Tag Archives: Caribbean

Globus has joined the ranks of well-known tour companies offering trips to Cuba under a special U.S. Treasury Department license that permits people-to-people…

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CUNY Honors The International Youth Association (TIYA)

05/16/2013 Nativegrl77

TBI_Header_(1).jpg

The Black Institute’s (TBI) subsidiary organization The International Youth Association (TIYA) will be honored at CUNY’s first annual Murphy Institute Scholarship fundraiser. The Co-Founders Alden Nesbit and Mikhel Crinchlow will participate in a pre-event symposium where they will present their organizing plan for the immigration reform campaign as well as future campaign plans.

Thursday, May 16, 2013 Click here to go to the event page.

For years several grassroots black-immigrant rights groups have been advocating for immigration reforms pertaining to Caribbean and African communities including family reunification, a pathway to citizenship for temporary status holders and affordable fines and fees associated with new citizenship. The International Youth Association (TIYA) has been instrumental in organizing the youth effort to be heard in the debate and has called for widespread changes to be made to the current Immigration Reform compromise.

This awards ceremony and symposium is a celebration of TIYA’s work but there is still so much more work to be done. TIYA believes our communities will not thrive under the current compromise because of the DREAM Act provision, backlog and triggers, and the elimination of the Diversity Visa Program. This first attempt at Comprehensive Immigration Reform is a valiant effort. But, it is clear that there is a lot of work ahead. Immigration Reform cannot be comprehensive nor common sense if it is exclusive and unfair.

Goals of The International Youth Association for the Outcome of Comprehensive Immigration Reform:

Comprehensive reform of Immigration policy to include protections for recruited immigrant professionals and their children (e,g, an expedited pathway to Green Card status, a special category that includes recruited professionals from non-STEM disciplines, etc.).
Fulfill the promises of citizenship, education and job opportunity to recruited immigrant professionals and their families, including “aged-out” immigrant children.
End the criminalization and detention of immigrants, and implement safeguards to protect against racial profiling and ensure due process for all immigrants.
Reunite families torn apart by current Immigration policy by expanding benefits to include extended family, and altering the current DACA guidelines to allow children up to the age of 20 to enter the US.
Lessen the economic burden caused by current Immigration policy by investing resources and decreasing processing fees.
Expand the focus of the Immigration reform discourse to include the needs of Black immigrants and their children, who are often marginalized and ignored. This includes amending the language of the DREAM act to include children of immigrant professionals, and allowing the voices of Black immigrants to be heard.

Please help support our Organizing and Immigration Work. The gift that you give today will help our small but effective staff work to shed light on the issues that plague Black communities; empowering our men, women and children to speak out against injustice, maltreatment, ineffective government, poor public policy, inadequate and inefficient social service programs, and poor working conditions. Any amount you can give will help further our mission.

Please make a tax deductible donation or become a monthly Sustainer TODAY.

https://theblackinstitute.nationbuilder.com/make_a_donation

The Black Institute http://www.theblackinstitute.org/

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Tell the “Gang of Eight”: Stop the prison-to-deportation pipeline!

03/29/2013 Nativegrl77

End the criminalization of our communities. boy holding immigrant rights sign

Tell the “Gang Of Eight”: We demand immigration reform that protects the rights of all immigrants.

Add Your Voice

In President Obama’s State of the Union address, he expressed his administration’s intention to make immigration a priority. Last month, a bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight” rolled out a series of principles to overhaul the immigration system.¹ Key among their proposed reforms is a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as well as an increase in border security protocols.²

On April 10, immigrants’ rights groups from across the country will be joining together for a National Day of Action,³ calling on Congress to create immigration policy that recognizes the hardships and contributions of new Americans and aspiring citizens. With over 11 million undocumented immigrants⁴ in this country waiting for an answer, the “Gang of Eight” has an opportunity to write immigration reform that responds to the needs of everyone.

