Showing posts with label Mass Hope 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mass Hope 2010. Show all posts

Mass Hope 2010 - UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, June 21, 2010 7:15 AM

Mass Hope 2010 is now on Day 14/Night 14 of our ongoing 24-7 vigil protesting the hateful anti-immigrant redundant and costly Senate budget amendments.

This week has been exciting: On Thursday, Lara gave us a workshop on “Communicating your Message and Talking to Press,” Justin facilitated a chat on immigration, nationalism/nativism, and good books to read, and The Boston Interpreters Collective, Cecily and Fedelma, gave an excellent workshop on interpretation. Yesterday, Voices of Liberation and El movimiento para estudios latin@s put on an Open Mic night and we were all repeatedly surprised by the beauty and power of their dance and spoken word. And today, we finished an intense game of futbol with the Boston Interpreters Collective. The front steps of the State House are now REAL public space-- a community space where people can feel safe and draw energy from others and wonderful groups and organizations can meet, get to know one another and share strategy and resources.

And we need to community and movement as we continue. We are now at a time of great urgency and we need to mobilize and act NOW.

The Conference Committee will make their decision (or already have made their decision) this Monday on June 21st and we will be ready for their decision. We need to show our strength and power in the upcoming days with our events:

Monday June 21st
10 AM- Meet at State House and go on legislative visits to Six leads of Conference Committee to pass in petitions (over 1,000 signatures!)
12Noon- Press Conference in front of the State House
ALL DAY- Flood Conference Committee with calls and emails
Please tell your members to call their respective Senators and Representatives as well as Governor Patrick, 617-725-4005
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, 617-722-2500
Rep. Charles Murpy of Burlington, 617-722-2990
Rep. Barbara L'Italien of Andover, 617-722-2380
Senate President Therese Murray, 617-722-1500
Sen. Steven Panagiotakos of Lowell, 617-722-1630
Sen. Stephen Brewer of Dorchester, 617-722-1540
Even if your Representative and Senator voted against these anti-immigrant amendments, please call them anyways! And support them!)

Tuesday June 22nd
4PM- Rally in front of the State House

Wednesday June 23rd
1PM- Public Hearing inside the State House

We are committing to hold this vigil if the budget contains any of these amendments because they are all dangerous and hurtful to our immigrant and greater communities. We won't stop and we will maintain our ongoing vigil until there is justice, until Massachusetts is a welcoming home for all, and until these amendments are retracted or vetoed by Governor Patrick.

Thank you.

Student Immigrant Movement, ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, Arlington Church, Asian American Resource Workshop, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Boston Interpreters Collective, Boston May Day Committee, Brazilian Immigrants Center, Cambridge Community Services, Centro Presente, Chinese Progressive Association, Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, Deported Diaspora, El Movimiento Estudiantes Latin@s, Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative, International Action Center, International Socialist Organization, Irish Immigrant Center, Jobs with Justice, Massachusetts Metropolitan Interfaith Congregations Acting for Hope (MICAH), Matahari : Eye of the Day, MIRA Coalition, New Sanctuary Movement, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM), Resist the Raids, SEIU 615, Sociedad Latina, Student Labor Action Network (SLAM), Veterans for Peace, Voices of Liberation

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Friday June 18th - SPEAK OUT AT STATE HOUSE

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:02 AM

Voices of Liberation in solidarity with Student Immigrant Movement Present:
"Todos Somos Arizona/We all Arizona"
Speak Out/Open Mic

Friday June 18, 2010
6-9pm

Location: Steps of State House!

www.voicesofliberation.org
www.simforus.com 

Contact: Lily
(857)204-5550
lily.yimche.huang@gmail.com


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SIM holds a 24/7 Vigil In protest of MA Immigration Amendments

Friday, June 11, 2010 11:56 AM

Support the action Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) is organizing against the MA amendments that were just passed in the Senate.

These budget amendments, if accepted by the House of Rep, would detrimentally affect our immigrant and greater community. These amendments include:

  • Requiring businesses that work with the state to use some system (like E-verify) to verify paperwork, or the business will lose contract with government and be fined. (Verifying immigration status for employees is the federal government's responsibility, not our state's job.)
  • Fining higher penalties for being caught with false documents, for example from $50 to $250 for ID's
  • Denying access to assisted housing programs for undocumented people (This would leave many U.S. citizen children and family members homeless and increase government spending on motels, shelters and housing in the future.)
  • Requiring stricter requirements for housing, social security and health benefits, documented or undocumented (This is redundant for undocumented peoples because they currently receive no social security, welfare nor food stamps, receive basic necessary health insurance and do not benefits in the federal housing projects and vouchers. This requirement would make receiving benefits for all, especially poor and lower income people, more difficult and stricter.)
  • Creating an anonymous tip line to report suspicious people using false documents, business hiring undocumented people and people who are undocumented and mandating investigations of all no matter how uncredible the reports are. (This is a hateful part of the law, requiring neighbors to spy and report on neighbors, ex-partners, students and hearsay. This is putting the federal government's job of immigration reform in the hands of the MA state investigators and in individuals' hands which would bankrupt and use tax dollars to follow up on less than credible reports.
  • Barring undocumented students from receiving In-State tuition. (This is redundant since MA undocumented students do not receive In-State tuition but it would block the five years of work that the Student Immigrant Movement has done to push for In-State tuition for undocumented students.)
  • Blocking limited and basic health care for undocumented people. (This is hateful and dangerous for the immigrant community as well as public health, creating barriers to basic health care for all, which is a human right, and therefore putting us all at risk for higher emergency costs, communal diseases and sicknesses.)
  • We need to do something about these amendments and tell our Representatives and Senators that they do not represent what the people of MA want or need, we do not want Arizona in Massachusetts, we do not want the most hateful and anti-immigrant bill created in the last five years and we do not want to scapegoat our immigrant community for greater socio-economic issues. 
Because our friends were hurting and thousands across MA are scared and already talking about the repression and the pressure to leave, we had to turn our fears into hope and action. Student Immigrant Movement is holding an day and all night vigil in front of the State House that will not end until the Senate, House of Representatives and Governor Patrick address the amendements and understand that this is not what MA wants.

Press Coverage of the Vigil
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