CONTACT: Rebecca Concepcion Apostol, Strategic Communications Director
916.538.9786, rebecca@mivcalifornia.org

California Immigrant Rights Organizations Call for Common Sense Immigration Process that Ensures Opportunity for All

– (CA) Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV) and its partners, call for a common sense immigration process that will unite families here in America, and ensure opportunities for all Americans, including the 11 million aspiring citizens who’ve moved to this country to pursue the American Dream.

“This bill is historic step forward and a strong start toward a modern and just immigration system in this country, but there is still a lot of work to be done. We appreciate and applaud the Senate’s work on this initial proposal and we look forward to changes that reflect a common sense immigration process that will keep our families together,” said Aparna Shah, Executive Director of Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV).

“We will continue to advocate that the final piece of legislation to include family reunification, protection of worker’s rights and a roadmap to citizenship for aspiring citizens,” said Patricia Diaz, Executive Director of Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN). Diaz also contributed, “While this legislation is a step in the right direction we are disappointed to see enforcement measures that have been leveraged to gain agreement on the bill. The time is now for a common sense immigration reform that upholds our nations values of equality and justice and strengthens the foundation that America was built on.”

Alex Tom, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), further detailed, “The roadmap to citizenship for new Americans should emphasize inclusion for all and family unity. Our community is disappointed at the move from a family-based immigration system to a “merit”-based system that prioritizes those with access to college and other skills, while leaving out low-wage workers and those with family ties. America’s strength is its diversity – we need all types of workers and students to build our economy, not just high-skilled and high-tech workers. We strongly advocate for the inclusion of all family members, including LGBTQ families, those who have been deported, are detained, or have deportation orders. The roadmap should not exclude people based on minor offenses or limit accessibility through hefty fines.”

“The goal of this legislation is to answer the call of people around the country to create a system that honors our values, and to give 11 million people a chance at legal status and have access to citizenship. We are asking for modern and just immigration system, let’s not emphasize burdensome and unrealistic requirements that are contrary to our goal and our needs as a country,” continued MIV Executive Director, Aparna Shah.

Dae Joong Yoon, Executive Director of the Korean Resource Center (KRC), added, “While we work to improve the bill throughout the legislative process, we’ll also work to pass a bill in a more participatory and meaningful way to include the community voices to truly reflect the democratic process in which laws are made.”

“People move to make life better for themselves and their families. All children and future generations deserve greater opportunities for a better life, and all families have the basic right to be and stay together,” stated Suzanne Foster, Executive Director of Pomona Economic Opportunity Center (PEOC). Foster continued, “We believe in an America that lives up to the opportunities promised in our Declaration of Independence- that all are created equal and have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“We are defined by our shared opportunities and how we honor our commitment to these values as Americans. Aspiring citizens are committed to this country. Let’s create a common sense immigration process that will ensure opportunity for all,” concluded MIV Executive Director, Aparna Shah.

Mobilize the Immigrant Vote is a 501 (c3) committed to empowering the lives of immigrants and their families in California. For more information please visit www.mivcalifornia.org

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Today, immigrant organizations across California including Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN); Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA); Chinese Progressive Association (CPA); California Partnership (CAP); Korean Resource Center (KRC); Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ); and Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Action Fund stand together with community, faith, labor and education allies across the state including California Calls and Reclaim California’s Future partners in celebrating the passage of progressive revenue measure Proposition 30 and the tremendous organizing and coalition efforts behind this victory .

Prop 30’s passage demonstrates the deep power and longterm commitment of immigrants and their families, working with communities of color, low-income families, and members of faith, to building a California that lifts up each one of us. This win comes from grassroots members’ and leaders’ tireless work not simply in this election but over decades of organizing, electoral engagement, and policy advocacy. This collective victory highlights immigrant communities’ courage and conviction to an inclusive and powerful vision of immigrant rights and justice. Over the past 9 weeks, MIV Action Fund partners across the state spoke with over 25,000 Latino and 21,000 Asian occasional voters in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog and English across eight counties.

Immigrant organizations across the state celebrate the defeat of Prop 32 to silence the voices of working California families, the passage of Prop 36 to protect communities and restore the original intent of the three strikes law, and the passage of Prop 39 to create and support green jobs in our communities and close corporate tax loopholes.