In anticipation of such a proposal, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has made immigration reform a key focus of this year’s policy agenda.⁵ The CBC has formed a task force to address what they’re calling the “prison-to-deportation pipeline” and its effects on the Black and brown community.⁶ They recognize what we already know — we’re stronger together.

Please join us in demanding the “Gang of Eight” write immigration reform that protects the rights of all immigrants. It only takes a moment.

For years, America’s broken immigration system has been focused on detention and deportation largely at the expense of our communities.^7,8 While enforcement drives the political conversation around reform, inflammatory rhetoric attempts to pit Black and immigrant communities against each other as if the terms “immigrant” or even “Latino” can never have a Black face. Economic opportunities for Black folks have not grown increasingly scarce because of competition with undocumented immigrants.⁹ These tired rivalries are played up in divide-and-conquer power politics to distract us from the work of addressing the real causes of skyrocketing Black unemployment, which include a history of being economically exploited, marginalized and discriminated against.¹⁰

A focus on border security highlights a fundamental divide in the current immigration conversation. Often absent from immigration reform discussions are the more than three million Black immigrants who comprise nine percent of the U.S. foreign-born population, primarily coming from the Caribbean, North and sub-Saharan Africa.¹¹ For Black immigrants, arrival often looks very different — many come into the country with some form of documentation, typically a visa. If these documents expire, those immigrants remain in the country undetected and without status. Although these crossings are less controversial, they remain fraught. For these immigrants, increased enforcement translates to an increase in racial profiling — a reality that is not lost on the already hyper-criminalized Black community.

Immigration reform that primarily focuses on enforcement through border patrol dragnets and the use of questionable government databases such as “Secure Communities” — a flawed, high-tech way of tracking immigration violators via fingerprint data procured from every interaction a person makes with Homeland Security in their lifetime — violates the basic promises of fairness in our legal system.^12,13 Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) has overwhelmingly targeted Black and brown folks through suspect methods that use racial profiling — separating families and continuing a pattern of distrust between our communities and law enforcement.¹⁴

Demand the “Gang of Eight” propose immigration legislation that includes a roadmap to citizenship for America’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and seeks to reduce the over-reliance on prisons and detention facilities for enforcement.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 — one of the greatest pieces of civil rights legislation introduced in this country — ushered in sweeping reforms of U.S. immigration policy through the implementation and signing of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965.¹⁵ Prior to this, our laws actively favored immigrants from Northern and Central Europe only. The new law shifted the focus to family reunification, while opening the door to millions of new immigrants from around the world by turning away from race-based quotas and including a provision giving preference to professional skills that were in short supply in the United States. At the time, these reforms were monumental. However, due to the racially-punitive nature of previous immigration policy, a focus on family reunification has created a stratified system where immigration quotas from some countries are higher than others, keeping our communities permanently at the “back of the line.”¹⁶

Under President Obama’s tenure, we have seen record-breaking detention and deportations of undocumented immigrants and legal residents swept up under unrealistic deportation quotas for minor traffic offenses, misdemeanors and visa violations.¹⁷ Although Black immigrants constitute such a small percentage of the U.S. immigrant population, they are always in the top ten of most-deported foreign nationals and have the highest per capita deportation level of any other racial group.¹⁸ Truly just immigration reform must address the inefficiencies in the visa system as well as unrealistic quotas introduced in the family reunification sections of the law.¹⁹

Demand immigration reform that ends the criminalization of immigrant communities. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Aimée, William and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team March 29th, 2013

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

References

1. “Who Are the Gang Of 8 in Senate Immigration Debate?” ABC News, 01-30-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2270?t=10&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

2. “Fixing the Immigration System for America’s 21st Century Economy,” The White House, 01-29-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2225?t=12&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

3. “Wanna Get Involved in the Coming Immigration Reform Fight? Here’s How,” Colorlines, 02-01-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2444?t=14&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

4. “11 Million Undocumented Immigrants: What’s Behind This Number,” Huffington Post, 02-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2315?t=16&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

5. “113th Congress Outlook: CBC Policy Agenda” (.pdf), Congressional Black Caucus, 02-05-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2452?t=18&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

