By streamlining the bureaucracy involved, this common sense solution can save time and money for the U.S. tax payers.

As Americans, we believe that the government should not put road blocks in the way of family unity and preservation.

There is no excuse for putting wives and children in violent, dangerous and extreme hardship situations as a punishment for trying to do things the right way.

We applaud the administration for making the push for these changes, but ask for the changes to apply to the immediate relatives of documented permanent residents.

Promise Arizona lauds our government to start 2012 with this critical step in the right direction for comprehensive immigration reform and family unity.

Read more at The New York Times: Tweak in Rule to Ease a Path to Green Card

PAZ

May you enjoy this beautiful day with your family and love ones.

We admire you for always living the promise.

PAZ

Grateful to the community that has been there in the movement
– lots to be thankful for
– more to to do the coming year together

paz

As the holidays come fast, and many people are getting ready to celebrate with their dear ones, we are continuing to expose the myriad of abuses the MCSO has inflected on the Hispanic community, in particular the culture of hate and discrimination that is promoted under Sheriff Jose Arpaio’s leadership.

But many of our people continue to face other authorities, regardless of what the DOJ announced, including Phoenix Police Department officers and other uniformed policing forces. Now more than ever is important that our community continues to report abuses and that we open communication with the Hispanic families in the Valley to make sure we remind them of the existence of organizations they can trust.

The forum “Recontruyendo la Confianza” (Rebuilding the Trust) will take place this Wednesday December 21st at 6pm at the Faith Lutheran Church on 7th street and Camelback, 801 E Camelback Rd. in Phoenix. The goal is to let people know that Arpaio’s DOJ investigation included a lot of detail on abuses thanks to the reporting of people in the community. We want them to know there are organizations such as the ACLU and Respect-Respeto that are willing to listen and take reports, but there are also departments such as the Phoenix Police Department that are willing to partner with us and push for people to report any abuses or discrimination they see in their communities.

This forum comes at a really important time, and it is crucial that you help us promote it as well. We have confirmed the participation of the ACLU, Respect-Respeto, an immigration attorney and the Phoenix Police Department, including the attendance of Chief of Police Joe Yahner. We also have hundreds of brochures with information on know your rights, and the administration’s announcement on prosecutorial discretion.

Univision has agreed to promote the forum on TV and radio, but we will need more help with the promotion of the event. Please make sure you share this e-mail with others and invite organizations and individuals accordingly.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing you this week,

Luis Avila

WE CANNOT LET ANOTHER DREAMER BE DEPORTED!! IF YOU ARE A DREAMER, THIS COULD BE YOU!!! PLEASE MAKE A CALL, IT TAKES LESS THAN 2 MINUTES TO LEAVE THE VOICEMAIL. 
–

Sincerely,

Reyna Montoya
Arizona DREAM Act Coalition
S.U.F.F.R.A.G.E Representative
www.theadac.org
480.430.9025

Humor about electrocuting human beings?  Then, I guess it’s o.k. to make jokes about the lynching of countless African-Americans during slavery and the ugly era of Jim Crow laws in America!

As a longtime advocate  of just, humane and compassionate comprehensive immigration reform and an advocate of environmental and energy stewardship, I am outraged that a “legitimate” candidate for the highest office in the land could propose such deadly and insane method for securing our borders.  Moreover, to read that that outrageous plan came from “a man of the cloth” makes it even more detestable.

Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr., Senior Pastor

FIRST INSTITUTIONAL BAPTIST CHURCH

Phoenix, AZ

Tomorrow, Tuesday June 7th 2011
5:30PM Reception, 6:00PM Program

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral: Olney Room  Gallery
100 W. Roosevelt St. at Central Ave.
Phoenix, Arizona 85003

RSVP Here

Join us tomorrow as we celebrate the following courageous leaders who helped pave the road to justice.

Carolinan ‘Curly’ Rosales de Hernandez

Curly devoted her life to advancing social change in Arizona, and we mourn her passage last July. She fought side-by-side with Cesar Chavez to establish the United Farm Workers in Arizona, helped build Chicanos Por La devoted 22 years of service to the Head Start program at Catholic Charities. She is sorely missed

Monsignor Antonio Sotelo

Msgr. Sotelo is a long-time advocate for the rights of immigrants and the poor and served as a vicar for Spanish-speaking Catholics for the Phoenix Catholic Diocese. Before retiring in 1999, he spent three years as pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish and 14 years as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish. He still offers weekly masses and works daily in prison ministry offering sacraments and spiritual counseling.

Dr. Warren Stewart Sr.

Dr. Stewart is the Senior Pastor of the First Institutional Baptist Church of Phoenix. He is a true solider for justice and equality, having led the fight for Arizona’s recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a paid state holiday. Dr. Stewart is a champion for the rights of all people, including immigrants, in our state. He is a founding board member of Promise Arizona.

Neighborhood Ministries

Neighborhood Ministries is a 30-year-old faith-based organization committed to seeing God’s justice in our community and lifting up the voices of those who are silenced. They offer pre-school classes, a health clinic, college scholarships, and youth leadership development. Neighborhood Ministries is the first institutional member of Promise Arizona and was a leader in our 2010 “Faith, Hope, Vote” voter drive.