• “Immigrant families made a major contribution to yesterday’s Proposition 30 victory. Grassroots leaders and families—immigrant and U.S.-born—who walked precincts and made phone calls, made the difference this November 6th, and our stories will reverberate across the country,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).
• “Low-income immigrant communities of color turned out on November 6th because they were informed and felt connected to the campaigns outreaching to them—they heard messages in their native languages, in cultural frames that resonated, and from messengers they trusted,” said Patricia Diaz, Executive Director of Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN).
• We were proud to stand with community, faith and labor allies across California as part of the Reclaim California’s Future statewide coalition that positively identified over 490,000 voters for Proposition 30 and 349,000 against Proposition 32 and toiled these past weeks to ensure that our communities got to the polls,” commented Dae Joong Yoon, Executive Director of the Korean Resource Center.
• “Californians realized that investing in our children and communities required new revenues, and that meant increasing taxes—modestly for all of us and mostly for the wealthiest 2% in our state who have done so well in recent years. Immigrant families and Californians were ready to make smart decisions for a better California,” shared Aparna Shah, Executive Director of Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Action Fund.
• Almost 30% or 4.3 million of all registered voters in California are “New Americans,” naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants. More than half of all Californians are Latino and Asian. The following snapshots share the stories of just some of the thousands of immigrant leaders across California who played a leadership role in the broad California coalition efforts to pass Proposition 30.

Paula Patricia Calzada, Single Mother, Community College Student, and Leader with the California Partnership (CAP) in San Bernardino and Riverside

Patricia was an active leader with the California Partnership Inland Empire voter outreach program this fall. “I am a recipient of CalWorks. I told my story about the effects that the budget cuts would have on education, health care, and other vital services if Proposition 30 did not pass. Voters could relate to my personal story, and the majority of voters with whom I talked committed to vote Yes on Proposition 30.”


Hassan, Student and Leader with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)

Hassan saw the effects Proposition 30 would have on him as a student, and he became a super leader with CHIRLA, walking every weekend with amazing dedication and rigor. “I tell Latino voting families: Your vote counts twice. Vote for your future and the future of those who do not yet have the privilege of voting,” shares Hassan.


Li Shuang Li, Worker and Leader with the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco

Mrs. Li is a Chinese American worker and long-time member of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) Workers Committee. She not only phone-banked every night to encourage San Francisco Chinese voters to vote Yes on Proposition 30 and Yes on Measure A, but she also cooked warm wholesome meals for the CPA phone bank team every day. “Mrs. Li is an inspiration to all of us,” comments Ken Wang, Civic Engagement and Community Organizer with CPA.


Mona Dating, Senior Citizen and Leader with Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ)

Mrs. Dating knocked everyone’s socks off with her straight-to-the-point, culturally-rooted practical style. “She talked in Tagalog about real situations the voters could related to: our children’s education, the future, social services for the elderly,” shares FAJ Campaign Coordinator Samuel Gutierrez. “She consistently brought in the highest number of contacts and Proposition 30 commits every night.”


Andrew, Senior at a Local Los Angeles High School and Leader with the Korean Resource Center

Andrew was a member of his high school basketball team. He had to quit the team because there was no money for buses to transport the players to games, and his working parents could not afford to take him to games or pay for costly transportation. This loss fueled Andrew to participate as an active leader in the Korean Resource Center get-out-the-vote program. “I was proud of Korean Resource Center and the leadership we took together for Prop 30,” he shares.


Binh Nguyen, Community College Student and Leader with Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) in San Jose

Binh is a student at the local community college and sees how the cuts to education affect him directly. “Our communities hear us when we speak in our native languages and there is a cultural connection. Even though I know many of the Vietnamese voters I called this fall spoke English, 90% chose to speak in Vietnamese with me. I’m proud that I helped my community get informed and make the right decision for our future.”


Mobilize the Immigrant Vote recognizes the leadership of immigrants and people of color across California and the country who took us one step closer to reclaiming the American Dream and building a better future for all of us.