6. “Black Lawmakers Demand an End to Prison-to-Deportation Pipeline,” Colorlines, 03-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2424?t=20&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

7. “Documenting the Undocumented,” Slate, 01-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2226?t=22&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

8. “Immigration tactics aimed at boosting deportations,” USA Today, 02-17-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2265?t=24&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

9. “Blacks and the Immigration Crisis, Pt. 2: ‘Taking All Our Jobs,'” Ebony, 02-25-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2450?t=26&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

10. “Organize to Improve the Quality of Jobs in the Black Community,” UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education (.pdf), 05-01-04 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2273?t=28&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

11. “5 Fast Facts About Black Immigrants in the United States,” Center For American Progress, 12-20-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2228?t=30&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

12. “Immigration Crackdown Also Snares Americans,” New York Times, 12-13-11 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2317?t=32&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

13. “New Secure Communities Study Reveals Troubling Data,” PBS, 10-19-11 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2319?t=34&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

14. “Racial Profiling, False Arrests, Deportation — The True Face of Federally Mandated ‘Secure Communities,’” Alternet, 07-24-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2291?t=36&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

15. “1965 Immigration Law Changed Face of America,” NPR, 05-09-06 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2264?t=38&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

16. “Getting in line for immigration,” Twin Cities Daily Planet, 02-21-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2316?t=40&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

17. “Blacks and the Immigration Crisis, Part 1,” Ebony, 02-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2327?t=42&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

18. See reference 17.

19. “DHS Tells States: We Don’t Need Your Approval for Secure Communities,” Colorlines, 08-09-11 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2276?t=44&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

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Alert: Hurricane adds to misery in Haiti

11/06/2010 Nativegrl77

Your gift can save lives and change the world -- Donate now

In the wake of January’s earthquake and an ongoing cholera outbreak, CARE has joined the people of Haiti this week in shifting attention to a third life-endangering threat: Hurricane Tomas.

In times of crisis, your support is urgently needed. A gift of $25, $50 or anything you can afford today can help us continue to provide our emergency relief and poverty-fighting programs in Haiti and 71 other countries around the world.

The hurricane made landfall in Haiti on Friday morning bringing howling winds and heavy rain that ripped roofs off of buildings, toppled power lines and caused rivers to burst their banks. The resulting floodwaters have swept into the tents and temporary shelters that 1.3 million Haitians call home.

To help Haitians prepare for the storm, CARE swiftly mobilized. We’ve distributed food, water, first aid kits and radios. We’ve also passed out tarps, ropes and building supplies to help people reinforce their dwellings. And we stocked up on emergency supplies to help people after the storm passes.

As you may know, since late October, Haitians have been facing a serious outbreak of cholera. The deadly, waterborne disease has already claimed close to 450 lives and more than 6,700 cases have been reported. The torrential rains of the hurricane will most certainly worsen the epidemic.

Our priorities include making sure there is a supply of clean water for the most vulnerable — those living in camps — and distributing items to help prevent the spread of disease, such as clean water, jerry cans, aqua tabs, soap and hygiene kits.

In the aftermath of the storm, CARE will continue partnering with Haitians to rebuild their country and help empower them to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.

Our poverty-fighting work doesn’t stop in Haiti. Every single day of the year, CARE is on the ground in the world’s poorest countries. Whether we’re delivering emergency relief or carrying out innovative programs that strike at the root causes of poverty, CARE is there — thanks to the generosity of friends like you.

Please make a tax-deductible gift today to help ensure that we can make a lasting difference in the lives of poor people in Haiti and other countries across the globe.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH
President and CEO, CARE

~ my 2cents ...

TGIF …caribbean

11/05/2010 Nativegrl77

The feature picture is called “The Faces of My People” by Margaret Burroughs b.1917 and made of woodcut on paper.

This fleeting moment of great weather today is yet but a moment and while the weather in the Caribbean, Indonesia are on our families minds the weather all over the US is bad … gotta say hoping everyone we know and love are okay.

