{news} Fw: Immigrant Rights Action Alert & Upcoming Social Justice Events
edubrule
edubrule at sbcglobal.net
Sun Jun 10 17:08:24 EDT 2007
6-Story Newsletter Template + Images
----- Original Message -----
From: AFSC Connecticut
To: edubrule at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 6:30 PM
Subject: Immigrant Rights Action Alert & Upcoming Social Justice Events
American Friends Service Committee Connecticut
In This Issue: June 7 2007
. Action Alert on Immigrant Rights and New Haven ICE Raids
. Trials of Drayl Hunt at Real Art Ways June 15-21
. No to Free Trade and War in Colombia:
. June 16: Voices of Iraqi Workers Solidarity Tour in East Hartford
. June 11: Call Congress and say End the Israeli occupation
Action Alert on Immigrant Rights and New Haven ICE Raids
Call the Connecticut Congressional Delegation: Genuine Immigration Reform Now and
No More ICE Raids
Background:
On June 6 agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) conducted early morning raids in the Fairhaven neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. At least 29 immigrants were detained, some of them in front of their children. Most have now been transported out of state to either Massachusetts or beyond and are separated from their families.
Only two days before the ICE raids the New Haven City council approved legislation that would create a municipal ID card municipal ID card that would also be available to undocumented residents.
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano does not think the timing of the raid was a coincidence. "This was a symbolic act of law enforcement by an agency that is not able to control its mission or how it executes its responsibilities. ... This was an act of intimidation," DeStefano said of the raid by six immigration officers.1
A flawed immigration reform being debated in Congress:
The U.S. Senate is currently debating a troubling immigration reform bill. It is loaded with increased and more draconian security provisions, a guest worker program that will recreate the infamous Bracero program of the 1940s through the 1960s, and will seriously impede familial reunification which has been part of U.S. immigration policy for over 40 years.
There is a need for immigration reform in this country, but a substantive one that includes a path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants, family reunification, demilitarizing the U.S.-Mexico border, and a halt to worksite raids and detention.
The ICE raid in New Haven is a clear sign that Congress must act and approve a genuine immigration reform.
Call Congress now:
It is vital to contact the 2 U.S. Senators and 5 Congressional representatives from Connecticut. Their local and Washington D.C. office numbers are listed below.
Ask the Senators and your Congressional rep to:
. Issue a statement condemning the New Haven raids
. Write the Department of Homeland Security to request an explanation for the timing and conduct of these raids
. Ask ICE to exercise prosecutorial discretion and decline to pursue removal proceedings against any of yesterday's arrestees without a prior removal order, or immediately release on their own recognizance or minimal bond all arrestees. Further, request that ICE not remove any of yesterday's arrestees who it does detain from New England and defer any future enforcement actions planned for New Haven.
. Work for a genuine immigration reform in Congress They should support initiatives that decrease the militarization of the U.S-Mexican border; that support family reunification and continue a 40 plus year history of this immigration policy; that include a path to permanent residency for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.; that calls for a halt to worksite raids and detentions; and a reform that includes genuine support for the labor and human rights of all working people and immigrants in this country and does not contain a guest worker program.
Here are the phone numbers of the Connecticut Congressional delegation
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
New Haven office: 203-562-3718
DC Office: 202-225-3661
Congressman John Larson
Hartford office: 860-278-8888
DC: 202-225-2265
Congressman Joe Courtney
Norwich: 860-886-0139
DC: 202-225-2076
Congressman Chris Shays:
DC: 202-225-5541
Congressman Chris Murphy
New Britain: 860-223-8412
DC: 202-225-4476
Senator Christopher Dodd
Hartford office: 860-258-6940 / 800-334-5341 (CT only)
DC: (202) 224-2823 |
Senator Joseph Lieberman
Hartford office: 860-549-8463 / 800-225-5605 (CT only)
DC: (202) 224-4041
1-New Haven Register, June 7, 2007
http://afsc.org/immigrants-rights/default.htm
No to Free Trade and War in Colombia:
It is time to take a new course on trade and U.S. aid to Colombia
We need to spread the word that U.S. aid and trade should alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Colombia, not support a military solution to problems arising from political, social, and economic inequalities.