Onward in unity and strength,
Mobilize the Immigrant Vote

MIV Strategy Council Partner Organizations : Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN), Korean Resource Center (KRC), Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), California Partnership (CAP)

We continue to hold our friends in New York, New Jersey, along the East Coast, and in the Caribbean in our hearts and prayers. If you are interested in volunteering or making a donation, we have been referred to these organizations: CAAV (caaav.org/about-us ), Occupy Sandy (interoccupy.net/occupysandy/ ), New York Communities for Change (www.nycommunities.org/ ), and The Red Hook Initiative (rhicenter.org ). Please let us know if there are other efforts about which we should inform our communities.

Overview
Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV) was started in 2004 as the first-ever statewide campaign in California to organize a multi-ethnic coalition of community-based organizations working within immigrant communities and building their capacity to register, educate, and mobilize their constituents for electoral participation.

Contract term: June 4-September 3, 2012
Location: Ideally in Los Angeles or SF Bay Area, but location is negotiable.

Specific responsibilities include
• Coordinate Campaign Logistics with partner organizations that includes helping them plan, and coordinate campaign leading to “Ramp up Week” of August 27.
• Consultant will hold nightly and Thursday calls with partners once campaign starts.
• Consultant will work with Ethnic Media consultant to implement earned media program.
• Implementn other projects as determined in the course of the contract.

Qualifications/Requirements:
Strong communication and motivational skills, work ethic, and desire for political change are essential. Candidates must have thorough understanding and experience with campaign implementation and management. Previous field or phone bank experience is a plus.

Candidates must be able to work within a team, have proven leadership ability and an orientation towards handling a lot of responsibility. Strong self-direction and the ability to take initiative are also necessary qualifications. Spanish – English bilingual is a must.

Contract amount negotiable, commensurate with experience.

Submit your qualifications, sample work product related to a campaign plan or campaign communications, 3 references and your monthly contract rate. Deadline May 30, 2012

Please submit as Word document or pdf.

Send to: Martha@mivcalifornia.org

MIV IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
and strongly encourages bids from consultants with backgrounds in immigrant communities.

April 11, 2012

CONTACT:
- Aparna Shah, MIV, aparna@mivcalifornia.org 510-842-7522
- Emily Lee, Chinese Progressive Association, 415-625-3382
- Dayne Lee, Korean Resource Center, 323-937-3718 dayne@krcla.org

Asian Immigrants across California Overwhelmingly Support Taxing the 1%
On Heels of Tax Day, the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Coalition Announces its Support of Gov. Jerry Brown’s November Ballot Measure Taxing the Wealthy 1%/Corporations

San Francisco – Today a coalition of immigrant rights organizations released findings of its statewide survey of Asian immigrants, 85% who overwhelming support taxing the top 1%. The survey “Take Back the American Dream” was conducted through coalition partners Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), Korean Resource Center (KRC), Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) and the Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ) as part of the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV) coalition.

In conjunction with these findings, MIV reaffirmed its support of Governor Brown’s November ballot measure that would raise taxes to help balance the budget.

“On the eve of tax day, we want to remind voters that tax revenue pays for vital services that benefit all our communities including schools, hospitals and libraries. Vietnamese voters overwhelmingly supported taxing the top 1% wealthy and corporations to help restore vital services.” said Patricia Diaz, Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)

“The Chinese voters we spoke with throughout the state overwhelmingly support taxing the wealthy 1%/corporations to help restore vital public services, including our schools, In Home Support Services for seniors and libraries, which help our communities get ahead” said Alex Tom, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association.

Over 7,000 Asian Immigrants including Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino were contacted for the survey which measured their views on taxing the wealthy 1% to help fund California’s diminishing budget for education and public services. The overwhelming majority of those surveyed, agreed that the top 1% must pay their fair share. Registered occasional voters were the target of the survey.

“We are trying to empower and raise the strength of the progressive immigrant voting bloc in California. We are joined together here today, from counties and cities all across the state, in order to demonstrate the unity that clearly exists among Asian American immigrant communities. It shows that we’re stronger and we share a common political analysis, of what needs to be done, and what kind of investment we need in our state. It shows that immigrant communities have interests in common, and we are stronger joined together by our common interests than we are divided.”, said Dayne Lee, Civic Participation Coordinator at the Korean Resource Center.

