It’s decision time for hundreds of pieces of legislation in California this week. Make some calls!

The Senate’s fiscal committee will decide the fate of bills on Thursday, June 1^st; the Assembly will do so on Friday, June 2^nd. The ones that pass will then move to the opposite house.

With our strong Democratic majority, California has the ability to counter some of the negative policies coming out of Washington D.C. Our friends at Indivisible San Francisco short-listed some of the most important bills. If you have time this week, please pick the ones that speak the most to you, and make some phone calls.

State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson and Assemblywoman Monique Limon don’t receive many calls from their constituents, so if we all make our voices heard this week, we can make a real difference.

CALL TO STATE ACTION

TUESDAY 5/30 – FRIDAY 6/2
Pick your favorite bills from the list ISF has put together and let our state MoCs know how you feel.

Assembly: Call State Assembly Member Monique Limón: Sacramento: (916) 319-2037, Santa Barbara: (805) 564-1649, Ventura: (805) 641-3700 If outside of these areas, find your Representatives here.

Immigration
- AB21 & AB699: Protects against ICE in schools (Limon is co-sponsoring AB21)
- AB450: Protects against ICE in workplace
- AB578: Makes threatening to report immigration status felony
Criminal Justice Reform Continue reading “It’s decision time for hundreds of pieces of legislation in California this week. Make some calls!” →

Immigrants & Memorial Day

Embed from Getty Images

(Funeral of Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez)
Today is Memorial Day, so we’re going to start with the picture of a funeral of a soldier that died in service to America in 2003. A hero. An immigrant soldier. A soldier that came to this country illegally.

Continue reading “Immigrants & Memorial Day” →

An Amazing Opportunity to Help Create New Americans!

Are you good with paperwork?

Are you looking for a short-term volunteer opportunity where you can make a real difference in people’s lives?

Here’s an opportunity to see how amazing it is to be an American by helping to create new Americans (and new voters!).

You do not need to speak Spanish or any other language than English!

This training on Wednesday, May 24th, at 141 W. 5th Street in Oxnard, Continue reading “An Amazing Opportunity to Help Create New Americans!” →

Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-saving Good News. Trump Failure Edition

Oh, let us count the ways Mr. Trump has failed this week. There’s just sooooo much of it!

Trump fails at his attempt to penalize sanctuary cities. We’ve collectively made a lot of phone calls about this one! Keep up the pressure by calling about the “California Sanctuary State” bill.

It took Trump THREE tries to get his horrible healthcare bill through the House. The good news? The Senate is going to hate it and send it back to the House after many amendments.

What can YOU do to stop this? We are participating in three die-ins this week in neighboring districts to show Congressmen who voted for TrumpCare that we will not tolerate this twice. Click here for more info (carpooling available). Click here to see why these die-ins work.

Yet ANOTHER fail: No funding for Trump’s stupid wall in the federal spending bill. Yup, we were all over this one too. GREAT job everyone.

Oh, and there’s MORE: No funding cuts for Planned Parenthood, the NIH, PBS, NPR, and the EPA—will continue to receive funding. Many actions were taken for these issues, you can continue to support EPA protection here.

Although GOPs planned to exempt themselves from TrumpCare, they turned tail Continue reading “Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-saving Good News. Trump Failure Edition” →

Stand in Solidarity on May Day: Vote Yes on California Sanctuary State Bill!

Local California law enforcement must not cooperate with draconian ICE roundups. Resist the Trump agenda, California style. This is a human rights crisis and we need to participate.

Call State Assembly Member Monique Limón (representing Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard): Sacramento: (916) 319-2037, Santa Barbara: (805) 564-1649, Ventura: (805) 641-3700

If outside of these areas, find your Representatives here.

Script: I’m a constituent of Monique Limón, whom I’m calling to vote yes on S.B. 54. State resources should not be used to assist federal authorities in tracking, rounding up and deporting our law-abiding and non-violent immigrant neighbors or separating parents from their children. Thank you!

