The NC NAACP Joins Latino and Immigrant Advocacy Groups in Condemning Governor's Media Misinformation Campaign about Central American Children Fleeing to the US

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 7, 2014

Contact: Sarah Bufkin, NC NAACP - smbufkin@gmail.com or 404.285.3413

The North Carolina NAACP Joins Latino and Immigrant Advocacy Groups in Condemning Governor's Media Misinformation Campaign about Central American Children Fleeing to the US

News Conference

Friday Aug. 8

1 pm

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church

1801 Hillsborough St.

Raleigh, NC 27605

DURHAM, NC - The North Carolina NAACP, the Forward Together Moral Movement and Latino rights organizations in North Carolina will stand together to challenge North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory for pandering to racial fears in statements about Central American children fleeing violence at home and coming to the United States.

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Wow, THE New DOT Secretary Can’t comprehend a 3 page letter.

From the Progressive Pulse,

Two weeks ago, the new Transportation secretary said he’d do whatever the law required on the question of issuing driver’s license to young immigrants who’d obtained “deferred action” status under President Obama’s new initiative from last summer. One week ago, the state Attorney General told him what the law says (a fact not really open to dispute) in a three-page letter.  Here’s the conclusion:

“As such, N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-7(s) , which states that DMV shall issue a drivers license of limited duration to persons who present valid documentation demonstrating deferment and meet all other statutory requirements, requires that such license be issued.”

Wow, Tate screwed the Wake County Bus Routes and now he off to a good started screwed up the DOT.. I guess a major lawsuit will be in the DOT Future.. but in the meantime thousand of young immigrants who are legally allow to drive can’t and they and their family are suffering simple because Pat McCrory place a inexperience jackass as the secretary of the DOT here in NC.

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MEDIA RELEASE: North Carolina workers share experiences of wage theft

Workers describe working conditions, redress obstacles following underpayment, nonpayment of wages

RALEIGH (September 25, 2012) – Wage theft – an employer’s underpayment or nonpayment of wages to workers who have earned those wages – has severe financial consequences for workers, according to a new report that puts faces on the rampant instances of wage and hour violations in low-wage industries across the state.

Ten Triangle-area workers share their own experiences of wage theft in a report co-released by the North Carolina Justice Center and the UNC Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic. In a series of in-depth interviews conducted from January to April 2012, participants from a diverse set of low-wage industries shared their stories, illustrating how workers – as well as their families and local economies – suffer when they are not paid earned wages.

“While each worker’s story is unique, common themes emerged from the interviews,” said Sabine Schoenbach, a Policy Analyst with the Workers’ Rights Project at the NC Justice Center and co-author of the report. “For all participants, wage theft created economic uncertainty, and even small wage violations had significant financial consequences. Moreover, serious barriers to redress, including the threat of retaliation, existed.”

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NAACP Commends President Obama on Immigration Executive Order

(Washington, DC) – The NAACP commended President Barack Obama on his executive order to defer deportation of promising youth and students eligible for the DREAM Act.

“President Obama is taking an affirmative step toward addressing our nation’s immigration concerns while protecting our supply of intellectual capital,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “This decision ensures that America retains a future generation of well-educated workers and thinkers who can offer diverse perspectives on the challenges of the twenty-first century.”

The NAACP has strongly supported the “Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act”, or DREAM Act. The DREAM Act would allow thousands of young immigrants to become permanent citizens if they demonstrated good moral character and met other educational or military requirements.

“This decision allow hundreds of thousands of young people – people who have worked hard, integrated themselves into the American culture and into American communities and stayed away from trouble – to fulfill their dream and the dreams of their parents and to become American citizens,” stated Hilary O. Shelton, NAACP Sr. Vice President for Advocacy and Policy and Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau. “While Congress is stuck in gridlock, this is a good first step toward that goal.”

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

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Check out this new law in Alabama

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MEDIA Advisory: Seven Undocumented Youth Speak Out Against Federal Inaction and the Lack of Educational Access

Contact:
Domenic Powell (704) 281 – 9911
domenic@theniya.org

Jose Torres-Don
(919) 704 – 0599
jose.torresdon@gmail.com

Seven Undocumented Youth Speak Out Against Federal Inaction and the Lack of Educational Access

Risk arrest at ‘coming out’ action in 287(g) county

One year before the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, undocumented youth from across the state will speak out against the threats they face at the hands of this Administration and the lack of educational access nationwide. The rally will take place today at 1PM on the Central Campus of Central Piedmont Community College.

“I am breaking my silence and speaking out against the injustices my community, my brother, and I are suffering,” said Angelica Velazquillo, one of the participants in the day’s action. Velazquillo graduated Magna Cum Laude from Belmont Abbey College in 2008. “Undocumented youth deserve the opportunity to study, work, and live without restrictions.”