“Taxing the top 1% ensures a shared responsibility among those who for too long have evaded paying their fair share for the public services we all rely on, including schools and social services. Mobilize the Immigrant Vote supports the Governor’s November ballot measure and will work with our local partners to garner voter approval,” said Aparna Shah, Executive Director of Mobilize the Immigrant Vote.

Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV) is the first-ever statewide campaign in California to organize a multi-ethnic coalition of community-based organizations working within immigrant communities and building their capacity to register, educate, and mobilize their constituents for electoral participation. For More Info: mivcalifornia.org

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Below: photos from the Press Conference in San Francisco, at the offices of Chinese Progressive Association. Left to right:
Aparna Shah, Executive Director, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote;
Emily Jieming Lee 李介明, Youth Organizer, Chinese Progressive Association (CPA);
Lucila Ortiz, Community Organizer, Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN);
Lilian Galedo, Executive Director, Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ)

In recent weeks, Americans have witnessed the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, the occupation of Wall Street and cities across the country, some of the most anti-immigrant legislation to date in Alabama , and  hopeful immigrant rights legislation in California for education access, changes to car impound policies, and recognition of the diversity of the Asian Pacific Islander community. At home in California, grassroots leaders across the state in multiple coalitions are engaging voters in critical policy campaigns and building momentum towards 2012, with some high profile local races including this November’s election to decide the next Mayor of San Francisco. At MIV, we launched our Take Back the American Dream Campaign with a six-region campaign to engage voters around a values message of reclaiming the promise of this country and uniting around tax and fiscal reform solutions. The preliminary results of our 2010 Treatment and Control Study are now available. We hope the following updates are useful to your work and look forward to future opportunities for collaboration.

California youth have helped advance immigrant justice once again with the historic passage of the California Dream Act, AB130 and AB131, which opens up access to state financial aid for undocumented students. With a January 2013 implementation date for the larger of the two bills… read more

In September, MIV launched our Take Back the American Dream Campaign led by grassroots immigrant organizations across the state to reclaim the values which have been hijacked by our opposition in order to advance a progressive statewide agenda.

For too long, progressives have lacked a compelling narrative that captures the hearts and minds of everyday people. Building on the work of Van Jones, MoveOn, Eric Liu, and Nick Hanauer, the MIV American Dream narrative starts with core values that the majority of our communities share rather than issues that have traditionally divided us, and seeks to speak to our communities, our histories, and our futures.

MIV is testing this narrative with a pilot voter engagement and media campaign that builds on the decades of expertise of our grassroots partners in engaging with our communities in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, and beyond.

To join in the MIV Take Back the American Dream Campaign, contact Martha Figueroa at martha@mivcalifornia.org To learn how to invest in the campaign, contact Executive Director, Aparna Shah, at aparna@mivcalifornia.org

In 2010, MIV partnered with Lisa Bryant of the University of New Mexico to do a treatment and control study of immigrant family voters in California. Select final results and analysis are now available, and a fuller report is forthcoming. Overall, Ms. Bryant shares that the “MIV campaign was very effective in turning out voters.” Read the full Summary Report .

Evaluation of social and racial justice organizing, voter mobilization and civic engagement is a growing field. While there are many expert evaluators, ultimately low-income immigrant communities and communities of color must be the thought-leaders and generators of cutting edge methods and indicators for evaluating our efforts. November is an excellent time of year to refine your plans for a thoughtful end-of-the-year evaluation and begin inserting clear evaluation indicators and methods into your 2012 work plan. The following are some excellent resources and tools that can support your planning and evaluation.

• The PILA-produced Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Toolkit
• The MIV MOVE Toolkit
• Movement Building Indicators by Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice: A cutting-edge tool that supports social justice organizations in their strategic thinking around planning and assessing their movement building work.
• Soon to be released! Transactions – Transformations – Translations: Metrics That Matter for Building, Scaling, and Funding Social Movements by the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. Check out their website in the coming days to obtain a copy of this compelling report.
• Marking Progress: Movement Towards Racial Justice by Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equality

In 2012, California expects a series of ballot initiatives that will again have major impact on the state and have ripple effects across the country. Organizations across California are collaborating on how to move tax and fiscal reform measures through the ballot box. In this issue, we focus on the statewide efforts to repeal the death penalty in California. Read more

MIV is Growing!