To learn more about the American Friends Service Committee's work on trade and war in Colombia, please visit http://www.tradeandwar.org/ . View our Audio Slide Show on Trade and War in Colombia. You can find out how to tell Congress to vote "NO" on the U.S. - Colombia Free Trade Agreement and stop funding military aid to Colombia.
Please contact the Connecticut AFSC office at 860-523-1534 or at connecticut at afsc.org if you want to get involved locally.
http://www.tradeandwar.org/
June 11: Call Congress and say End the Israeli occupation
On June 10 and 11, people around the world are joiningtogether in a global Day of Action as " The WorldSays No to Israeli Occupation" to mark the 40th year of Israel's illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Tens of thousands will march in Washington D.C. on June 10.
If you can't join us in Washington, please call in!
Participate in a National Call-in day on June 11.
Hundreds of activists will lobby Congress on June 11, please add your voice to theirs.
Call your representative and Senators Dodd and Lieberman
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
DC Office: 202-225-3661
Congressman John Larson
DC: 202-225-2265
Congressman Joe Courtney
DC: 202-225-2076
Congressman Chris Shays:
DC: 202-225-5541
Congressman Chris Murphy
DC: 202-225-4476
Senator Christopher Dodd
DC: (202) 224-2823 |
Senator Joseph Lieberman
(202) 224-4041
If you're not sure who your representatives are, try this link, http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/congdir.tt
Tell them we want:
An end to US military, economic, diplomatic, and corporate support for Israel's illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem and
a change in US policy to one that supports a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis based on equality, human rights and international law, and the full implementation of all relevant UN resolutions.
Lobbying Tip:
Ask to speak to the Legislative Director or the aide who works on foreign policy or the middle east. If you only get the answering machine, leave a message, ask them to call you back. There isn't a lot of specific legislation seriously pending right now, but They need to hear from us anyway!...especially!
One specific set of bills to encourage them on is a for a reckoning for Israel's horrific cluster munitions bombardment in the last 3 days of the Lebanon war last year.
In the Senate: S. 594, Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2007. Sponsor: Feinstein (D-CA).
In the House: HR 1755, to limit the use, sale, and transfer of cluster munitions. Sponsor: McGovern (D-MA).
You can see more extensive lobbying points on grassroots issues that we are encouraging people to discuss with their legislators on June 11 at http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1394 .
Go to http://www.endtheoccupation.org for more information about June 10 and 11.
http://endtheoccupation.org
Trials of Drayl Hunt at Real Art Ways June 15-21
Showing at Real Art Ways Cinema in Hartford June 15-21.The Cinema is located at 56 Arbor St, Hartford Ct 06106
Call 860.232.1006 or email infor at realartways.org for more info
In 1984 a young woman who worked for the local paper in Winston-Salem was found brutally murdered and raped. The only evidence was a hazy description of a young black man seen walking in the area around the same time. 19-year-old Darryl Hunt was the man picked up for the crime and with only circumstantial evidence he was convicted to a life sentence and locked away, seemingly forever. A young white lawyer named Mark Rabil and some African-American community activists were the only people who believed young Darryl innocent. For 19 years almost to the day they worked diligently, and with quite a bit of courage and stamina, to get Darryl released. This heartfelt film, directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg uses television news footage, voice-over radio broadcasts and reminiscences to take us back that 19 years and examine what went wrong with the American justice system that a completely innocent man should not only be convicted once but twice after appeals. That should have been sufficient to get an innocent man free. Even with negative DNA evidence prosecutors and judges remained adamant that Darryl should serve his time. Along the way, young Darryl turned into middle aged Darryl, who became a devout Muslim and even married a supporter's daughter while on a brief furlough during an appeal. The inspiring partnership between Hunt and Rabil and the black community of Winston-Salem gives this story its meat and its affirmation of life and justice. Structured more like a thriller than a documentary, Stern and Sundberg's film is an amazing piece of work seamlessly made from found footage and the filmmakers' own footage when they discovered the case 10 years in to Hunt's sentence. You will never see a film with more soul than TRIALS.
http://www.realartways.org/cinema.htm#trials
June 16: Voices of Iraqi Workers Solidarity Tour in East Hartford
U.S. Labor Against the War, the American Friends Service Committee, and United for Peace and Justice are sponsoring a national tour of Iraqi trade unionists. Here in Connecticut there will be a local event on Saturday, June 16th at 12:00 noon.
