Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Coalition launches immigration reform initiative today

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition announced this press conference today to launch a comprehensive immigration reform initiative:

Broad Statewide Community Coalition Announces Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform


When: Wednesday, September 14th at 11:30 am

Where: Catholic Center of Nashville, 2400 21st Avenue South (click here for map)

Immigrants Share Our Values. It's Time To Share Our Values With Immigrants.
Over the past week, Tennessee's immigrant community has raised thousands of dollars, and collected tons of clothes and food for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Hardworking immigrant families, who understand how difficult it is to be uprooted from their homes and their communities, have made most of these donations. These efforts once again demonstrate that immigrants share our American values of compassion, family, and hard work. It's time to share these values with immigrants by passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform. For more information on recent Tennessee immigrant efforts to support Katrina victims, please click here or see below.


Immigrants Benefit Our Economy, and Our Economy Needs Immigrants Now More
Than Ever.
White House officials and Congressional budget experts estimate federal reconstruction costs for Katrina damages will exceed $100 billion (New York Times). As our nation prepares for these costly recovery efforts, we must reform our immigration system now to best support our nation's economic growth.


"Short of an...increase in immigration, economic growth cannot be safely counted upon to eliminate deficits and the difficult choices that will be required to restore fiscal discipline." Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Board
Who Will Be Attending:
Representatives from Tennessee's academic, religious, labor, business, and immigrant communities--as well as others who support immigrants--will be present to recognize the important contributions made by Tennessee's immigrant families, and the need for comprehensive reform of the nation's immigration system.

Some of those who will participate include:

Yvette Sebelist and Mario Ramos, members of American Immigration Lawyers Association
Jerry Lee, Tennessee AFL-CIO
Service Employees International Union of Tennessee
Reverend Henry Blaze, Progressive Baptist Church
Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission
Dr. Dan Cornfield, sociology professor at Vanderbilt University
Conexión Américas
Colombian Solidarity Network
Asociación Latina of Nashville
Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition
and many others!


What We Are Seeking: The Passage Of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation
Our immigration system should reflect this nation's values of family, hard work and fairness. Although it can still be improved, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, proposed by Arizona Senator John McCain, is the only bipartisan reform proposal that honors those values by putting into place a safe, legal, and orderly system, enabling hardworking immigrant families to fully contribute to our economy and our communities.**

If you have questions, please contact TIRRC's policy coordinator, Stephen Fotopulos, at stephen@tnimmigrant.org or 615-845-6672.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...