MIV is thrilled to welcome long-time partner and ally, Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), to the MIV Statewide Strategy Council. Founded in 1972, the Chinese Progressive Association educates, organizes and empowers the low income and working class immigrant Chinese community in San Francisco to build collective power with other oppressed communities to demand better living and working conditions and justice for all people. We would also like to share the newest additions to MIV’s senior statewide staff team: Martha Figueroa, Political Director, and Rebecca Concepcion Apostol, Capacity Building Manager. Read more

Transitions are part of our work. This year, MIV’s founding organization, Partnership for Immigrant Leadership in Action (PILA), decided to close down as we know it, pass on their amazing programs to sister organizations, and transition the organization to MIV. In these ways, PILA’s work lives on through MIV and the other sister organizations who will be taking on their programs, INCITE and the Movement Strategy Center. Please join us in honoring the outstanding and impactful work of PILA over the years, with particular acknowledgement to all the staff and Board members over these years. Thank you, PILA.

In unity,

Mobilize the Immigrant Vote

In August of this year, a new network of long-time activists and new advocates, California Taxpayers for Justice, announced a November 2012 initiative to replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. They are calling their efforts the SAFE California campaign.

The SAFE California campaign reveals startling statistics about the injustice in convictions and the disproportionate impacts on families of color, including immigrant families. One study found that 2 out of 3 death penalty cases are reversed in California . Other statistics share that African Americans make up 41% of death row members, but only 12% of the population. In 2007, Latinos made up 50% of death penalty sentences, but only 37% of the population .

In Los Angeles in 2007, 50% of murder cases with white or Asian victims were solved, but only 35% of cases with Latino or African American victims were. As a recent article in Colorlines notes , the execution of Troy Davis, an African American man who hundreds of thousands across the world believed was likely innocent, has recruited millions of new people to the movement against the death penalty.

MIV will be sharing future information about this campaign in subsequent bulletins.

Signature gathering to qualify the SAFE CA Act for the November 2012 ballot has begun. For more information about the California campaign to end the death penalty, contact: Natasha Minsker, Campaign Manager, at Natasha@safecalifornia.org or Elvia Meza (ACLU-SC) at emeza@aclu-sc.org.

MIV is thrilled to welcome long-time partner and ally, Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), to the MIV Statewide Strategy Council. Founded in 1972, the Chinese Progressive Association educates, organizes and empowers the low income and working class immigrant Chinese community in San Francisco to build collective power with other oppressed communities to demand better living and working conditions and justice for all people. We would also like to share the newest additions to MIV’s senior statewide staff team: Martha Figueroa, Political Director, and Rebecca Concepcion Apostol, Capacity Building Manager.

Ms. Figueroa joined MIV from Brave New Films/Foundation, where she worked as the Communications Director. During her tenure, Brave New Films was featured regularly and prominently on national cable, online, and print outlets such as MSNBC, Huffington Post and Telemundo. Previously, Ms. Figueroa spent over six years in the labor movement. She worked for SEIU as the Southern California Political Coordinator/Assistant Director where she managed several statewide and local electoral campaigns, as well as in the capacity of Bilingual Communications Coordinator on several worker organizing campaigns. She is a graduate of the New School where she received her Master’s Degree in Public Policy.

Ms. Apostol hails from the world of stiff backs and old coffee, also known as the campaign life. Growing up in Sacramento, she became involved in electoral politics at the age of nine when she volunteered for her first campaign. After graduating Cum Laude from UCLA, she joined the leading political communications firm MSHC Partners, Inc. for the exciting 2008 election cycle. She has since worked on numerous campaigns throughout the state, completing her last cycle in March 2011. Ms. Apostol serves as the National Field Director for KAYA: Filipino Americans for Progress, working to move the Filipino community toward progressive change and helping train, support and elect leaders to fill the political pipeline.