In North Carolina, undocumented youth are required to pay out-of-state tuition for post-secondary education even if they graduated from a state high school. Worse still, undocumented students are required to register after everyone else in community college, amounting to a pervasive form of segregation. Students can lose their seat in class at any time if a citizen student wants it.

“I was forced to drop out after about two semesters due to the high costs of out-of-state tuition,” said Manuel Vazquez, one of the participants from Raleigh, NC. “My dream is to one day be a small business owner and give back to a community that has given so much to me.”

Over the summer, the Obama administration suddenly found more discretionary power to apply toward undocumented youth. It did so hoping to silence its critics and compensate for the lack of support from fellow Democrats, including Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), who voted against the DREAM Act in December. It is clear that undocumented youth have no sincere political ally and have chosen to fight for themselves, their education and their communities.

The following students will reveal their status publicly: Santiago Garcia, 20, of Asheville, NC; Cynthia Martinez, 20, of Sanford, NC; Martin Rodriguez, 20, of Hamptonville, NC; Marco Saavedra, 21, of Cincinatti, OH; Alicia Torres, 25, of Carrboro, NC; Manuel Vazquez, 21, of Raleigh, NC; Angelica Velazquillo, 25, of Charlotte, NC.

“The emotional side of the cruel reality of our lives has not been a concern for congressmen and congresswomen,” said Martin Rodriguez, a participant in the action from Hamptonville, NC. Rodriguez attended NC State University. “I choose not to present another emotional testimony, I do not ask for sympathy, we do not ask for superiority; we ask for justice. Mere justice!”

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Immigration Judge Postpones Deportation

Directs Government Attorneys To Act on Request for Termination of Deportation Proceedings Within Sixty Days

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – This morning in San Francisco, Doug Gentry and Alex Benshimol -- a married binational same-sex couple -- appeared before Immigration Judge Marilyn Teeter for a deportation hearing and were permitted to remain in the country despite the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law that prohibits the recognition of same-sex marriages by the federal government. This is the latest in a series of recent court rulings that have demonstrated the inequality that DOMA forces same-sex couples to live under.

Specifically, the judge laid out two options. She gave the government 60 days to decide whether it will agree to drop deportation proceedings against Alex -- a Venezuelan citizen -- altogether. If the government elects not to drop proceedings, the same judge will revisit the case again in September 2013, ensuring that Doug and Alex are protected from deportation for at least two more years allowing them to return to building a life together with their family, including Alex's two step-children.

"Today the Immigration Judge demonstrated compassion and understanding for Doug and Alex as a married binational couple, granting them a reprieve from deportation by postponing further proceedings to September 2013," said Lavi Soloway, lawyer for Doug and Alex, and founder of Stop the Deportations. "The Judge also gave the government 60 days to inform the court whether it will agree with our request to terminate these proceedings pursuant to prosecutorial discretion guidelines issued June 17 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton. We will continue to advocate for termination of these proceedings and a moratorium on all deportations of spouses of lesbian and gay Americans."

"Today's victory is yet another sign that when we engage the system and demand full equality we encourage those in power to find reasonable interim solutions that protect LGBT families, even as we fight to bring about an end to DOMA.  Doug and Alex showed tremendous courage standing up for all binational couples as they insisted on fighting for an end to the government's deportation proceedings against Alex.  After the hearing the couple went for a celebratory lunch and looked forward to spending time with their extended family including Doug's two children who consider Alex to be their step-father.  They are very relieved to have been given a two year reprieve and they will continue to fight for an end to DOMA deportations, Soloway said."

Alex came into the U.S. 12 years ago from Venezuela and overstayed a tourist visa, an immigration violation that straight binational couples can easily remedy once married; as a gay married couple, Doug and Alex do not have that option. Many binational couples are legally married like Alex and Doug, but they are still treated as legal strangers in the eyes of the federal government. There is only one reason Doug and Alex faced deportation proceedings at all — the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that the President and the Attorney General have both determined to be indefensible and unconstitutional.

To support the couple and to show widespread public support for their right to remain together, legally, in the United States, many organizations working for full federal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans will hold a rally outside the courthouse in San Francisco where the hearing is scheduled to take place. Organizations leading the rally efforts include GetEQUAL, Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, and Stop the Deportations. 

These organizations launched a petition drive last week to show public support for Doug and Alex, garnering close to 17,000 signatures of individuals who are supportive of assigning all the same rights and responsibilities to binational same-sex couples as to binational heterosexual couples.

