Does America love its immigrants? It’s complicated

With February being the month when people talk about love and show their affection more openly, the Philippine Forum is taking the opportunity to assess how the United States is showing its love to the millions of immigrants who now call this country their home.

“Post-Valentine Reflection: Does America love its immigrants?” is a forum that will examine the complicated relationship between the U.S. government and its immigrants.

The forum, which will be held on February 26, Sunday, at 2 p.m., at the Bayanihan Community Center in Woodside, Queens, will provide an overview of the current immigration situation and recent developments concerning U.S. immigration policy.

The Bayanihan Community Center is located at 40-21 69th Street, Woodside, NY 11377.

The forum will be the first of a series of forum offered by “Café Migrante” a monthly coffee break aimed at helping the immigrant community understand fundamental immigration rules and recent developments that every immigrant in the U.S. must know.

Coffee and light refreshments will be served while supply lasts.

Immigration lawyer Cristina Godinez, who has helped hundreds of immigrants with visa, green card and citizenship applications for nearly10 years, will be the resource speaker for the forum series.

The Café Migrante monthly forum series is initially set for six months, and will run from February to July. All sessions will be held on the last Sunday of the month, at 2 p.m. at the Bayanihan Community Center in Woodside, Queens.

Among the topics lined up are tips on maintaining legal non-immigrant status, spouse and other family-sponsored green cards, work authorization for non-citizens, humanitarian benefits under U.S. immigration law, how to become U.S. citizens, and prospects for legalization of status.

To get to the Bayanihan Community Center, take the 7 Train and get off at 69th St. and Fisk Avenue stop along Roosevelt Avenue.

For more information, please call Melanie Dulfo of the Philippine Forum at 718-565-8862 or email at mdulfo@philippineforum.org.

The Philippine Forum is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization that provides direct services, training and advocacy to Filipinos and people of Filipino heritage in the United States. It is also a prime mover in coalitions with other immigrant groups in the U.S. in advocating for immigration reform.

Café Migrante: a monthly coffee break discussing immigration issues, launched

The Philippine Forum will formally launch a monthly discussion on immigration basics as well as issues affecting immigrants and non-citizens.

“Café Migrante” is a monthly coffee break aimed at helping the immigrant community understand fundamental immigration rules and recent developments that every immigrant in the U.S. must know. The forum will be held every last Sunday of the month. Coffee and light refreshments will be served while supply lasts.

For its first offering, Café Migrante will provide an overview of the current immigration situation and recent developments concerning U.S. immigration policy. With February being the month of love, the first forum will be a post-Valentine reflection that will answer the question: “Does America love its immigrants?”

The opening salvo will be held on February 26, Sunday, at 2 p.m., at the Bayanihan Community Center at 40-21 69th Street, Woodside, NY 11377.

Immigration lawyer Cristina Godinez, who has helped hundreds of immigrants with visa, green card and citizenship applications for almost 10 years, will be the resource speaker for the forum series.

The Café Migrante forum series is initially set for six months, and will run from February to July. All sessions will be held on the last Sunday of the month, at 2 p.m. at the Bayanihan Community Center in Woodside, Queens.

Among the topics lined up are tips on maintaining legal non-immigrant status, spouse and other family-sponsored green cards, work authorization for non-citizens, humanitarian benefits under U.S. immigration law, how to become U.S. citizens, and prospects for legalization of status.

To get to the Bayanihan Community Center, take the 7 Train and get off at 69th St. and Fisk Avenue stop along Roosevelt Avenue.

For more information, call Melanie Dulfo at 718-565-8862 or email at mdulfo@philippineforum.org.

The Philippine Forum is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization that provides direct services, training and advocacy to Filipinos and people of Filipino heritage in the United States. It is also a prime mover in coalitions with other immigrant groups in advocating for genuine immigration reform.

———————-

A PEACEFUL REVOLUTION OF FOOTSTEPS
IMMIGRATION, HUMAN RIGHTS AND HOW MIGRANTS
ARE SHAPING THE 21ST CENTURY

with

FR. ALEJANDRO SOLALINDE
Priest and Human Rights Leader
Founder and Director of
Hermanos En El Camino Migrant Shelter
Ixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico

17 FEBRUARY 2012
FRIDAY @ 6PM
Bayanihan Community Center
40-21 69th St. Woodside, NY 11377
(Take 7 train to 69th St.-Fisk Ave)

“Migration is the path of the poor. I am convinced that they are changing the world with their presence. From the viewpoint of God, they bring a mission. Maybe they are conscious of this. In their path, while they pass, they touch the politics, the economy and the consciousness of society. With their very presence, they are shaking indirectly and unintentionally, the structures of the institutions, such as the Church. Without intending to, migrants have begun a revolution and subversion of these things. They are generating transformations in the social cosncsiousness that are going to bring us into a more just and unified world.” – Alejandro Solalinde

Sponsors:
Philippine Forum
International Migrants Alliance
Casa de Familias Inmigrantes
Committee on U.S. Latin American Relations

————————————————————————————————————

———————-

UNA REVOLUCION PACIFICA
LAS MIGRACIONES, LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS Y COMO LOS Y LAS MIGRANTE CAMBIARAN EL SIGLO XXI CON SU PRESENCIA

con el

PADRE ALEJANDRO SOLALINDE
Sacerdote
Defensor Derechos Humanos
Fundador y Director del Albergue
Hermanos En El Camino
Ixtepec, Oaxaca, México

17 DE FEBRERO 2012
VIERNES, 6 PM
Bayanihan Community Center
40-21 Woodside 69o St., NY 11377
(Tomar el tren 7 al 69th St.-Fisk Ave.)

