Promise Arizona kicks off Yuma leg of national pro-immigrant bus tour

CONTACTS: Communications Director James E. Garcia, 602-460-1374, jgcvm1@gmail.com; Executive Director Petra Falcon, 520-360-6128, petra@promiseaz.org

YUMA  – Promise Arizona hosts a press conference in Yuma on Thursday, Feb. 28, 10 a.m. at Mision de Guadalupe, 417 15 Ave., Yuma, AZ, as part of the group’s four-day statewide bus tour promoting comprehensive immigration reform that keeps families together.

During the four-day bus tour, which kicked off in Phoenix Wednesday morning, activists and immigrant families are visiting the offices of Members of Congress to extend personal invitations to attend a major immigrants’ rights rally and revival on Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m. to noon, at First Institutional Baptist Church, 1141 East Jefferson St., Phoenix.

“It’s time to end the suffering that immigrant families are facing under our nation’s current policy,” said Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona. “The message we want public officials and community leaders to receive is that today’s immigration system is outdated, inefficient and harmful to immigrant families, and it’s time we replaced it with a system that respects the social and economic contributions of millions of immigrant families.”

Community leaders and public officials from across the state have been invited to attend the March 2 event. Falcon said trained Promise Arizona supporters will fan out in area neighborhoods after Saturday’s rally to register new voters and boost support for comprehensive immigration reform.

Anyone wanting to attend the rally, which is free and open to the public, or volunteer that day is asked to call 602-910-2527.

“Immigration reform is happening this year because Latino voters turned out in record numbers in November,” said Falcon. “We intend to keep reminding our Members of Congress and our state’s leadership of that fact every step of the way as the debate over U.S. immigration policy continues.”

Promise Arizona volunteers also has been conducting a continuous phone bank this week calling on Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona and other Members of Congress in the state to support immigration reform.

The Arizona bus tour is part of the national “Keeping Families Together Campaign” led by the Fair Immigration Reform Movement. The campaign involves dozens of immigrants’ rights groups across the country and was organized to advocate for legislative reforms that reaffirm the sanctity of families and expose the damage being done to immigrant communities by current federal policy.

Promise Arizona has invited 1,000 immigrants and supporters of immigrants’ rights to attend the March 2 rally and revival in honor of the estimated 1,000 immigrants who get deported from the United States every day under current immigration policy.

More than 500 immigrant families are taking part in regional bus tours across the country, according to Fair Immigration Reform Movement, and immigrants’ rights groups in 19 states, 90 cities, and more than 40 Congressional districts around the country will participate.

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About Promise Arizona - www.promiseaz.org (Tel: 602-288-3663 / Fax: 602-412-3579)

Promise Arizona’s mission is to recruit, train, and support a new generation of leaders from across the state to build a new Arizona, one in which all residents have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Born out of the fight against an increasingly hostile, anti-immigrant environment, Promise Arizona is building the organizational infrastructure needed to make a difference in the lives of immigrant families.

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Grammy Award winner to help kick off Phoenix leg of national pro-immigrant bus tour Tuesday, Feb. 26

• Grammy winner Ricardo Arjona host immigrant families at Phoenix concert
• Detailed Arizona “bus tour” schedule below

CONTACTS: Communications Director James E. Garcia, 602-460-1374, jgcvm1@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 18, 2013

Statement regarding GOP reaction to Obama immigration plan

CONTACTS:

Promise Arizona Executive Director Petra Falcon, 520-360-6128, petra@promiseaz.org
Promise Arizona Communications Director James Garcia, 602-460-1374,jgcvm1@gmail.com

PHOENIX – “The Republican Party’s reaction to the President’s immigration proposal is very disappointing. Given that the President’s proposal is not far from the principles the GOP has put forward, we worry they’re simply putting politics before people. The lives of millions of families hang in the balance, and we urge all sides of the debate to put the families first.  The current system is wreaking havoc on our communities – separating loved ones — and we need reform now.”

– Petra Falcon, Executive Director, Promise Arizona

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About Promise Arizona

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1,000 “Valentine Letters” to be delivered to Sens. McCain, Flake and four Members of Congress

CONTACTS:
Promise Arizona Executive Director Petra Falcon, 520-360-6128, petra@promiseaz.org
Promise Arizona Communications Director James Garcia, 602-460-1374,jgcvm1@gmail.com

PHOENIX (Feb. 13, 2013) Promise Arizona, a Phoenix-based immigrants’ rights group, will deliver more than 1,000 letters from voters to the state’s U.S. Senators and Members of Congress on Thursday, Feb. 14, asking them to take into account the harm being done to immigrant families as a result of current immigration policy as they begin the debate over federal immigration reform.

