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As the Christmas season accelerates into full swing,
there are countless families among us who are unable to unite with loved ones
due to the state of our current immigration system. As people of faith, we
commit to be mindful of these families during the holidays.
Dare we DREAM again? On November 30th, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a new version of the DREAM Act (S.3992), with the aim of attracting broader support from Republicans for DREAM and in hopes of garnering the required 60 votes to pass the Senate during the current "lame duck" session of Congress. For the details about the changes made to this most recent version of DREAM, click here.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on
the DREAM act THIS Wednesday. Senator Reid is trying to schedule a vote for
this week as well, although an exact date hasn’t been announced.
Send an email to your senators and representative and
tell them to pass the DREAM Act this week.
Make a New Year's Resolution to advocate for immigration
reform Along with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, CCIR is supporting a YouTube
video campaign to collect New Year’s resolutions in support of immigrants. Check
out videos of others who have pledged to support immigration reform by
educating their communities, extending friendship toward immigrants, and urging
elected officials to enact humane immigration reform. Upload a video of your
own and join the movement!
Food, Faith, and Farmworkers Blog Series In November, CCIR
and the God’s Politics blog hosted a series on food, faith, and farmworker
justice. Take a look to learn more about how our immigration system impacts the
food we eat, ag jobs legislation, and workers’ rights.
U.S. clears the way for Haiti orphans The Help HAITI Act has
now been passed by both houses of Congress. It affects about 1,000 Haitian
orphans who were in the final stages of the adoption process when the
devastating quake hit in January 2010, leading U.S. and Haitian authorities to
allow the children to join their adoptive American parents quickly.
CBO Estimates DREAM Act Will Reduce The Deficit By $1.4
Billion Over Ten Years CBO released the
long-awaited cost estimate of the most recent version of the DREAM Act, S. 3992.
The CBO found that putting thousands of young, undocumented immigrants on a
path to legalization would reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion over 10 years.
Thank You!
In our final CCIR Newsletter for 2010, we want to thank you for standing with
us during a very busy year for immigration reform. Together, your advocacy
efforts helped a growing movement across the country host prayer vigils, lobby
Congress, petition the president, rally in D.C., protest in Phoenix, educate
clergy, be interviewed in the media, fast in solidarity, and DREAM of a different
future. We appreciate your partnership, and would like to ask you to support
our efforts to be a Christian voice for immigration reform in 2011.
In solidarity,
Rev. Jen Kottler and Andrew Simpson
Sojourners
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