As some of you my readers have noticed, this site has been down for a few months. I am still redoing the site, while re-evaluating the mission of this blog.

Early voting began yesterday. If you have already decided who you will be voting for please use this opportunity to vote early. I believe early voting is an important because it gives people a chance to get to the polls before Election Day. Early voting benefit those who have not voted in years, because Election Day just never line-up with their busy schedule, whether it be work or school (college or high school if your 18). Early voting also you the opportunity to fix any problems that might arise at the polls before Election Day.

Like the last elections, previous non- and new voters are going to decide to vote in this election and by spreading the word about early voting we can ensure their vote counted. The sooner you vote, the better.

If you haven’t decided and you live in Bexar County, TX, between now and Election Day, I will give you my endorsement based on my rules. If some candidates feel left out, maybe next time they will think about serving the people instead their time in office serving their own interest.

Get your vote in and then get all of your friends and family to vote as well. The more people that vote, the greater chance this state has of electing a leader that is truly is a reflection of its people.

Posted in Elections, Elections 2010, Texas | | functional 1 Comment »

The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service.  With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!

Dear Mr. President,

In May, my mother and I were picked up in an immigration raid in our home. I was told that in 2002, when I was just 12, I missed a court date at which I was ordered removed from this country. I’ve been in detention for three months, now, awaiting my deportation. My mother was deported on Friday, August 6th, and I’m set to be deported any day now.

I immigrated to the United States from Russia when I was just 11 years old. My mother married a U.S. citizen who is the only father I know. I do not remember much about the journey to America, nor did I even know I was undocumented until I was 15 and asked my parents about getting a driver’s permit. This is the only country I know as my home and I don’t know what I would do if I were deported, now.

I am a long-time resident of Michigan. I have a fiancée who has been with me for over three years. It would be a great loss to her and to my community if I were deported.

In Russia, it would be difficult for me to survive. I barely speak the language and I have very little family there. I dream of studying film or music. I love my pets and my many friends in the U.S. I want to be able to see them again. Please take action now to stop my deportation.

Sincerely,
Ivan Nikolov

Please do the following to help Ivan:

1. Sign this petition to DHS
2. Send a fax to DHS
3. Call Janet Napolitano, Director of the Department of Homeland Security (202-282-8495)
4. Call John Morton, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (202-732-3000)
5. Call Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and ask him to lead on getting the DREAM Act passed this year (202-224-6221)
6. Call Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and ask her to co-sponsor the DREAM Act (202-224-4822)

When calling ICE please be very polite and say something like this:

I am calling to leave a message of support for Ivan (A#078-251-095)  who is going to be deported any day now. I ask that Director Morton please step in to defer his deportation, he is an asset to this country.  Thank you.

The “DREAM Now” letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America’s Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.

This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:

1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

Mohammad Abdollahi (19 July 2010)
Yahaira Carrillo (21 July 2010)
Weekly Recap – Tell Harry Reid You Want the DREAM Act Now (23 July 2010)
Wendy (26 July 2010)
Matias Ramos (28 July 2010)
Weekly Recap – The CHC Has To Stand With Migrant Youth Not Against Us (30 July 2010)
Tania Unzueta (2 August 2010)
Marlen Moreno (4 August 2010)
Weekly Recap – The Ghost of Virgil Goode Possesses the Republican Party (9 August 2010)
David Cho (9 August 2010)

cross-posted from The Sanctuary

Posted in Dream Act, Education, Immigration | | functional 3 Comments »

As we are less than a hundred days until the November elections, I decided to come up with a new blog policy. I have decided I want my endorsement to mean something, rather than just endorsing any old Democrat. As a leader in the Latino/a community and as a blogger, this blog serves as a forum for those who feel they have no voice. Therefore, it is my responsibility to go the extra mile for all the races that not only affect me but also the Latino/a community.

If Democrats learn nothing else from the 2008 election, winning elections and earning the Hispanic vote are one and the same. Failing to change our strategy affects both the national election and down-ballot races. Branding, messaging, and relationship development are cumulative exercises, and for an audience as neglected and segmented as Latinas/os are, the work to register, persuade, mobilize, and turn out these voters should have started the moment the candidates announced. Sadly, only one statewide campaign, Linda Chavez-Thompson, candidate for lieutenant governor, have taken on themselves to take this message to heart.

Democratic leaders and strategists can no long be complacent in investing significant resources in relevant research, effective message development and meaningful civic engagement. Hispanics did not move towards the Democrats as a result of intensive mobilization efforts or through the delivery of a coherent message by the party or progressive organizations. Instead, Hispanics treated the 2006 and 2008 elections as a referendum on the status quo that swept the Democrats to power.

My endorsement will be based on the campaign as a whole, not to candidates who just give lip serve and then never to be heard from again until the next election. Throughout this election I have met a few candidates who are willing to listen and adopted ideas I provided to their campaign. Oftentimes, there are gatekeepers tend to do more harm than good by closing the lines of communication between the politicians/candidates and their constituents. This will be a contributing factor when I make my endorsement. I firmly believe in the principle that, when everyone is given a say, the best ideas ultimately prevail.

