SIREN Applauds Passage of the DREAM Act and the American Promise Act by House Judiciary Committee

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 24, 2019

Contact: mediainquiries@siren-bayarea.org; (408) 453-3003

Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) Applauds Passage of the DREAM Act and the American Promise Act by House Judiciary Committee

House of Representatives must pass clean legislation during floor vote

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee successfully passed the DREAM Act and the  American Promise Act . These bills would provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA-recipients, DREAMers, and recipients of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). The Committee also passed legislation protecting Venezuelans in the United States. During the committee vote, members were able to successfully defeat various anti-immigrant amendments proposed on these bills.

The following is a statement from Maricela Gutiérrez, Executive Director of SIREN:

“Ever since Trump has taken office, the lives of DREAMers, DACA-recipients, and TPS holders have been plagued by uncertainty about their ability to remain in the country as cases have been litigated in the courts. Congress has long had the power to provide permanent protections to immigrants. Yesterday’s votes by the House Judiciary Committee to advance these two pieces of legislation means that we have overcome a major hurdle in making that a reality. We continue to remain concerned with provisions in the legislation that could bar individuals for certain criminal offenses and will continue to fight for clean legislation as it makes its way to the House floor. ”

Help support our efforts to fight for legislation advancing the rights of immigrant and refugee communities by making a donation to SIREN today. Thank you!

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La Red de Servicios, Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Educación (SIREN) aplaude la aprobación de la Ley DREAM y la Ley de Promesas Estadounidenses por parte del Comité Judicial de la Cámara de Representantes

La Cámara de Representantes debe aprobar una legislación limpia durante la votación en el piso.

Ayer, el Comité Judicial de la Cámara aprobó con éxito el acto de DREAM y el acto American Promise. Estos proyectos de ley proporcionarían un camino hacia la ciudadanía para los destinatarios de DACA, los DREAMers y los beneficiarios del estado de protección temporal (TPS) y la salida forzada diferida (DED). El comité también aprobó una legislación que protege a los Venezolanos en los Estados Unidos. Durante la votación del comité, los miembros pudieron derrotar exitosamente varias enmiendas anti-inmigrantes propuestas en estos proyectos de ley.

La siguiente es una declaración de Maricela Gutiérrez, Directora Ejecutiva de SIREN:

“Desde que Trump asumió el cargo, la vida de los DREAMers, los beneficiarios de DACA y los titulares de TPS se vieron afectados por la incertidumbre acerca de su capacidad de permanecer en el país, ya que los casos se han litigado en los tribunales. El Congreso siempre ha tenido el poder de proporcionar protecciones permanentes a los inmigrantes. Los votos de ayer por el Comité Judicial de la Cámara de Representantes para avanzar estos dos instrumentos legislativos significan que hemos superado un obstáculo importante para hacer que esto sea una realidad. Seguimos preocupados por las disposiciones de la legislación que podrían prohibir a las personas por ciertos delitos penales y seguiremos luchando por una legislación limpia mientras se dirige al piso de la Cámara. ”

Ayude a apoyar nuestros esfuerzos para luchar por una legislación que promueva los derechos de las comunidades de inmigrantes y refugiados haciendo una donación a SIREN hoy. ¡Gracias!

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SIREN is an immigrant rights organization based in Northern California and the Central Valley. Its mission is to empower low-income immigrants and refugees through community education and organizing, leadership development, policy advocacy, civic engagement and legal services. We believe that all people regardless of legal status or nationality are entitled to essential services, human dignity, basic rights and protections, and access to full participation in society.

Maricela Gutiérrez - Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network
http://siren.nationbuilder.com/

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The opportunity to LEAD. DREAM. VOTE. 

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Hundreds of Youth Walkout and March to San Jose City Hall and Federal Building in Support of Clean DREAM Act and TPS and to Denounce Cruel ICE Enforcements

SIREN Press Release 3/6/18
Media Contact: Erik Schnabel
Communications Manager
erik@siren-bayarea.org

Hundreds of Youth Walkout and March to San Jose City Hall and Federal Building in Support of Clean DREAM Act and TPS and to Denounce Cruel ICE Enforcements

Yesterday, hundreds of high school and college students walked out of classrooms across San Jose to urge congressional action on a Clean DREAM Act and Temporary Protective Status, and also denounce recent abusive ICE actions in Northern and Central California that resulted in the 232 people being detained. The local action, led by Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), was part of a National Day of Action for a Clean DREAM Act, that saw actions all across the U.S. and a civil disobedience campaign in Washington D.C. urging Congress to act. As students converged on the plaza in front of San Jose City Hall, speakers took the stage to share why they felt the need for action that resulted in student walkouts. Several of the speakers who have received DACA addressed the personal impact of the Trump Administration ending the DACA program, and Congress failing to act to find a permanent solution for the affected young people. As student speaker Amairani Oronia said, “DACA has given me the opportunity to work and go to college. I have protection from immigration because of DACA but for how long?” Although speakers discussed how important DACA is to them, they were also clear that they weren’t willing to compromise their family members in order to get see DACA passed. Several of the speakers referred to various legislative solutions that have been discussed which proposed passage of DACA at the expense of criminalizing their parents for bringing them here or that pushed for the end of certain family categories in the family reunification immigrant program. Many of the speakers also denounced the recent ICE actions across Northern and Central California that occurred last week, which saw the arrest of 232 people. As has been well documented, ICE actions were extremely troubling and caused widespread panic among immigrant communities; with report of racial profiling, ICE vans driving around public parking lots, denial of detainees access to counsel, and various abusive practices. As SIREN Youth Leader, Nithya Badrinath stated in her speech, “ICE has deported, is deporting and wants to deport even more people who came to this country to chase the American Dream, the ideal that this country was founded on, to escape violence and hardship in their native countries, and to live a normal life where they can feel safe and protected”. After gathering at San Jose City Hall to hear the speakers, the youth then marched to the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building to continue the rally, before returning to San Jose City Hall to finish the action.

 

Donate to SIREN and give the gift of opportunity.
The opportunity to LEAD. DREAM. VOTE. 

Donate here:

https://siren.nationbuilder.com/donate

The Fight for DREAMers Continues!

Last year SIREN received the news that President Trump was ending the DACA program with shock, anger and sadness. We channeled these feelings into our policy and advocacy work, in the hopes that we could get a permanent legislative solution for DACA recipients.

To our surprise, just a few weeks ago, a court ruling allowed for a re-opening of the DACA renewal process, providing a temporary ray of light in the fight for justice for DREAMers. This has created a small window of time to be able to submit DACA renewals.  

SIREN’s legal team is trying to submit as many DACA renewals as possible before things may change. Although our team is already at capacity in providing legal services to the immigrant community, we are directing all of our energy to ensuring that we can help as many people as possible. We are proud to share that the entire DACA renewal process has been free through SIREN, as we are processing these renewals at no-cost, and ensuring that the $495 application renewal fee is waived.

But we need your help today! In order to be able to continue to provide free legal help with DACA renewal applications, and to cover all the applications fees at no cost to the applicant, SIREN needs your financial support.

Your donation ensures that we can hire additional lawyers to help keep up with the increased demand. We would like to also train additional volunteers to take some of the burden off of our attorneys to lighten their load and provide more capacity to complete applications.

Your donation today can help make a difference in the lives of local DACA recipients, and ensure that they have the support they need to renew their application and continue to fight for a permanent solution.

Will you please make a donation today to help SIREN help DACA renewal applicants today? Donate here.  Thank you for your continued support.

In community spirit,

Maricela Gutiérrez

Executive Director