RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE MARCH 21ST MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

 Whereas, The Mayor and City Council of Chicago have gone on record calling for an immediate moratorium on raids, deportations and separation of families until comprehensive immigration reform in passed;

And Whereas, the Mayor and City Council of Chicago have also gone on record calling for immediate consideration and passage of comprehensive immigration reform;

And, Whereas, the actual number of arrests and consequent separation of families including many U.S. citizens has actually increased in number during this administration in comparison with the Bush administration,

And, Whereas, many of these U.S. citizens deprived cruelly of their family members during these last months are residents of the city of Chicago and are our neighbors, fellow workers and members of our churches; and

Whereas, although there is a democratic controlled Congress, no legislation for comprehensive immigration reform was brought to consideration in the first 14 months of this administration for consideration;

and Whereas a national march on Washington has been called for March 21^st which represents a de facto deadline for the consideration of comprehensive immigration reform during this administration;

Whereas the leaders of Familias Unidas have asked the Mayor and members of the City Council to accompany and support them, representing the stated will and determination of this city council;

Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Mayor and City Council proclaim March 21st, 2010, as “Faith and Family Day of Prayer for Immigration Reform” and endorses the March 21^st March on Washington.

Be it further resolved that the Mayor and members of the City Council will make every effort to ride on one of the buses to Washington leaving March 20th to make clear the City of Chicago’s commitment to an immediate moratorium on raids, deportations and separation of families and to the immediate passage of comprehensive immigration reform.

And be it Further Resolved that a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and sent to the Illinois Congressional delegation and to the President of the United States.

Mobilization to Washington, D.C. (March 21, 2010)

By Emma Lozano

We are here to say to Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed and Dick Durbin that you have 30 days to keep your promise to the Latino community – or we will leave you where we found you when we voted you into office.  Friends keep promises.  Are you our friends?  

You have not only broken your promise to move immigration reform you have made the situation worse – deporting more people, separating more families, breaking more children’s hearts than did the Republicans in their final year.  You have the power – you must use it or lose it.  We will not live peacefully in a nation that is at war with our community and our families.  

Do not mistake our faith for weakness.  Remember Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  What God has put together, no man, no government should tear apart.  We will put on the armor of the Lord and we will go to Washington.  It is showdown time.  We are united as never before.  We will mobilize as never before.  The ground is shaking.  Justice delayed is justice denied. We will be in Washington with all of our families, all of our churches, all of our young men and women.  We pray that God sends you there to meet us with a bill already introduced and moving in both the House and the Senate.

Adelante a Washington !  From now on, Not one step backwards !

FAMILIA LATINA UNIDA BULLETIN

Dear Friends,

      Many of you attended the January 18th rally for Full Citizenship/Full Employment for Full Equality and many of you have fought with us for years to fix the broken immigration law. We thank you for your participation and your commitment.

      Much has has happened since January 18th. The Demand for President Obama and the Democratic Leadership to keep their promise to the Latino community has spread across the nation and thousands of people in cities and towns have joined to organize for a FINAL NOTICE ASSEMBLY on March 21st. We are preparing for a historic MARCH ON WASHINGTON.

      For 15 long years, under the leadership of Emma Lozano and Elvira Arellano, Familia Latina Unida has organized to stop the separation of families. We have testified at every level of government, marched in the hundreds of thousands, stood strong with Elvira in Sanctuary and then, finally, voted in record numbers to put Obama and the Democrats in control of the government.

      We joined with Congressman Gutierrez and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to hold Family Unity Hearings across the nation last year and then went to Washington D.C. as our Congressman introduced a fair immigration bill that would provide legalization for our people and keep our families together.

      Still President Obama and the Democrats, including Senator Durbin here in Illinois, have not made good on their promise to move immigration reform through the Congress. They have put our families at the bottom of their list of priorities. In fact more people have been deported – more families separated – under Obama then during the last year of the Bush administration!

      We are setting our own deadline. President Obama and the Democrats must move immigration reform by March 21st or we will withdraw our support for them in the upcoming elections and we will move our struggle into the streets. No Legalization – No Reelection!

  Join Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Familia Latina Unida and Organizations across the nation in this historic march on Washington. If unable to go to Washington, we are asking for a commitment to help someone else with the cost of the trip. WE MUST MAKE OUR STAND ON MARCH 21ST !

      Call Senator Durbin and President Obama today and tell them you demand immigration reform now ! We are only asking for the right to work and raise our families in the ways of the Lord. If God be for us, who can stand against us !

TAKE YOUR PLACE IN HISTORY ON MARCH 21ST !

By Elvira Arellano 

It is said that to change the world you must first change yourself. The struggle in our community for immigration reform now requires each of us, individually, to look deeply into ourselves and confront the demons of doubt that so often make us weak.

      While I was organizing Familia Latina Unida and during that long year I spent in my church in Sanctuary in Chicago, there were always voices of discouragement. Sometimes they were angry and vicious. The voices said we had no chance to win and that I was foolish to keep on struggling. I confess I had times of despair and self-doubt.

      In first Corinthians, Saint Paul writes, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.’”

  The “Wise ones” are always telling us that we cannot win, that it is not our time, that no one will listen to us. They try to make our cause seem foolish and to create doubts and divisions in our hearts. When these voices surround us, we have to rely on our faith.

      Our community has done so much to win the right for families to stay together, to work hard and raise our children in the ways of the Lord. We stood up, we marched and finally we elected President Obama and the Democrats in Congress. We have waited for over a year for them to keep their promise and still they will not set a date to pass immigration reform. Every day, more people are deported, more lose their jobs, and more families are separated. The voices are telling us that there is nothing we can do.

      Saulito and I marched in Mexico City last month, surrounding the U.S. embassy with over 5,000 people on January 20th, demanding legalization. We waited – and wondered – what the movement in the United States would do. Then we heard. Congressman Luis Gutierrez has called for a March on Washington on March 21st!

      The Congressman and organizations across the nation have said that we must set our own deadline for Obama and the democrats to fulfill their promise and we must do it with force and with our numbers. If they have not moved immigration reform by March 21st, than they no longer deserve our community’s support. No legalization, no re-election!

      Even as I rejoiced at the news of the historic march on Washington, I heard the demons of doubts, the voices of discouragement, beginning around us. “It is not your time, your efforts are foolish.” The voices claim to be wise in the ways of politics.

      Don’t listen to them!

      The truth is this: we don’t have a right to give up our struggle! We don’t have the right to give up and turn our backs on our children, on our families, on our neighbors. What God has joined together, no man, and no government can be allowed to separate.

      Why did so many millions of us go to the north to work and raise families? Well, why was Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt only to rise with God’s hand to bring his own people to Egypt and save them from starvation? God brought so many million Latinos to the United States so that our families and our people would survive, be fruitful and multiply. It is our destiny and we will change the United States for the better. Latinos will not only save themselves but when we win legalization the Latino community will help that nation work its way out of its economic depression – because we are the workers! 

      When Jesus sent out his disciples he gave them the authority to heal the sick and drive out demons. Today, He gives us the authority to drive out the demons of doubt and the voices of desperation. Let every person look deep into themselves and face the demons and grow strong in their faith – and then begin to prepare to take their place in history on March 21st in Washington D.C.

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

Dear President Obama:

We write to you today as a way to strike a chord of continuity and remembrance echoing our letter to you almost exactly one year ago with congratulations upon your inauguration as the first U.S President of African-American origin, and also as the first in modern times to be the child of an immigrant…