate the community and encourage policy makers to advocate for legislation that promotes comprehensive immigration reform. Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), who has led immigration gatherings around the country, will attend this event as the final stop of his "Familias Unidas" campaign to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. Families affected by the current immigration laws will share their testimonies and the Hispanic Clergy of Philadelphia will offer prayers for the undocumented. This event will be held at Iglesia Internacional at 191 W. Hunting Park Avenue. The program runs from 1 to 4 p.m., with musical selections by salsa singer Anthony Colón and Gospel singer Jessica. The program will conclude with musical selections by Gospel singer Ricardo Rodríguez and the Mariachi Flores. Call 215-324-0746 for more information.

And:

I'm excited to announce that PICC's first-ever PA Lobby Day is happening on May 5. On this day, people from immigrant communities -- and their allies -- across the state will have a chance to get their voices heard in Harrisburg. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more anti-immigrant bills in the PA legislature. Last session, we were successful in keeping them from becoming law, but this session, we are again facing bills that would require government ID, make English the official language of PA, and require local police to enforce immigration law. It is time for our lawmakers to hear from us: Anti-immigrant laws weaken our state, our economy and our public health and safety.
Make your voice heard at Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition’s PA Lobby Day, Tuesday, May 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. For more information call 215-459-2456.

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Some interesting reading:
• Fears about detention, raids, etc. may affect an accurate census count (in El Diario/La Prensa, in Spanish) http://www.impre.com/eldiariony/noticias/nacionales/2009/4/1/no-tema-al-censo--hagase-conta-117269-1.html
• New immigration raid policy (in the Hartford Courant) http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-tc-nw-immigration-0331.artmar31,0,4823465.story
• See how your senators and legislators voted on immigration-related bills -- go to http://capwiz.com/nclr/dbq/officials/ and type in your zip code.