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Welcome, we are the Hudson Valley Community Coalition
 

We are a coalition of concerned individuals and groups working together to address immigration solutions that include and work for everyone. We wish to expand the conversation about our diverse community and the value it brings to the people of the Hudson Valley.

 

We are part of the

New York Immigration Coalition

 

and partners with the

New York State Interfaith Network for Immigration Reform.

 

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The HVCC Blog

 

Immigration-related happenings and issues affecting the Hudson Valley

 

 

To post a comment, click on the "Read comments" link after that post.

 

November 20

The Immigration Reform Campaign Has Begun
After months of delays, the national campaign for immigration reform began Wednesday night. Rep. Luis Gutierrez held a national conference call which hooked up 16,000 telephone lines to a national center in Washington. While some of those phone lines were for individuals, many were to house parties from West Hempstead, New York, to East L.A. There were at least 800 house parties where people gathered to learn about immigration reform and plan action.
 
The last time immigration reform came before the Senate, the anti-immigrant groups out-phone called us by nearly 20 to 1. We can't let that happen again. We must bother our Congressional Representatives and Senators until they are sick of us.
 
Here is what you can do:
 
1. Click here and send an e-mail to your people on Capitol Hill. The computer will sort out who represents you by the address you give and the e-mail is already drafted, so it is as easy as can be.
2. Call your Congressperson next week with the simple message that we need immigration reform now. Here is the number of the Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121. Call it and ask for your Congressperson. After you speak to him or her, call back and talk to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand.
3. Come back to this site every week for new activities.
 
For more information on the schedule for immigration reform, check out this blog.
 
 
 
 


9:28 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 13

Immigration Reform Campaign Begins November 18
The anti-immigrant folks will begin their push against immigration reform with tea parties this weekend. A few days later, on November 18, we will begin the push to reform our broken immigration system.
 
A preliminary shot was fired today by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She told a gathering at the Center For American Progress that the Obama Administration was at last ready to begin the comprehensive immigration reform effort. She said that Homeland Security has addressed many of the concerns that led members of Congress to oppose reform in 2007:
 
These are major differences that should change the immigration conversation. In 2007, many members of Congress said that they could support immigration reform in the future, but only if we first made significant progress securing the border. This reflected the real concern of many Americans that the government was not serious about enforcing the law. Fast-forward to today, and many of the benchmarks these members of Congress set in 2007 have been met. For example, the Border Patrol has increased its forces to more than 20,000 officers, and DHS has built more than 600 miles of border fencing. Both of these milestones demonstrate that we have gotten Congress’ message.

We’ve also shown that the government is serious and strategic in its approach to enforcement by making changes in how we enforce the law in the interior of the country and at worksites. We have replaced old policies that merely looked tough with policies that are designed to actually be effective.

 

On November 18, Rep. Luis Gutierrez will begin the roll-out of his reform bill. The bill itself will be introduced in December.

Patrick Young, Esq.

Westchester Hispanic Coalition




9:22 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 06

Remembering Marcelo Lucero In The Hudson Valley
Marcelo Lucero was murdered a year ago by a lynch mob of seven young men next to the Long Island Rail Road station in Patchogue. His killing came after months of verbal attacks on the immigrant community by the Suffolk County Executive, Steve Levy, and other local politicians. Similar attacks by the same group of teens had been ignored as youthful pranks by the police, and immigrants had come to so mistrust their guardians that they stopped reporting crimes committed by young whites.
 
Marcelos' story might seem peculiar to Suffolk County, but we have seen elements of it here. Politicians in Putnam who try to court voters by scapegoating immigrants. A legal system in Rockland that releases a young man accused in a white supremacist beatdown of a Latino student on $1,000 bail, only to see the same young man arrested in a KKK t-shirt after making the shooting of another Latino with a pellet gun into a recreational sport.
 
The extension of Federal hate crime legislation a month ago was a fitting recommitment by our country to the notion that hate crimes divide communities and must be punished. We, as local residents, must take on the responsibility of making sure that our police and prosecutors take hate crimes seriously. We must insure that the growing list of Marcelo Luceros, half-a-dozen murdered in anti-immigrant shootings since he was killed, are not buried without our dedication to eradicate hate crimes.
 
Patrick Young, Esq.
Westchester Hispanic Coalition
Please go to Remember Marcelo Lucero to sign a petititon to help.


6:36 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 23

White Plains Police: New Program For Immigrant Women
The White Plains Police have initiated a new program to work with immigrant victims of domestic violence. The project, which is being designed in conjuntion with the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, will train officers in the best ways to work with immigrant women who have been victimized in their own homes. The partnership also provides immigration services for these women and their children to access help under the Violence Against Women Act (VOWA) and other legislation designed to allow them to escape their abusers.
 
-Patrick Young, Esq. Westchester Hispanic Coalition


7:53 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 16

Immigration Reform Moves Forward This Week
It got little notice in the press, but immigration reform took some major steps forward over the last week.
 
The Hudson Valley Community Coalition held a vigil to greet the news that Rep. Luis Gutierrez had released a set of principles to guide the immigration reform process. Apart from his reiterated support for the DREAM Act, Gutierrez drew the most attention with his legalization proposal:

Immigration reform will not work unless it takes a practical approach to dealing with the 12 million undocumented immigrants living, working, and raising families in the United States. We need a bill that says if you come here to hurt our communities, we will not support you. But if you are here to work hard—if you are here to make a better life for your family—you will have the opportunity to earn your citizenship.
 

Our immigrants are hardworking, and they are up to the challenge. Give them the opportunity to earn their citizenship, and they will go through the background checks; they will pay their fair share of taxes; and they will learn English. It’s not an easy process, but it is a fair process.

Thousands of immigrant rights supporters attended a rally backing Gutierrez's proposal.

Even more important than the rallies and the Gutierrez proposal was a vote by the conservative National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to support comprehensive immigration reform, including earned legalization for the undocumented. This lynchpin of conservative politics had been on the sidelines in 2007 during the last great immigration debate. NAE support may provide some key Republican Senators with the cover they need to vote for reform.

 

-Patrick Young, Esq. Weschester Hispanic Coalition
 



7:55 AM GMT  |  Read comments(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 18:

 

Family Freedom and Faith: A Call to Action for Immigration Reform

 

 

 

Join a national town hall with Congressman Luis Gutierrez and guests for an exciting conversation about the next steps in the fight for immigration reform. People will be joining the town hall parties all across the country on November 18 - host a party or find one near you!

Learn more > >