“La migración es la camino de los pobres. Desde la perspectiva de Dios, llevan una misión. Tal vez están conscientes de esto. En su camino, mientras pasan, tocan la política, la economía y la conciencia de la sociedad. Con su mera presencia sacuden, indirectamente y sin que sea su intención, las estructuras y las instituciones como la Iglesia. Sin querer, los migrantes han iniciado una revolución y una subversión de estas cosas. Generan transformaciones en la conciencia social que nos llevarán hacia un mundo más justo y unido.” – Alejandro Solalinde

Invitan:
Philippine Forum
International Migrants Alliance
Casa de Familias Inmigrantes
Committee on U.S. Latin American Relations

———————-

Father Alejandro Solalinde’s Migrants Shelter.
Chico Sanchez Audio-Slide Show (English Subtitles)
http://youtu.be/cecyXlH5tQ0

The United States Chapter of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), an alliance composed of more than 100 grassroots migrants’ organizations in over 25 countries launched the “Campaign to Collect 1 Million Signatures for Genuine Immigration Reform and to Stop Deportations” last February 5. It was held at the Bayanihan Community Center in Queens, New York, one of the most diverse immigrant communities in the U.S, if not in the world.

More than a hundred individuals and representatives of over a dozen immigrant rights groups and community organizations participated in the assembly which approved the ambitious work plan to collect 1 million signatures in support of a genuine reform of the US immigration laws and put a halt to the deportation of immigrants. According to organizers, the petitions would be taken to Washington DC and presented to the office of the President of the US and the leadership of the US Congress.

Antonio Arizaga, President of the United Front of Ecuadorean Immigrants (FUIE) and member of the INternational Coordinating Body of IMA stated, “We are demanding a just and humanitarian immigration reform which would promote the integration of the undocumented into society, permitting a dignified life, access to an education, healthcare and work without being victims of exploitation, abuse and violence.”

He added, “The US government has to put an end to the raids and deportations which divide and destroy families.” Arizaga pointed out that racist authorities take advantage of these laws to implement racist policies on immigration, spreading them to various states with the purpose of denying immigrants the right to an education, health services, housing and jobs, and that neo-fascist groups have used them to beat and murder immigrants.

In addition to the FUIE, other groups which participated were Philippine Forum New York, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), the Philippine organization KABALIKAT Domestic Workers Support Network, the Philippine alliance BAYAN USA, the Philippine youth organization Anakbayan New York-New Jersey, Dominican alliance Frente Amplio (Broad Front), Sisa Pakari Cultural and Labor Center, Peruvians in Action (Peruanos en Acción), Domestic Workers Against Oppression, Pachakutik, an Ecuadorean indigenous-led organization, and the Asamblea Comunitaria de Inmigrantes (Assembly of Immigrant Communities).

Julia Camagong, member of the International Coordinating Body (representing the U.S.) of IMA and Co-Executive Director of Philippine Forum in New York City, declared that, “A genuine immigration reform should stop the illegalization and criminalization of undocumented immigrants. It should fix the backlog of visa processing to expedite family-based petitions to swiftly reunify families. We are tired of quick fix-it schemes that do not address the real issues of immigrants who are forced to leave their countries because of unemployment and poverty.”

Yves Nibungco representing the Filipino youth organization Anakbayan, put the responsibility for the displacement of millions of people throughout the world from their homelands, on the aggressive neoliberal policies implemented by global corporations which are destroying people’s livelihood, ruining the lives of farmers and peasants as they take over lands rich in natural resources. He blamed imperialist wars of aggressions for killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions more.

Leandra Requena from Peruvians in Action decried that no immigrant leaves her native country willingly. She declared that if there were jobs and economic opportunities in the poor countries of the world most people would prefer to remain close to their families.

Josefina Hernandez, from the Frente Amplio, urged the assembly to work towards greater unity of all immigrant organizations. She stressed that only through this unity would a genuine immigration reform be attained.

Vicente Mayorga, a member of Make the Road NY, blasted the federal government’s policies which have resulted in a record number of deportations of immigrants. These deportations are contrary to the electoral policies of the Obama administration, he said, and have caused indescribable pain and suffering to the hundreds of thousands of families affected by the deportations.

Speaking for NAFCON, Rusty Fabunan described the plight of thousands of Philippine immigrants who have been the victims of human trafficking. Many arrive here from the Philippines with the promise of a good paying job, but then have their passports taken from them by ruthless contractors or employers, submitting workers to lives of virtual enslavement as they are denied access to their friends, families or travel.

Speakers stressed that although a webpage had been set-up with the intention of collecting signatures through the internet, the campaign had to focus on the person-to-person contact and work to be successful. A large symbolic petition was signed by all who attended the event. The petition will now be sent across the US to make the campaign for 1 million signatures a national one and take it to as many cities as possible.

During the launch of the 1 million signatures campaign, Arizaga declared that shortly after Obama is reinstated in office or a new president sworn in, a million persons should be mobilized to the nation’s capital to maintain the pressure on politicians and push for genuine immigration reform. “Only the organizational power of millions of working people will change the repressive conditions for millions of immigrants in the US”.

The petition for 1 Million Signatures for Genuine Immigration Reform and to Stop Deportations can be downloaded here: http://www.ecuamigrante.com/millondefirmas.html

For more information, please email millondefirmas@hotmail.com /
onemillionsignatures@hotmail.com or call Antonio Arizaga at 6468236651 or Julia Camagong at 7185658862. ###

For more photos: http://s1097.photobucket.com/albums/g360/philippineforum/IMA_1M_Signatures4GenuineImmigReform_05Feb2012/