Our President is on his way to make a bid to open up markets overseas- for a G20 summit including Japan-wishing him good luck and a great safe trip with Mrs Obama.

FYI –Mitch McConnell says he does not want the President to fail he wants him to change course while in different interview he and Boehner said in order for them to achieve what they want they need someone as President that will not veto everything they want to go through. This group of right of center Politicians are dodging questions about what they would cut once they gain control and instead of answering questions folks like McConnell, Cantor , Boehner are stating their sole goal is to repeal replace and eliminate social programs that help not just the poor but our elders, disabled , veterans and basically everyone who calls themselves a human being….sigh

Good News the jobs numbers have come in- overall 1.1 Million jobs came back or were created and there were 159,000 Private Sector jobs added, 151,000 non-farm jobs added as well as a net loss of 8,000 of jobs and unemployment stands at 9.6%. This is definitely an improvement but more bipartisan work needs to be done to really make an impact on what President Obama walked into after being elected. I ask everyone to call Republicans to tell them that you are an American and instead of making their sole goal to get rid of President Obama they better do something about jobs, jobs, jobs and our economy because if they do not the Republican Tea Party will definitely lose in 2yrs. The Republican Tea Party may have lied to Americans who voted for them in this mid-term election but the people will not forget. I am among I guess a small group who saw that the RTP has fooled enough people into believing your group of Corporate carpetbaggers have sold out their souls and have not just thrown the average American under the bus when the new 112th Congress Session begins the facts will be even more evident that RTP will do whatever it takes to pay back those secret entities that poured funds into various states where not just right of center candidates won we now have people so right of center that membership fighting will probably begin sooner than later. I say let the fighting begin because it will be the final piece of a sad, disgusting, and deceiving puzzle that this group has been waging ever since 53% of Americans voted for President Obama in 2008.

The big deal on the table at this moment is what do we (democrats) do now and while the current rhetoric is offensive, annoying and yes depressing to an extent we all have to be held accountable for what happened on Tuesday, Nov.2nd. I say ask yourself did you help out enough, stay home to protest and did you vote right of center to protest because you do not like what President Obama has done, is doing or that he is not tough enough, you are stupid and have no idea what the office is all about. I will admit the question that is going through my mind is did he get enough help from the Democratic Politicians “selling the message” that “the Media” keeps saying hurt not just President Obama’s base but the President chances for the 2012 elections though we are a long way from then and a lot can happen “the Media” will make that the topic of discussion. I will say that the low numbers of Democratic members of Congress willing to support legislation being debated, having trouble getting on the floor or passed on the floor of Congress in both Chambers has been a great disappointment and should definitely be something to work on for the new 112th Congressional Session. It does seem difficult for them to get enough airtime, some seemed unwilling to say what was good about HCR Wall Street reform, while the various pundits, host and interviewers have said for over twenty months that he had a chance to get the message out while questioning the message have switched up and now say there was major issue with the communication. I disagree with what most folks in “the Media” are saying. I believe cable and or mainstream TV spent a lot of time limiting the message and opted to debate the message without having a rebuttal available from the Obama Administration. I wonder how many designated Obama admin folks are asked to join panels on tv let alone fight to get a word in edge wise when they are on tv because the panel is so big and then after wards, we all see it right? The hosts bring back another panel of conservatives to beat down and or question what the President’s operative just said. If you are listening to the cable head Media noise, it is definitely annoying, offensive and we all need to remind ourselves that opinion News is for entertainment splashed with some real facts and a whole lot of right of center opinions.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1649961/20101014/story.jhtml <<<copy & paste

Other News …

President Obama and the new Congressional membership will meet on Nov.18th

Haiti braces for Hurricane Tomas

Plane crashes in central Cuba… 68 dead

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has won his bid for full term in Illinois

Democratic Senator Patty Murray has won her bid for re-election

Myanmar will have controversial elections

The first woman President of Brazil will keep Iran ties, remain global player

Kenya takes on India in bid to be call center capital

CSPAN …