National Day of Action for Immigrant Rights

Concerned over the course of the immigration reform process and the decision by President Barack Obama to postpone the meeting he had scheduled for June 17 to meet with a bipartisan group of legislators, many organizations will be holding vigils and other activities today, June 16.

Below you can find: 1) a press release from Reform Immigration for America, regarding the presidential decision to postpone the June 17 meeting and 2) a sample of the grassroots activites being carried out, in the case in San Francisco.

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PRESS RELEASE from Immigration Reform FOR America Campaign
For Immediate Release Contact:
June 12, 2009 Katherine Vargas: (202) 641-5198
Shuya Ohno (202) 309-5645
WHITE HOUSE IMMIGRATION MEETING:
DELAY IS A MISTAKE, BUT NOT A SETBACK
Washington, DC – A meeting the President was slated to have Wednesday (June 17) at the White House with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on immigration reform has been delayed. The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, speaking on behalf of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign, a recently launched national campaign to get comprehensive immigration reform passed this year.

We think delaying the meeting is a mistake. Momentum is building for comprehensive immigration reform with more and more Americans demanding solutions. The President is too smart not to move on immigration reform this year. We don’t see this as a signal that President Obama is stepping back from reform.

All the lights are green, with strong polling support for reform that helps strengthen the economy; hundreds of thousands of calls and faxes into Congressional offices generated by the campaign last week and more are expected next week; and both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the debate on comprehensive immigration reform is coming soon.

Reform that gets immigrants here illegally into the system and on the books, gets workers and employers all playing by the same set of rules, and reestablishes a legal immigration system that works so that people will use it – that is a winning political and policy proposition. Americans want their leaders in Washington to solve tough problems and immigration is no exception.

We fully expect the President’s strong leadership. Congress needs to act and delaying the White House meeting doesn’t change that.
# # #
For more information on the Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign, please
visit www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org or www.reformamigratoriaproamerica.org

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***PRESS ADVISORY***

Contact: Lorena Melgarejo, SFOP at (415) 724-4987

President Obama postpones once more the WHITE HOUSE IMMIGRATION MEETING:
DELAY IS A MISTAKE, BUT NOT A SETBACK

San Francisco Faith Leaders and Families join a
NATIONAL DAY of ACTION for IMMIGRANT RIGHTS at a
Vigil and Press Conference at the Federal Building to tell President Obama that Immigrant Families can no longer Wait for Immigration Reform


WHO: Interfaith Clergy Leaders and Families from San Francisco


WHAT: Vigils and Actions will be held in major cities in the US to ask President Obama to keep his promise to immigrants of Comprehensive Immigration Reform this year. This call to action happened because the meeting the President was slated to have Wednesday (June 17th) at the White House with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on immigration reform has been delayed by the President for the second time. Advocates from around the nation want to let the President know that our immigrant families can no longer wait for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.


WHERE: 450 Golden Gate at the steps of the Federal Building

WHEN: TUESDAY, June 16th, 2009
4:00pm

For more information, contact Lorena Melgarejo at (415) 724-4987 or lorena@sfop.org

SFOP is a federation of 30 congregations, schools, and community centers representing more than 40,000 families in San Francisco . SFOP is a member of the PICO National Network.