California youth have helped advance immigrant justice once again with the historic passage of the California Dream Act, AB130 and AB131, which opens up access to state financial aid for undocumented students. With a January 2013 implementation date for the larger of the two bills, these laws will allow undocumented college students who are classified as AB540 (the bill that allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition) to receive state-funded financial aid, including Cal Grants (a the UC and CSU level) and the Board of Governors Fee Waiver (at the Community College level). Qualified students must have attended California high schools for at least three years, graduated from a California high school, and filed for the AB540 Affidavit. It is estimated that 70% of those who will benefit from these laws will be legal permanent residents and naturalized citizens. This is the most generous state “Dream Act” that has been ever passed, and it was ten years in the making.

In-state tuition was won over 10 years ago with the leadership of mostly high school-aged students and the late Assemblymember Marco Firebaugh. After Assemblymember Firebaugh passed away in 2006, then Senator Gil Cedillo picked up the torch and worked diligently to ensure a victory. Bolstering the opportunities provided by AB540 and the California Dream Act, Assemblymember Ricardo Lara, a freshman and former Chief of Staff of the late Marco Firebaugh, introduced two bills that were also signed into law by Governor Brown. As of Janauary 1, 2012, AB844 states that any college student, regardless of her/his immigration status, will be allowed to serve in any capacity in student government and to receive any scholarship, fee waiver, or reimbursement for expenses incurred connected with that service, to the full extent consistent with existing law. As of January 1, 2012, AB176 states that test sponsors must provide an alternative method to prove her or his identity to a student who does not have a government-issued identification.

The California Dream Network, along with other advocates across the state, continues to organize to ensure that the California Dream Act comes into effect in 2013. Groups are developing plans to advise college campuses on how to implement the new law as well as strategizing to prevent the repeal of AB131 through a referendum lead by Assemblymember Tim Donnelly. Donnelly has until January 6 to collect over 500,000 signatures for the repeal to be placed on the ballot for the November 2012 election. Maryland passed its own version of the “Dream Act” earlier this year that would have granted undocumented students in-state tuition there, but opponents were able to get more than the 55,000 signatures needed in that state to take it to a statewide election in fewer than six weeks. They collected a total of 74,000 signatures.

In recent years, California has seen its share of ballot measures that seek to repeal laws passed by the legislature. It is a sad circumvention of democracy, as ballot measures often win based on infusions of corporate dollars and distorted facts rather than the true and informed will of the people. Immigrant leaders do not want to take any chances of diverting resources for proactive, pro-immigrant measures to deal with an anti-immigrant ballot attack. If you are interested in the efforts to protect the California Dream Act, please contact Joseph Villela at jvillela@chirla.org.

While we celebrate the victory of California Dream, we must also take action against the worst anti-immigrant law in the history of our country, signed into law in June 2011 and became law in September in Alabama. HB56 is an even greater violation of civil and human rights than the 2005 Sensenbrenner Bill, HR4437, and its purpose is to create a state of fear for all immigrants and people who “look like immigrants.” A lawsuit has been launched by a coalition of civil rights organizations, churches, and. most recently. by the federal government. While some provisions of the law have been enjoined for now, the litigation process has been mostly ineffective, with conservative judges leaving most of the provisions of HB56 in place. Among some of the provisions that are in effect:

• Law enforcement officers are authorized to check the immigration status of people they stop, detain, or arrest who they reasonably suspect are in the country unlawfully;
• The law requires people to prove their immigration status when they enter into a “business transaction” with the state of Alabama and makes it a felony for an unauthorized immigrant to enter into a “business transaction” with the state of Alabama. Business transactions include applying for a license plate, applying for or renewing a driver’s license, and applying for a business license;
• The law invalidates all contracts between an unauthorized immigrant and another person, except for one night’s lodging, food purchases, and medical services. Contracts include child support, rental, loan, and other agreements;
• The law requires law enforcement to transport those arrested for driving without a license
to the nearest magistrate and to check their immigration status.