Maybe, in some small way, this can serve as an alternative way of endorsing Democrats for other bloggers. I am not saying we should not vote for those who did not get endorsed. I look as this as way of placing elected politicians and future candidates on notice. If they continue in their wayward behavior, they run the risk of losing in the primaries.

I would like to reiterate the reason for these standards. This is the only way that we can put an end to the recycling of a failed strategic framework that has only delayed the branding and civic engagement efforts needed to increase the Latino/a vote.

Hispanic voters are ready for change and the true fire of change burns within us. My endorsement of a candidate should let Hispanic voters feel confident about voting them and a message to other Democratic candidates they must show they have the strength to take the next step forward to accept and cultivate an environment for Latinos/as to achieve political empowerment.

Posted in Democrats, Elections, Elections 2010, Texas, blogosphere | | functional 3 Comments »

In less than 48 hours Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 (SB1070) will become law. That day, 1.4 million American Latinos living in Arizona and any passing through will become potential targets of racial profiling as SB1070 gives local law enforcement the jurisdiction to request proof of citizenship based solely on “suspicion.”

During the progressive conference Netroots Nation 2010 in Las Vegas, a group of immigration reform activists set up a mock Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) checkpoint outside the conference luncheon. Dressing as ICE agents, they stopped people suspected of possibly being an “Illegal European immigrants.” They were asked to produce the proper papers to be in the Americas before they were allowed in to hear the panel on Civil Rights in the Modern Era. Those people who could not produce identification had to take a retinal scan to enter the conference luncheon. The idea was inspired by the video Immigration Check Point by Josh on the Street.

The people from Sum of Change were there to film the “incident.”

Fellow bloggero, Carlos A. Quiroz, of Carlos in DC, interviewed two of the organizers, Lizbeth Mateo and Yahaira Carrillo of TheDreamisComing.com, where they provide the reasons for this action.

While this was just a mock checkpoint, the purpose of this exercise is to show how heightened penalties like these, imposed on the basis of ID-based status determinations, highlight the danger that any kind of checkpoint can be converted overnight from a “mere” ID check to an ID-based control point.

As of now, the fate of the bill is in the court’s hand. As of this writing, it is just a matter of hours the courts will decide the future of 1.4 million American Latinos living in Arizona.

Media and Blog Coverage:

Carlos in DC: Fake ICE Checkpoint at Netroots Nation 2010: Only White People Asked for IDs and Some Progressives got Offended [VIDEOS] Organizers Respond
Change.org: Immigration Enforcement Targets Illegal European Invaders in Vegas
Chicanisima: How can you tell if someone is “illegal?”
Daily Caller: Papers, Please: Activists jokingly demand white bloggers show ID before getting lunch
Daily Kos: ICE Checkpoint @ Netroots Nation…
Firedoglake’s La Figa: “Where Are Your Papers!?” Latino Activists Stage “Raid” at Netroots
Friends Committee on National Legislation: It’s Our Community: Immigration News
Immigration Law Link: Making a Mockery of Arizona Immigration Law
Joe.My.God.: PAPERS PLEASE: Immigration Checkpoint At Netroots Nation
L.A. Progressive: Turning the Tables at Netroots Nation: ICE Checkpoint Forces Participants to Think about Profiling
Sum of Change: ICE Checkpoint @ Netroots Nation…
Vivir Latino: ICE checkpoints at Net Roots Nation
Vivir Latino: More from the Netroots Nation 2010 Mock ICE Checkpoint : Considering Assault at the Fronteras
VozMob: Teatro Popular

Posted in Immigration, borders | | functional No Comments »

Viva Las Vegas! Yes folks, I will be heading to Las Vegas for this years Netroots. I will be on a panel discussing immigration enforcement and detention issues. The panel is:

Crimmigration Under Obama: Pushing Back Against the “Enforcement-only” Immigration Regime

Description: Immigration enforcement under the Obama administration has continued almost unchanged from the “enforcement-only” regime perfected by the Bus…h administration, applying criminal enforcement tactics to the civil immigration system. While Department of Homeland Security officials have promised to reform the immigration detention system after dozens of deaths in detention, the effort has been cosmetic and designed to forestall more rigorous oversight. Despite moving away from massive workplace raids, the agency has continued home and business raids under the radar, with the result that overall levels of deportation have actually increased under Obama. Meanwhile, legislative reform is stalled in Congress and the White House has not shown leadership. Join advocates and activists in a discussion of recent direct action pushing back against the Obama administration’s enforcement policy.

Speakers:
Yahaira Carrillo, DREAM activist
Madhuri Mohindar, Breakthrough
Edmundo Rocha, Xicano Power/ The XP Report
Vince Warren, Center for Constitutional Rights
Moderator: Will Coley, Aquifer Media

We plan to raise concerns about immigration enforcement throughout the conference and we’re planning an action related to SB1070 in Arizona.

If you are also attending Netroots, my panel will be on Saturday, July 24th, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM in Miranda 3-4. Thanks to the wonders of social media, you can follow the discussion on Twitter by following the #NN10 and #StopICE hashtags.

Posted in Blogging, Immigration, Misc | | functional 1 Comment »