Organizations supportive of the couple and the rally include API Equality, API Legal Outreach, Asian Law Caucus. Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Central American Resource Center, Chinese For Affirmative Action, Equality California, Immigration Equality, Love Honor Cherish, National Center For Lesbian Rights, National Immigration Justice Center, San Francisco Immigrant Legal And Education Network, and the San Francisco LGBT Center.

Representatives Mike Honda (D-CA) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have also been actively supportive of the couple, and provided written statements that were read at the rally. Rep. Lofgren's statement included a passionate plea for binational families, including the excerpt below:

"Legally-married couples are being torn apart today in America because our laws unconstitutionally discriminate against same-sex marriages. Each and every day, American spouses are being forced to make unacceptable choices: live their lives separated from one another by thousands of miles, abandon their lives in this country and move someplace else, or break the law and go into hiding. This is a heartbreaking situation all across the United States. I believe the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional and that the government should respect legally-married same-sex couples. I am confident that DOMA one day will not be law. The whole country will look back and understand it was simply discrimination."

Speakers at the rally included Bevan Dufty (Supervisor), Phil Ting (Assessor/Recorder), Vincent Pan (CFAA), Ross Mirkarimi (Supervisor), Lavi Soloway (Attorney for Doug & Alex), Heidi Li (APILO), Ming Wong (NCLR), Ana Perez (CARECEN), Annette Wong (SFILEN), Dusty Araujo (NIJC), and Judy Rickard (Author, “Torn Apart: United By Love Divided By Law”).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2011

Media contact: Justin Page/Lavi Soloway at StopTheDeportations@gmail.com or 925-408-0662

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Vigil TONIGHT in Charlotte

THE TIME IS NOW

Ask Sen. Hagan to Stop Erick's Deportation

Vigil TONIGHT in Charlotte

Erick Velazquillo has a court date on July 19. He faces deportation from his home since age two to a country he hardly knows. Watch him and his sister, Angelica, tell their story.

N.C. Senator Hagan has the power to stop his deportation. Call her today at 202-224-6342 (and tomorrow, and the next day) and voice your concern. (Make sure to include his A number, as detailed below.)
Sample Script: "Hi, I'm 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."

Then forward this email to 5 of your friends and ask them to do the same AND to sign this petition.

More ways to help?
Come to tonight's vigil in Charlotte for Erick and all immigrant students.

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." 

Together, we can help Erick. Thank you for your support.

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MEDIA ADVISORY: NC DREAM Team Urges Veto on HB 36

Contact:
Alicia Torres: (512) 659 1829
dreamteamnc@gmail.com
ncdreamteam.org

NC DREAM Team Urges Veto on HB 36
Legislators motivated by prejudice, not policy

Harassing a working population within the borders of our state will do nothing to benefit North Carolina residents. The economic livelihood of our state is tied to the freedom of everyone in it—not just citizens—to work freely and gainfully.

Governor Perdue should veto this bill. Short-sighted bills like HB 36 demonstrate why immigration is a federal prerogative—not one to be considered by the states. Legislators who support this bill are motivated by a prejudiced and tribalistic attitude rather than the desire to craft thoughtful legislation that matches the economic needs of our state.

“They are motivated by prejudice, not policy,” said Alicia Torres, a member of the NC DREAM Team. “They are either prejudice or grossly oversimplifying the issue.”

This bill will do nothing to improve the economic livelihood of our state and criminalize a class of people for doing nothing but attempting to live out their lives peacefully.

By voting against the DREAM Act, Senator Kay Hagan added her name to the list of Democrats who have betrayed immigration advocates. Unless Perdue would like to join her, she should veto HB 36.

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The NC DREAM Team is an organization composed of undocumented immigrant youth and allies who are dedicated to the creation of a sustainable, community-led immigrant rights movement in North Carolina. We aim to help undocumented youth recognize their individual and collective power to activate their communities. We also aim to make them conscious of the broader struggle for social justice. We will escalate in our efforts to achieve a just reform that is acceptable to–and guided by–the voices of those directly affected by our broken immigration system.

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John McCain is off his rocker, might have lost some marbles as well

John McCain (R-AZ) says illegal immigrants are to blame for the massive wildfires that have ravaged Arizona.

"There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain, said at a press conference Saturday after touring the Wallow fire, which began on May 29 and has burned over 500,000 acres to date.

I don’t know what he might be smoking or what he is taking but this statement places him in bed with Virginia Foxx, for far off the wall crap spoken.. I think its time for someone in his family to get him tested to see if he not in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

Latino groups sharply criticized McCain for his remarks. "With the lack of evidence, he might as well also blame aliens from outer space for the fires,” Angelo Falcon, the president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, told CNN

Photo credit (United States Congress),

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Alabama is going after kids

If you thought Indiana, Georgia or Arizona passed bad laws then just do some research on Alabama's  HB56! Last week the Governor of Alabama signed the bill, it is expected to go into effect pretty soon.