Abuses against the civil rights of immigrants are not new in Alabama. In some counties, judges refuse to marry couples unless they can “show papers,” including a social security card, but there is no doubt that this is a worse attack on immigrant rights, even more regressive than SB1070 in Arizona. On a national level, defeating this law must become a priority. North Carolina and other states are considering copying this legislation since it has passed judicial tests. The impact on immigrant families is devastating. Thousands of children are missing from school, and those that are left are scared they will not see their parents when they come home from school each day. Women are afraid to go to prenatal visits, and even legal permanent residents are afraid of being profiled. Yet, there is hope across the state as black and white allies stand up against HB56. Students at Oakwood College, a traditionally Christian black college, did not know about the bill until the youth they serve in an afterschool program just stopped showing up. They organized a What About the Children demonstration in Montgomery, two hours away from campus, in order to lend their support to the community. White women whose husbands are immigrants are protesting the law. The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice has enlisted national and other immigrant rights groups to help respond to this humanitarian crisis. Grassroots organizers from across the country, including MIV anchor organization CHIRLA, have gone to Alabama to support local efforts, provide Know Your Rights trainings, and help identify new leadership throughout the state.

Alabama and California are on opposite poles of the immigrant right struggle. The many victories in California serve as a light of hope for communities in Alabama as well as Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina. We must defend these victories here in California while taking swift and decisive action to support the movement for justice in Alabama and across the country.

San Bernardino, California

Her Story

Born in El Salvador, Gloria Zometa Clavel was active in community organizing and participated in the Civil War in El Salvador in the 1980s. At the time, she worked at a university and experienced her politicization through the organizing of students. She was forced to leave her country as a political refugee during that time.

“It was very difficult to leave my roots and come to the United States,” shares Ms. Zometa Clavel. “As an immigrant you arrive and are faced with a totally different reality. It was a complete change at a cultural, language and communal level. In the United States, there is much more emphasis on the individual. In El Salvador, the focus is on collective practices and sharing.”

Librería del PUEBLO was founded by several leaders in San Bernardino and the Inland Valley who began their organizing in the local diocese of the Catholic Church. One of their early activities was selling Bibles and books, which was how their name was born. In the beginning, they worked to provide English classes, immigration and naturalization services, and other resources for communities in rural and urban areas throughout the Inland Valley. The mission of Librería del PUEBLO is to organize low-income communities so that they can take critical leadership roles for historic change. Immigration reform, health care, state budget reform, and housing rights are top issues for the leaders and members of Librería del PUEBLO.

Leadership Development

“In El Salvador, I did not confront the same challenges to women’s leadership as I see in the United States, so I’ve had to work through those conditions here,” shares Ms. Zometa Clavel. “I think one of the most important things to consider for women’s leadership development is patience and to realize that leadership development is a process. We have to build on the life experiences that women have.”

“We must look at every component of organizing as an opportunity for education and community building,” says Ms. Zometa Clavel. “Somos una familia. Somos una escuela. We’re a family. We’re a school.”

Civic Engagement and Policy Change

“One of the most important factors to remember for women, children and policy change is the focus on the whole family in all its aspects,” states Ms. Zometa Clavel. Librería del PUEBLO is currently working with Mobilize the Immigrant Vote and allied organizations to build the capacity and infrastructure of individuals and institutions in San Bernardino to have more influence over the decisions impacting their lives. The local Mobilize the Immigrant Vote table is collaborating with Wellstone Action to train local leaders and develop a voter engagement field plan for fall 2011 and 2012.

Conclusion

In 2010, Libreria Del Pueblo played an important role in the 2010 Census Outreach, efforts to protect the state budget, and advance immigration reform. In 2011, Librería del PUEBLO continues their leadership role for a fair state budget with California Partnership (CAP) and to advance immigrant civic engagement in the Inland Valley with Mobilize the Immigrant Vote. Ms. Zometa Clavel states, “our focus for our civic and voter engagement work is to build a stronger power base in the City of San Bernardino. Towards that end, we need to build up the organized power and alliances in the entire county.”

For more information about Ms. Zometa Clavel and Librería del PUEBLO, contact: Gloria Zometa Clavel or Father Patricio Guillen, www.ldpcalpulli.org . Librería del PUEBLO is a partner with the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Inland Valley/San Bernardino immigrant civic engagement table.

San Jose, California

Her Story

The child of immigrant parents from Durango and Guanajuato, Mexico, Patricia Diaz grew up in the small rural town of Soledad, California. She was raised in an environment full of rules and structures because they lived on an agricultural company ranch. In college, Ms. Diaz became engaged in the fight against Proposition 187, which sought to deny undocumented immigrants access to health care, education, and social services. This was a formative time for her and became a vehicle to leverage the experiences of her childhood into a trajectory of activism and leadership.

