- Action #1: Advocate for a pathway to citizenship – Sign NAKASEC’s petition
- Action #2: Advocate for a pathway to citizenship – Call your legislators and Sen. Schumer.
- Action #3: Write to V.P. Harris.
- NAKASEC letter to V.P. Kamala Harris
We are tired of two rogue Democratic Senators and an unelected parliamentarian preventing the progress America needs. Today, at the Ellipse in DC, 51 people, representing the 51 votes required to pass the larger Build Back Better package, participated in a dramatic and traditional method of protest – shaving their heads as an act of personal sacrifice to demand that Vice President Harris fight harder to include a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants in the package, many of whom are on the front lines as essential workers during this prolonged pandemic.
States event organizer NAKASEC – “The historical and cultural significance of a bald head cannot be understated. In religious context, a shaved head signifies one’s separation from the material and superficial world. Across cultures and generations, hair holds great significance and meaning. To voluntarily cut off or shave one’s head is an act of strength, rebellion, and devotion to one’s cause.“
Action #1: Advocate for a pathway to citizenship – Sign NAKASEC’s petition
Vice President Harris can reverse the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous legacy on immigration by DISREGARDING the parliamentarian’s non-binding advisory opinion and provide permanent relief for millions of undocumented immigrants.
Sign their petition here: https://nakasec.org/c4all-action
(Founded in 1994, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium’s (NAKASEC) mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, economic, and racial justice. NAKASEC’s founding organizing values are: Live Right, Live Strong, Know Your Roots, and Live Together.)
Action #2: Advocate for a pathway to citizenship – Call your legislators and Sen. Schumer.
Minimum call script to your legislators: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Rep./Sen. [___] to have USCIS clear the backlog of 100,000+ unprocessed DACA applications, and requests, extend the deadlines, and for Congress to pass a clear pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States today, including essential workers and their family members, with no criminal carveouts or border funding, through budget reconciliation.
Minimum email script to your legislators: (ADD PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT YOUR FAMILY’s IMMIGRATION JOURNEY IF YOU CAN.) I’m writing to urge Rep./Sen. [___] to have USCIS clear the backlog of 100,000+ unprocessed DACA applications, and requests, and for Congress to pass a clear pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States today, including essential workers and their family members, with no criminal carveouts or border funding, through budget reconciliation.
While we wait for you all to work through the details on budget reconciliation for permanent protections through a path to citizenship, DACA statuses are expiring due to USCIS’ unreasonably long processing delays. Please have DHS add the DACA category (c)(33) to the list of DHS’s rule on automatic 180 day extension of work authorization for certain categories when EAD renewal request is received.
Remind the parlimentarian that we’ve done this before. A 20-year study of immigrants legalized under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) during the Reagan administration showed that as they became able to open bank accounts, buy homes and start businesses, “…It was a boon for not just those families, but for the their communities as well,” said Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. He added that the economic payoffs of mass legalization could be even greater today given the demographic challenges that the US is currently facing..
We are holding Congress and Biden to their campaign promises and if you’re serious about supporting the immigrant community then show us with your actions. Fix the backlog of unprocessed DACA requests and pass a path to citizenship NOW.
Minimum call script to Senator Schumer: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen.Schumer to ignore the parliamentarian’s advice and pass thru a pathway to citizenship this year through the budget reconciliation package. (Contact at (202) 224- 6542.
Contact:
- Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26): email, DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
- or Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24): email. DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
- Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
- and Senator Padilla: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (310) 231-4494, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 981-9369, SD (619) 239-3884
- Who is my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com
Action #3: Write to V.P. Harris.
(ADD PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT YOUR FAMILY’s IMMIGRATION JOURNEY IF YOU CAN.)
Dear Vice President Harris,
On Oct. 5th, at least 51 people, representing 51 Senate votes needed to pass the Build Back Better plan, made a powerful personal sacrifice at the Ellipse to gain your attention to the continuing trauma of our country’s inaction on immigration.
I agree both with them and every word of the letter delivered to you by NAKASEC and 58 other organizations representing immigration, social justice and religious groups, urging you to override the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling against including a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation package.
We took your campaign promises to deliver such legislation in the first 100 days seriously, and 70% of Americans recognize that there is a moral imperative to do so. This would not be the first time that the Senate Parliamentarian has been overruled, nor the first time our country has legalized the status of our undocumented immigrant communities. Under Reagan, millions were given the opportunity take their full place as citizens, which a 20-year study found to be a boon for both their families and our economy as well. If everything must ultimately be measured in money, the economic payoffs of mass legalization could be even greater today given the demographic challenges that the US is currently facing.
You have the power to overturn the parliamentarian’s advice for the sake of an immigrant community that has been so necessary to both the financial and physical wellbeing of our country, especially for the millions who have served as essential workers through this terrible pandemic.
They have proved themselves to be courageous, we ask that you be so as well.
Contact: whitehouse.gov/contact
NAKASEC action and letter to V.P. Kamala Harris
NAKASEC, CASA, community members and allies hosted this action demanding the attention and action of Vice President Kamala Harris. Video from the event here – https://www.facebook.com/nakasec/videos/1064852807388083
The historical and cultural significance of a bald head cannot be understated. In religious context, a shaved head signifies one’s separation from the material and superficial world. Across cultures and generations, hair holds great significance and meaning. To voluntarily cut off or shave one’s head is an act of strength, rebellion, and devotion to one’s cause.“
During the 1960s and 70s, when South Korea was under military dictatorship, dissidents would often shave their heads as a sign of resistance.” In 2016, 900 Koreans shaved their heads protesting the planned installation of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea. Shaving one’s head is an act of resistance, especially as it challenges long-held and oftentimes oppressive notions of piety and beauty.
To shave one’s head is to say, clearly: “We reject the parliamentarian’s arbitrary recommendation. We refuse to be ignored or delayed again. Our communities need citizenship NOW. We are committed to this fight, we are committed to fulfillment THIS YEAR, and we will not be swayed by fear or political in-fighting.”Once Vice President Harris ignores the parliamentarian’s advice, we will look to Senate Democrats to finish the job and fulfill their long-standing promises.
This letter was deliverted to Vice President Kamala Harris by immigrant organizations with impacted memberships. The letter was signed by groups including NAKASEC Action Fund, CASA in Action, CPD Action, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Make the Road New York and FIRM Action. It illuminates the ease with which Vice President Kamala Harris can disregard the parliamentarian’s advice — and the urgency with which she must.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 