A project of the Center for Community Change

Immigrant Rights Leader Gives Riveting Testimony at Senate Hearing

Posted by Sarah English on April 22, 2013

For Immediate Release: Monday, April 22, 2013
Contact:
For English language Media:
Donna De La Cruz, ddelacruz@communitychange.org, 202-339-9331, 202-441-3798 (cell)
For Spanish language Media:
Ricardo Ramírez, rramirez@communitychange.org,  202-339-9371, (202) 905-1738 (cell)

‘My Family Reflects the Diversity and Beauty of America’

(WASHINGTON)—At today’s Senate Judiciary Committee on Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization, immigrant rights leader Gaby Pacheco gave moving testimony on her journey toward becoming an American citizen.

Pacheco, the Director of the Bridge Project, was the only witness testifying who is undocumented. Pacheco spoke of her family’s struggle with the current immigration system. Pacheco and her brother are DREAM students and her brother was recently granted Deferred Action status; her oldest sister can apply for citizenship later this year; her second oldest sister is too old to qualify for DREAM Deferred Action so her citizenship dreams remain in limbo; and her husband finally was granted Legal Permanent Residency after an 18-year wait. Her parents remain undocumented after living in the U.S. since 1993.

“My family reflects the diversity and beauty of America,” Pacheco said. “We are part of a strong working class; a mixed status family who are your neighbors, classmates, fellow parishioners, consumers and part of the fabric of this...

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Community Call Rallies Thousands of Immigrant Activists to Fight for Real Path to Citizenship

Posted by Sarah English on April 18, 2013

For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 18, 2013

Contact:
For English language Media:
Donna De La Cruz, ddelacruz@communitychange.org, 202-339-9331, 202-441-3798 (cell)
For Spanish language Media:
Ricardo Ramírez, rramirez@communitychange.org 202-339-9371, (202) 905-1738 (cell)

Sen. Menendez Joins Call to Explain Immigration Bill

(WASHINGTON)—Last night, over 20,000 people called in for a community meeting hosted by Reform Immigration FOR America, the digital arm of the Alliance for Citizenship, to hear from the leading advocates for comprehensive immigration reform.  Tens of thousands more families listened to the call on the radio that was broadcast on multiple Spanish-language radio stations.

Sen. Bob Menendez, a critical member of the Gang of Eight; Eliseo Medina, Secretary Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union; Kica Matos, Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice for the Center for Community Change; Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA); and families who have been torn apart because of our broken immigration system spoke about the historic step we have taken toward humane policy reform.

The speakers commended the bipartisan Gang of Eight for producing a bill that is strong and balanced.  It will fix our broken immigration system once and for all.  We are closer than...

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The Immigration Bill: An Historic First Step

Posted by Sarah English on April 17, 2013

The 844-page immigration reform bill released early this morning is a victory on many fronts.  Spokesperson for the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) Kica Matos called it a “monumental achievement for our movement.”

To learn more about the specific provisions of the bill from Gang of 8 member Sen. Robert Menendez and to ask questions, join a community call tonight at 8pm ET.  Text LISTEN to 228466, and you will automatically receive a call this evening that will dial you in to this important national conversation. If you want to listen in Spanish, text ESCUCHA to 228466. The Spanish call will be held at 9pm ET.

The bill will provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of the undocumented immigrants living in the United States today and serves as an historic first step toward a more just immigration system.  But the bill is just that—a first step.  FIRM and its partner organizations will continue to work with Congress to make improvements on some of the weaker aspects of the bill.

The cutoff date, for instance, automatically prevents hundreds of thousands of families from becoming eligible for citizenship.  In addition, the 13-year path to citizenship is an unreasonable length of time and should be...

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