“Bring my Sweetheart Back Day of Action” is part of a national campaign called Keep Families Together organized by the national immigrants’ rights coalition Fair Immigration Reform Movement and the Center for Community Change. Promise Arizona is among dozens of grassroots groups in Arizona and hundreds more across the country working in support of fair and humane immigration reform. Congress is expected to take up the issue in earnest in the coming weeks and months.

“We all have loved ones we think about on Valentine’s Day,” said Promise Arizona Executive Director Petra Falcon, “and so we figured it was appropriate to remind some of our state’s most influential political leaders that the policy they’re about to reshape will affect the lives—for the better, we hope—of millions of men, women and children, many of whom have been separated from the people they love because of our broken immigration system.”

“Bring my Sweetheart Back Day of Action” begins with a press conference at 10 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 14, outside of the office of U.S. John McCain, 2201 E Camelback Rd #115, Phoenix, AZ. Immigrant families will be on hand to deliver copies of more than 1,000 “Valentine Wishes” to each of the senators offices as part of the first leg of a Valley-wide tour of Congressional district offices. Letters also will be delivered to Republican U.S. Representatives Matt Salmon and David Schweikert, and Democratic Representatives Ed Pastor and Kyrsten Sinema.

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About Promise Arizona

Promise Arizona’s mission is to recruit, train, and support a new generation of leaders from across the state to build a new Arizona, one in which all residents have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Born out of the fight against an increasingly hostile, anti-immigrant environment, Promise Arizona is building the organizational infrastructure needed to make a difference in the lives of immigrant families.

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Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, to lead community discussion on comprehensive immigration reform

CONTACTS:

Promise Arizona Executive Director Petra Falcon, 520-360-6128, petra@promiseaz.org
Promise Arizona Communications Director James Garcia, 602-460-1374, jgcvm1@gmail.com

PHOENIX (Feb. 12, 2013) Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, will lead a community discussion today regarding federal comprehensive immigration reform efforts and its impact on Arizona and the nation. Arizona’s leading immigrants rights activists have been invited to attend a special luncheon at the George Washington Carver Museum,  415 E Grant St Phoenix, AZ 85004, 12:30 to 2 p.m.

The news media is invited to attend. Mr. Bhargava will be available for interviews beginning at 2 p.m.

The Center for Community Change is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change the policies and institutions that affect their lives.

Mr. Bhargava conceived and led the Center’s work on immigration reform, which has resulted in the creation of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a leading grassroots network pressing for changes in the country’s immigration laws.

He has spearheaded the creation of innovative new projects like Generation Change, a program that recruits, trains and places the next generation of community organizers, and the Community Voting Project, which brings large numbers of low-income voters into the electoral process.

Mr. Bhargava has written on these issues for a range of publications including The Washington Post, The Nation, and The American Prospect. He has testified before Congress on over 20 occasions.

Mr. Bhargava currently serves on the boards of the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the Discount Foundation, the League of Education Voters, The Nation editorial board, and the National Advisory Board for the Open Society Institute.

Born in Bangalore, India, Mr. Bhargava immigrated to the United States when he was a child. He grew up in New York City and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his partner Harry Hanbury, a documentary filmmaker.

Promise AZ’s Petra Falcon statements on Obama’s State of the Union and immigration reform

CONTACTS:

Promise Arizona Executive Director Petra Falcon, 520-360-6128, petra@promiseaz.org
Promise Arizona Communications Director James Garcia, 602-460-1374,jgcvm1@gmail.com

PHOENIX (Feb. 12, 2013) Statements by Promise AZ Executive Directdor PetraFalcon

“As America debates immigration reform and what it means for our nation’s future, Congress and the White House must not forget that this debate is fundamentally about the fate of millions of immigrant families—men, women and children—who are suffering terribly even as they contribute every day to strengthening the foundation of U.S. society and our economy. The president is right; it’s time to get this done now. Our immigration system is tearing families apart. The 2012 election made it clear that Latino voters want this issue addressed now. The American electorate clearly demands that now is the time for a practical solution that keeps families together and includes a clear path to citizenship.”

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““The decision to invite several undocumented immigrants to the State of the Union delivered a powerful reminder that immigrants live and work among us every day. Whether it’s a parent working hard to better the lives of their family; or undocumented students, the young people we call Dreamers, struggling to gain an education, they all reflect the reality that the immigrant story is our story.”

