Last night, House Speaker Paul Ryan was questioned regarding his stance on immigration reform and DACA during a townhall with Jake Tapper (full transcript available here). Below, Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, responds to Speaker Ryan. “Empty promises from the Speaker will not protect Dreamers, nor...
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A printer-friendly version of this blog post is available here. This year is already shaping up to be a year of protest, from the 70-city “Here To Stay” pro-immigrant mobilizations on January 14th, to the Women’s March on Washington on January 21st. In the spirit of powerful resistance, I...
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One of the first immigration battles of the incoming Trump administration will center on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the young people it benefits. Senate confirmation hearings this week for both Attorney General nominee, Senator Jeff Sessions, and Department of Homeland Security...
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A coalition of more than 60 Nebraska leaders, including leaders from the state’s civic, law enforcement, business, faith, and health communities, signed a public letter in support of the state’s DACA recipients and their families. “We strongly urge you to preserve DACA so that these important community members can...
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Denisse Rojas, a medical school student and DACA recipient from California, writes in a personal testimony how the program transformed her life and called on members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject anti-immigrant Jeff Sessions’ nomination for Attorney General. Denisse, who was present at yesterday’s Senate Judiciary hearing, writes that...
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Two of the Most Telling and Disturbing Exchanges During Day One of Sen. Sessions’ AG Hearings During the first day of Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, two particular topics and exchanges caught our eye: Sessions reiterated his longstanding view that the DACA...
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Oscar Vazquez, a formerly undocumented immigrant and US Army veteran, opened Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions’ second confirmation hearing today with powerful testimony about his contributions to the United States. “My name is Oscar Vazquez,” he said, “and I am proud to be an American.” Oscar Vazquez, a former...
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Faith leaders, including Rev. William Barber, Rev. Jennifer Butler, and Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, led a “Moral March Against Trump’s Cabinet of Bigotry” yesterday in Washington, D.C. in the run up to Jeff Sessions’ hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. “Because of our love of neighbor and country, people...
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As Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearings begin today, Joseph Tanfani of the Los Angeles Times has a new piece documenting Sessions’ longstanding ties to extreme anti-immigrant groups like NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform. As Tanfani notes, “With Sessions poised to be an influential voice on immigration policy in...
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A Vote to Confirm is a Vote for Everything He Does in Office Senator Jeff Sessions’ longstanding views and record on civil rights, voting rights and immigration make him unfit to serve as Attorney General. Surely, this should be cause for a difficult confirmation process. But, according to Paul Kane’s Washington Post story,...
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