Important! Monique Limon’s office has gotten more “NO” than “YES” calls for this bill! Please call or email Monique Limon today!

More Info: Continue reading “Stand in Solidarity on May Day: Vote Yes on California Sanctuary State Bill!” →

The History of May Day and Why/Where we can March in Solidarity with our Local Immigrants

We take our collective hats off to anyone that learns English as a second language…

Let’s consider the phrase “May Day”: If the space between the words were to become lost, it becomes an expression of distress.

If you were a child of the 60’s, May Day was the strange yearly ritual that required your whole class being assembled around a May pole, each of you clutching an attached ribbon, ready to find out which one of your classmates didn’t understand the concept of weaving in and out.

However, the “May Day” we’re interested in this Monday is the one known as “International Worker’s Day”, to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago. You can read about the Haymarket Riot here.

Its story started with thousands of overworked and underappreciated immigrants (in this case, Germans and Bohemians) unionizing and striking for an eight hour workday.

What started as peaceful protests ended in disaster, with a massacre of both police and workers and a trial that ended with four innocent men being executed.

The story marks the subsequent growth of labor unions and May 1, 1886, as the date the eight hour work day we take for granted became standard, an improvement paid for by the deaths of over a dozen people.

Now as we live in a time of diminishing unions and workdays that never seem to end, we still will march for our immigrants.

All of us. Todos Nosotros.

Here are some places to go to support our local immigrants on May 1…

Oxnard: “Day Without An Immigrant/Dia Sin Inmigrantes” Shut It Down
March and Rally starting at Plaza Park, 500 S. “C” St., at 12 noon.

Santa Barbara: “Day Without an Immigrant”

Los Angeles: “May Day March and Rally”

Here’s the May Day call to action from California Teacher Association for Ventura County. Continue reading “The History of May Day and Why/Where we can March in Solidarity with our Local Immigrants” →

Vote “Yes” on the Keeping Our Promise to Our Afghan Allies Act

The Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program gives Afghans who have aided US troops a way to seek refuge in the United States. Unfortunately, the program does not have enough visas to accommodate the need, and we are in danger of leaving our allies (who have risked their lives for us) and their families in the lurch, open to retaliation from the Taliban.

Call Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430

More Info: Protect lives, U.S. credibility: Pass the Keeping Our Promise to Our Afghan Allies Act

No Federal Budget Increase for Deportations and Detentions Centers

Trump’s budget adds $1.5 billion for more detention centers and to increase ICE and border patrols. Homeland Security wants to increase the 30,000 people held for immigration issues to at least 80,000 per day, aided by private prisons. Instead of aiding asylum seekers, we’ve created Manzanar-style internment camps and are destroying our immigrant communities.

Call all three Members of Congress

Script: I’m calling to express my opposition to any budget that funds increased deportation enforcement or the expansion of the detention system.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley: DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779

Feinstein Contacts:DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430

Harris Contacts: Continue reading “No Federal Budget Increase for Deportations and Detentions Centers” →

No Border Wall Funding in Budget. Seriously? $2.6 Billion? Wasn’t Mexico Supposed to Pay for it?

Trump’s budget includes over $2.6 billion for the border wall with Mexico, less than 15% of its estimated $25 billion cost. This huge price tag will force cuts to other critical programs for an already well-defended border. This unnecessary wall will harm ecosystems, our economy, and our relationship with Mexico, all while more Mexicans are leaving than coming here.

Call all three Members of Congress

Script: I’m calling to express opposition to any federal budget that funds the construction of a southern border wall. There is no real benefit, and it will cost us taxpayers billions of dollars.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley: DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779

Feinstein Contacts: Continue reading “No Border Wall Funding in Budget. Seriously? $2.6 Billion? Wasn’t Mexico Supposed to Pay for it?” →

Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-saving Good News!

This happened yesterday, all over America! We marched to tell Donald that, contrary to his belief, we REALLY do want to see his taxes!

Mr. Trump seems to be a bit worried…

I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017