Ask President Obama to step it up for Alabama.

The Alabama law will require K-12 schoolchildren to not only verify their own legal status, but also that of their parents!  This is only a small part of how bad this law would make living in Alabama for immigrants.

Last year, when SB1070 passed in Arizona, President Obama stepped in with the Justice Department and filed suit against the state.  The most harmful parts of the Arizona measure where halted before going into law.  The Alabama bill is so bad that there should be no reason why the Obama administration would not do the same.

Sign the petition asking the Obama administration to step up for immigrants in Alabama.  Please pass on this ask to your friends and family. This is a bad bill.  It needs to be overturned.

Thank you,

Mohammad Abdollahi
co-founder of DreamActivist.or

All the work we do is volunteer run, consider making a donation to support us.

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UPDATE: HB 744 will be heard again! Take Action

Via Facebook, by Latin American Coalition

House Bill 744: "Safe Students Act"http://ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/HTML/H744v1.html

House Bill 744 the "Safe Students Act" is a mean-spirited bill that would require school principals to ask parents to "state whether the child is a citizen or a national of the United States, and if the child is not, the immigration status of the child." According to the bill, the information collected "shall be used only for fiscal analysis and shall not be used to deny admission to a child who is a domiciliary of the local school administrative unit."

SIGN THE PETITION! http://bit.ly/jcv1up

UPDATE:

Last Tuesday, May 31st, the Education Committee heard HB 744, however no votes were taken. This bill will be heard once again and a vote will most likely take place on Tuesday, June 7th at 10AM in 643 Legislative Office Building. Anyone can provide public comment on the bill and we are requesting that educators come forward on Tuesday and speak in opposition to this mean bill.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS BILL?

• This bill is mean-spirited and potentially unconstitutional. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that a state may not deny access to a basic public education to any child, whether that child is present in the country legally or not. While HB 744 states that the information collected will be not be used to deny admission to a child, it creates an antagonistic  and intimidating environment that has the possibility of excluding certain students.
• If this bill were to become law, it would place an unjust burden on School Principals by turning them in quasi-Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents by requiring them to ask parents for their child's nationality and immigration status. This would erode at trust of school administration.
• This bill would have a potential to be abused, even by well-meaning principals who're simply doing their job. Unless there's also training accompanied with this bill, there's a possibility that school principals would only ask brown parents for their children's nationality and immigration status, thus racial profile parents and children.
• There is no further indication what kind of fiscal analysis the information would be used for, thus leaving room for interpreting this bill as a first step towards eventually seeking to challenge Plyler v. Doe.

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10 groups file suit against new GA Immigration law

10 groups file suit against new GA #immigration law; called unconstitutional "in its entirety" http://bit.ly/mnfxYl #p2

ATLANTA (CN) - Ten unions and civil rights groups want Georgia's draconian immigration law enjoined before it takes effect July 1. The federal class action claims Georgia's "punitive and comprehensive immigration system" has the same constitutional defects as Arizona's law, parts of which already have been declared unconstitutional by an Arizona Federal Court and the 9th Circuit.

Many claim this is why its Unconstitutional,

 They say "HB 87 is unconstitutional in myriad ways. It violates the Supremacy Clause and core civil rights and liberties secured by the U.S. Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment's right to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, the Right to Travel, and the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantees to equal protection and due process under the law. It also violates separation-of powers safeguards in the Georgia Constitution."

Then we have this to worry about, these Kids should be giving the chance to become US Citizens.

Plaintiff DREAM Activist.org is a "multicultural, migrant youth-led movement [which seeks] to pass the DREAM Act, also known as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act." It says: "If HB 87 takes effect, DREAM members are at risk of being subject to prolonged immigration status checks even if they are authorized by the federal government to remain in the United States."

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Packed Room at NCGA

Packed room @ #NCGA House JudiciaryA mtg. HB 36 would force troubled EVerify on public contractors #immigration http://twitpic.com/55h40i

via by @dani1moore

HB 36,aka Government Contractors Must Use E-Verify.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT PROHIBITING STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS WITH  CONTRACTORS WHO EMPLOY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND REQUIRING  CONTRACTORS TO VERIFY AND CERTIFY THEIR EMPLOYEES' LEGAL STATUS OR AUTHORIZATION TO WORK IN THE UNITED STATES.

via by @dani1moore

Factsheet: Why EVerify isn't ready for primetime. Harms workers, hurts the economy, inaccuracies abound. #immigration http://bit.ly/lPmWMv

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