“After Proposition 187, we saw Proposition 227 and Proposition 209, which sought to eliminate bilingual education and affirmative action,” says Ms. Diaz, “I saw our state moving backwards rather than forwards. I had attended a K-8 school in a poor rural community with just 50 students, which taught me about the need for bilingual and quality education. Our school was always last in its scores, not because the students weren’t smart, but because of the lack of resources. Affirmative action helped open doors for me, and I felt a strong pull to take on these attacks on our communities and be a part of positive social change. I studied social work which was how I began to learn more about oppression. It was so powerful to understand the commonalities that women, people of color, and immigrants faced. In a social policy class, I saw the key role of public policy in affecting the options which poor and marginalized communities have access to. That was a turning point for me where I became clear on my life purpose – to improve the lives of poor communities and to ensure that poor and immigrant communities themselves take the lead in these changes.”

Today, Ms. Diaz is the Executive Director of Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) in San Jose. SIREN began as an ad-hoc coalition of immigrant rights activists and advocates in 1987 and has evolved to become one of the premiere immigrant rights organizations of Northern California with a leadership role in the California Immigrant Policy Center, the California Table of Reform Immigration for America, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote, and California Partnership. SIREN participates actively in regional and local networks affecting immigrants and refugees and is an emerging national leader promoting immigrant rights and services for immigrants. SIREN is unique among immigrant rights organizations in that it combines policy work, community organizing, and direct services.

Women’s Leadership Development

“If you have been marginalized in your life, it continues you with forever,” shares Ms. Diaz. “A critical step in leadership development in general and in the development of women’s leadership is to embrace the unique aspects you have as a leader and not to see your experiences and culture as a deficit. For example, I grew up in a home with no specific gender roles—everyone had to help, the children helped with cooking, cleaning and gardening; everyone had to contribute to sustain the whole. This experience of collaborative living has made a huge and positive impact on the leader I am today.”

“I have participated in the Ethnic Leadership Program of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits,” says Ms. Diaz. “Through this program, I have embraced the qualities I have as an ethnic woman leader. Before that, I tried to fit myself in a traditional model of leadership in which the leader is at the center, talks a lot, dominates, makes all the decisions, and is usually a man. Through workshops with the Ethnic Leadership Program, I’ve identified key leadership qualities that I possess, that many women leaders possess, and that are critical to success: transparency, shared leadership, and recognition of team efforts—none of which are the traditional qualities of leadership in the male-dominated paradigm.”

“In thinking about women’s leadership development, it is essential to start with a good understanding of the upbringing of the women involved. What are their ethnic histories? How have these experiences influenced their leadership styles? What are the challenges they face? What are the qualities they already possess to overcome challenges?”

Civic Engagement and Policy Change

In analyzing federal immigration reform, Ms. Diaz points to the fundamental reality that today’s society is still not safe and secure for women and therefore must be taken into consideration at every level of policy development. Sexual exploitation, denial of reproductive rights, lack of structural support to embrace a women’s choice to have children, lack of childcare in workplaces, and domestic violence are all critical issues for women and their children. “With the California Immigrant Policy Center, we have been working for years, and with great success, to protect the rights of immigrants and immigrant women through statewide policy change. Another important consideration for federal immigration reform is the need to integrate jobs that have been traditionally filled by women. For example, most current temporary worker programs proposals focus on jobs that are generally filled by men rather than domestic work and other jobs often done by immigrant women.”

Conclusion

Ms. Diaz continues to lead SIREN along with a team of talented staff, grassroots leaders, and allied organizations. 2011 will be a key year to promote naturalization, continue to defend the rights of immigrants and marginalized communities in the California budget, and strengthen SIREN’s integrated voter engagement efforts.

For more information on Ms. Diaz and SIREN, contact: Patricia Diaz, patty@siren-bayarea.org, www.siren-bayarea.org . Ms. Diaz serves on the Statewide Steering Committee of Mobilize the Immigrant Vote.