The event will be held at the International Association of Machinists (IAM) hall at 357 Main St, East Hartford. It is sponsored by the Connecticut State Council of Machinists. For more information contact Bill Shortell of IAM Local 700 at 860-345-3098
The event will be a rare opportunity to dialogue directly with Iraqi workers and labor leaders about current attempts to control Iraq's oil, women's issues under occupation, and the role of unions in creating a non-sectarian, progressive Iraq.
Biographies of Visiting Iraqi Labor Leaders and their Organizations
Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary, Southern Oil Company Union, Iraqi Federation of Oil Workers' Unions
Faleh Abood Umara was one of the six Iraqi trade union leaders who visited 26 cities in the U.S. in June 2005, in a tour sponsored by USLAW. He is 48 years old, married with two sons and two daughters. He is a founding member of the oil workers union and worked for the Southern Oil Company in Basra for 28 years. He is also a member of the local council in the Al-Hadi district in Basra. In 1998, he was detained by the Hussein regime for his activities on behalf of his coworkers. He has served on the union's negotiating team with both the Oil Ministry and British occupation authorities to defend the rights and interests of oil industry workers in the post-Saddam era.
General Union of Oil Employees (Basra) and Iraq Federation of Oil Unions
The GUOE is an independent, secular union representing 23,000 oil workers in Basra, Amara, and Nassirriyah. The union grew out of the Southern Oil Company Union and now encompasses ten trade union councils in nine Iraqi oil companies. GUOE forced KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary, out of refinery workplaces shortly after the invasion despite Cheney's award of a 'no bid' contract. Members also went on a two-day strike last August, winning their demands for higher pay. The union has taken a strong stand against any plans for privatization and foreign domination of the oil sector. It is leading the fight to prevent imposition of a "hydrocarbon law" drafted by the Bush administration that would lead to foreign corporate control of more than two-thirds of Iraq's oil reserves. After GUOE's first anti-privatization conference last summer, the U.S. and Iraqi governments responded by freezing the union's bank accounts.
____________________________________________________________________________
Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, President, Electrical Utility Workers Union- GFIW
Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein is the first woman to head a national union in Iraq. She was born in Basra in 1955. Following high school, she went to work at the Southern Company for Electricity. There she became active in the labor movement. She rose to leadership of the Electricity Workers Union in Basra and recently was elected its national president. She serves on the executive committee of the Basra Work Unions Coalition. She is head of the Women Workers' Bureau and is a leader in the Iraqi Women's Association. She and her 7-year old son have received death threats as a result of her activism.
General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW)
Her union is affiliated with the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW). In January 2004, workers in the Najibeeya, Haartha and Al Zubeir electrical generating stations mounted a wildcat strike, stormed the administration buildings, declared the lower September wage schedule void, and vowed to shut off power if salaries were not raised. The ministry agreed to return to the old scale. Last June the union organized large demonstrations to protest government decisions to hire private contractors to do reconstruction work, replacing the industry's own employees. The problem persists.
In the late 1970s Saddam outlawed independent unions and forced union leaders underground or into exile. It their place, he imposed state-controlled unions. The GFIW grew out of an underground workers' organization, the Workers' Democratic Trade Union Movement (WDTUM), which resisted Ba'athism. The WDTUM publicized Hussein's crimes from exile until the collapse of his regime. Shortly after the collapse, the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) was formed; it was later renamed the General Federation of Iraqi Workers. The GFIW now claims 200,000 members from Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious population, representing Iraq's core industries. The GFIW is committed to creating independent trade unions and improved conditions for working people.
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?list=type&type=103
American Friends Service Committee
Connecticut Area Office
56 Arbor Street, Suite 213
Hartford, CT 06106
Phone: 860.523.1534
Fax: 860.523.1705
Email: connecticut at afsc.org Visit AFSC CT Online
Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Confirm | Forward
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/private/ctgp-news/attachments/20070610/4eaa1335/attachment.html>
More information about the Ctgp-news
mailing list