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Action: Join a “State of the Union” Protest Outside DHS Headquarters in D.C. (1/26)

By January 25, 2010No Comments

Contacts:
Sookyung Oh, 202-567-1397, soh@nakasec.org
Kim Propeack; 301-379-7461, kpropeack@casamd.org
Tania de Angel 240-353-2288, tdelangel@casamd.org
 
IMMIGRANT ACTIVISTS DELIVER OWN “STATE OF THE UNION” PROTEST OUTSIDE DHS HEADQUARTERS
– Obama Can Act Now and Must –
 
WHAT:          Hundreds to Crowd before DHS Headquarters
WHEN:          Tuesday, January 26, 2010; noon to one
WHERE:        Department of Homeland Security Headquarters
                        (500 12th Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20536 * L’Enfant Plaza Metro Stop)
WHO:            Hundreds of Immigrant Workers, Faith Leaders, Labor Activists and Community Leaders from CASA de Maryland, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), Jobs With Justice, the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) and others.
 
This Tuesday, immigrant organizations and activists fed-up with inaction on national reform will gather outside the national headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security to call for an immediate suspension of deportations of immigrants with U.S. citizen family members.
 
“Elections since 2008 have revealed the extreme disappointment about the lack of forward progress on core priorities,” said Rosario Hernandez, Director of Hispanic Lutheran Ministry of the Sacred Family.  “President Obama won in part because of Latino, Asian American & Pacific Islander, and immigrant voters hungry for change; the disappointment of these same voters can shift a future election,” said Reverend Hernandez.

Tuesday’s action is in solidarity with The Trail of DREAMs—a journey through the U.S. south, from Florida to Washington, to demand immediate relief for suffering immigrant communities.  Drawing inspiration from the civil rights movement, the four are walking to bring public attention to a failed immigration system that tears families apart and halts the progress of students studying to contribute to their communities.
 
Several recent actions across the country, including the 17-day Fast for Our Families in South Florida, and a march of tens of thousands in Phoenix, Arizona to protest local enforcement of immigration law, have focused on the capacity – and the moral obligation – of the Obama Administration to use its executive power to stop separating families and criminalizing immigrant communities. While local in nature, these actions have received nationwide support from activists frustrated by federal inaction.
 
In the words of the Fast for Our Families: “After seeing the determination of the Department of Homeland Security to ignore the voices of immigrant families fighting to stay together, we must continue our struggle to keep our communities strong, from Naranja to New York, and from the U.S. to Haiti.”
 
Tuesday’s action will feature bold action, speakers and boisterous chants demanding justice for our communities. Immigrants and non-immigrants directly affected by the lack of presidential action will be available for interview.

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