First Lady Michelle Obama and four Members of Congress— Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Marc Veasey and Rep. Kathy Castor —announced earlier this week that they were bringing undocumented immigrants to the speech as their guests.

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“Border security is critically important, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that by any empirical measure our borders are safer now than they have ever been, and the easiest way to reduce the need for more enforcement efforts is to devise a practical, humane process for legal immigration that considers our country’s long history of welcoming newcomers while acknowledging the real economic need for a substantial immigrant workforce at every level of our society.”

NOTE: Location and start time updated

CONTACT:

• Communications Coordinator James E. Garcia, 602-460-1374, jgcvm1@gmail.com

PHOENIX, AZ (Jan 28) Local and state immigrants’ rights groups will host a ‘watch party’ at El Portal Restaurant on Tuesday during the President Obama’s long-awaited speech on his administration’s plan for immigration reform.

The event will be held at El Portal, 117 W Grant St, Phoenix, AZ 85003. Doors open by 12:30 p.m. Arizona/MST. The president’s remarks from Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, NV are scheduled to begin at 12:55 Arizona/MST (11:55 Pacific Time).

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 26, 2013

CONTACTS:

•             Promise Arizona Director Petra Falcon,  petra@promiseaz.org

•             Mi Familia Vota Statewide Director Raquel Teran, raquelt@mifamiliavota.org

•             Communications Coordinator James E. Garcia, jgcvm1@gmail.com

State Capitol Press Conf., 11:30 a.m., Jan. 28:

AZ immigrants’ rights groups backing local and national campaigns in support of federal immigration reform

•             Groups say final pan must include a ‘path to citizenship’

•             Congressman Raul Grijalva scheduled to appear

PHOENIX, AZ (JAN. 26)  A diverse array of Arizona-based organizations committed to federal immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States hold a press conference today, Jan. 28, 11:30 a.m., on the State Capitol Senate lawn.

The immigrants’ advocacy groups will announce a concerted local, state and national campaign that highlights the impact of federal immigration policy on immigrants and their family.

“Our focus is on family unity,” said Petra Falcon, executive director of Promise Arizona. “The laws and policies in place today are ripping families apart. Lives are being destroyed. Tens of thousands of children are being separated from their parents, who came to the United States not to harm America but to help build America. It’s time the United States government and its people lived up to our democratic ideals and justice.”

Today’s press conference comes 24 hours before a highly-anticipated announcement by President Obama in Las Vegas where he will outline his stance on immigration reform. At the same time, a contingent of key leaders in the U.S. Senate, including Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, have been engaged in closed-door, bi-partisan talks on immigration reform. The senators have indicated they may release their broad plan by the end of the week.

“The tide is turning in Arizona and across the country in favor of treating immigrants humanely, even as we acknowledge how valuable they are to our country’s future, socially, political and economically,” said Raquel Teran, state director for Mi Famlia Vota. “We’ve spent years inviting immigrants to come to the United States often to work in jobs most Americans won’t take, and now the polls show a majority supports a path to citizenship. Congress and President Obama need to listen to the voters, including the growing Latino voting base, and pass humane comprehensive immigration reform now.”

The Arizona organizations’ effort is part of an unprecedented local, state and national push on immigration that includes a wide range of grassroots organizations and nonprofits, individual supporters, public officials, and some of the country’s most influential immigrants’ rights groups.

On Monday, immigrants’ rights groups across the country under the umbrella of Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) and Alliance for Citizenship will announce a massive, national initiative in support of comprehensive immigration reform that emphasizes the impact the country’s immigration debate will have on the immigrants and their families.

Arizona immigrants’ rights group also are emphasizing the need to immigrants and their families together, as well as the growing political clout of Latino voters and other communities of color.

Among the organizations scheduled to be represented at Monday’s news conference in Phoenix: Promise Arizona, Mi Familia Vota, Congressman Raul Grijalva, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Somos America, Black-Brown Coalition of Arizona, PUENTE, ACLU, Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy (CASE)/Unite Here, New Organizing Institute, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT/AFL-CIO), United We Dream, Neighborhood Ministries, Arizona DREAM Act Coalition, and the Unitarian Universalist Church.

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When: Thursday, Nov 15th, 2012 4:00 P.M

Where: Maricopa County Recorder’s Downtown Office, 111 S. Third Avenue, Phoenix AZ (Corner of 3rd Ave and Jefferson)

Organizations include: Promise Arizona in Action, Campaign for Arizona’s Future, UNITE HERE, CASE, Citizens for a Better Arizona, AZ Center for Empowerment, One Arizona coalition, MoveOn, Presente, and City Council members.

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