Host Committee

Olga Aros
Jan and Ed Booth
Joya Kizer Clarke
Petra Falcon
Jerri Pastor, Chair
Hilda Ortega Rosales
Ray Rosales
Billy Shields
Guadalupe Sosa Valencia

Tuesday, June 7th 2011
5:30 PM Reception, 6:00 PM Program

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral  (Olney Room Gallery)
100 West Roosevelt Street at Central Avenue  Phoenix, Arizona 85003

Will you honor us with your presence for our first fundraiser?

Yes, I will attend

No,  I cannot attend, but please count me in as a 2011 Founding Donor of Promise Arizona

Since its founding in June of 2010, Promise Arizona has trained over 500 leaders, including many youth, and built a base of over 1,500 volunteers to build a better Arizona for all.   Together we:

• Opposed SB1070 through a 103-day prayer vigil at the Arizona State Capitol and sent a delegation to Washington DC to meet with the U.S. Justice Department.

• Registered 13,040 voters in 2010, more than any other nonprofit organization in the state, and boosted Latino voter turnout in the November, 2010 election.

• Helped to defeat anti-immigrant legislation in the 2011 Arizona legislative session that threatened to further divide our communities and distract attention from the real challenges facing Arizonans.

Join us as we honor the following agents of change:

Carolina ‘Curly’ Rosales de Hernandez

Curly devoted her life to advancing social change in Arizona, and we mourn her passage last July.  She fought side-by-side with Cesar Chavez to establish the United Farm Workers in Arizona, helped build Chicanos Por La Causa, was elected to the El Mirage City Council, and devoted 22 years of service to the Head Start program at Catholic Charities.   She is sorely missed.

Monsignor Antonio Sotelo

Msgr. Sotelo is a long-time advocate for the rights of immigrants and the poor and served as vicar for Spanish-speaking Catholics for the Phoenix Catholic Diocese.  Before retiring in 1999, he spent three years as pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish and 14 years as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.  He still offers weekly masses and works daily in prison ministry offering sacraments and spiritual counseling.

Dr. Warren Stewart Sr.

Dr. Stewart is the Senior Pastor of the First Institutional Baptist Church of Phoenix. He is a true soldier for justice and equality, having led the fight for Arizona’s recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a paid state holiday. Dr. Stewart is a champion for the rights of all people, including immigrants, in our state. He is a founding board member of Promise Arizona.

Neighborhood Ministries

Neighborhood Ministries is a 30-year-old faith-based organization committed to seeing God’s justice in our community and lifting up the voices of those who are silenced.  They offer pre-school classes, a health clinic, college scholarships, and youth leadership development. Neighborhood Ministries is the first institutional member of Promise Arizona and a leader in our 2010 “Faith, Hope, Vote” voter drive.

SB 1308: interstate compact; birth certification
SB 1309: Arizona citizenship

The two bills combined are intended to deny U.S. citizenship to babies born in Arizona, unless they have at least one parent who is lawfully residing in the U.S.  They are known as the 14^th amendment bills, because the intent is to interpret U. S. citizenship as defined in the 14^th Amendment of the U. S. constitution.  Another common name is “anchor baby” as many conservative Republicans say immigrants, especially Mexican come to the U. S. only to have a baby thereby ‘anchoring’  or positioning themselves for legal status in the future.

Here is a chronological of events with these two bills.

• January 31, 2011 originally assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• February 7, 2011 Judiciary committee hearing.  The bills are held without a vote after Judiciary committee members, both Republicans and Democrats, voiced concerns about the intent and consequences of the bills. The Judiciary Chairman, Senator Ron Gould (R, District 3, Lake Havasu) announced the bills would be placed on a future agenda.
• February 8, 2011 the bills are withdrawn from the Judiciary Committee and reassigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
• February 15, 2011 Appropriations committee hearing.  Again, the bills are held without a vote. On this same day, the legislature was also conducting the 2^nd Special Session to enact a bill to establish the Arizona Commerce Authority.  Several individuals felt this was the reason the 14^th amendment bills were held.
• February 22, 2011 Tuesday=hearing date in the Appropriations Committee.

“Committee Shopping” is a maneuver used at the legislature to withdraw and reassign bills to a “friendly committee”.  This maneuver can be done as many times as necessary to guarantee the passage of the bill.

The work of our community continues until the defeat of these bills and all bills that are anti-immigrant, divisive, and eventually costly, as a legal battle will result if these bills are enacted by the Arizona legislature.

Stand with us by telling key lawmakers to vote NO on SB 1308 and 1309.

As many of you know, our Arizona legislators stood ready to vote in opposition to bills SB1309 and SB1308. The two measures would have denied citizenship to children born in the U.S., and set in motion a Supreme Court challenge.

But their work isn’t over and neither is ours. Join us in meeting with our legislators by signing up here.

Promise Arizona leaders at the state capitol for legislative meetings. Be apart of the next one!

The time has come to move from the lawn of the state capitol to the inside of conference rooms with our legislators. It’s time for real talk.

We will be setting up meetings with our legislators. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle they sit on, republican, democrat, conservative or liberal, we’ll be reaching out to everyone to discuss REAL issues that affect our communities. By meeting with our legislators face to face, we aim to remind them of the REAL people which their bills affect. We refuse to stand on the sidelines of issues that directly impact our families. It is time we are included in the decision making process.

We encourage you to join other community leaders in these meetings and get to know the people who are working for YOU!

Click here to sign up and we’ll get back to you with more details on dates and times of these meetings.

We hope you will join us in moving our state forward in 2011