March 9, 2015
Advocacy Alert: Your voice is needed to ensure we can protect #ImmigrationAction and early voting in Georgia. YOUR phone calls are needed.
The Department of Homeland Security has been fully funded for the remainder of the fiscal year, with the GOP efforts to defund it being called a failure and #ImmigrationAction attacks failed. However, in the U.S. House of Representatives, the attacks against #ImmigrationAction continues. According to this Politico.com article, “Immigration reform looks dead in this Congress: Republican leaders show little interest in returning to the issue after the Homeland Security fiasco” (Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/immigration-reform-congress-115880.html#ixzz3TtS0OEjA).
Stay tuned with our calls to action on facebook.
Your voice and engagement is needed NOW at the Georgia Legislature. Lots will be happening this week so we need lots of calls. Please stay connected. Encourage others to join our email advocacy efforts by having them send a text with the word “GALEO” to the number 22828. This process would ask for their email and they can start getting these emails directly.
Stay more engaged and connected at www.facebook.com/GALEO.org. Updates are posted daily on what is happening regarding immigration.
Looking for a new career or job opportunities? Please check out our website and share with others. Link is here: http://2014old.galeo.org/category/professional-development/
Orale! Our work together builds towards greater respect for our community & better inclusion of Latinos in Georgia!
Thank you!
Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO
www.facebook.com/JerryGonzalezGALEO
Help us stop SB6! Crossover Day is Friday and we must keep it bottled up in committee! YOUR calls are needed!
The legislation would ban access to driver’s licenses to those who qualify for deferred action under #ImmigrationAction and would also deny it to victims of domestic violence. It would also authorize DMV to collect your DNA.
Your calls are working but we need to continue to keep the pressure on. Call again this week!
SB6 has assigned to the Georgia Senate Public Safety Committee. It still has not gotten a committee hearing and that is a good thing. YOUR Calls are making a big difference!
It has been introduced by Georgia State Senator Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) and 11 State Senators have signed on as co-sponsors. The legislation was written with significant input by a convicted felon and anti-immigrant activist Donald Arthur King. Please see this link for who he is and the Anti-Defamation League’s blog about his efforts (http://blog.adl.org/civil-rights/anti-immigrant-activist-provides-substantial-input-for-georgia-bill).
Please take a moment to call the Senators in the Public Safety Committee and tell them some of these talking points on the bill:
- SB6 is unconstitutional. A recent federal ruling against the state of Arizona has made this an unworkable plan.
- SB6 would also target and deny access to many other immigrants who qualify for deferred action status, such as victims of domestic violence. Passing this legislation would further victimize vulnerable population and encourage abusers further.
- SB6 will allow the Department of Motor Vehicle to collect DNA from all Georgians accessing a driver’s license.
- SB6 is bad for Georgia’s economic interests. The legislation would send the wrong message about Georgia’s efforts to attract foreign investment, like we just did with Mercedes Benz. Georgia needs to be a welcoming state and recover from the image problems that happened with HB87 in 2011.
- SB6 would undermine public safety. Those who qualify for deferred action also qualify for a federal work permit. The State Attorney General has already provided the legal advice that deferred action status does enable potential drivers access to a drivers license. Given that they have access to a work permit, it would not make sense to deny them the right to drive to work to support their families and pay their fair share of taxes.
- SB6 was written by a convicted felon and anti-immigrant activist.
There are many other problems with this legislation. It should not be passed.
For more information and legal analysis, please see this link:
http://musingsonimmigration.blogspot.com/2015/01/SB6-is-unconstitutional.html
Ask the Senators below to vote NO on this legislation should it come before them in committee.
Senator Tyler Harper – Chairman (R)
(Ocila, GA) Farmer/businessman, Phone: (404) 463-5263 / Email: Tyler.Harper@senate.ga.gov
Senator John Albers – Vice Chairman (R)
(Roswell, GA) Executive/Business Owner, Phone: (404) 463-8055 / Email: info@senatoralbers.com
Senator Mike Dugan – Secretary (R)
(Carrollton, GA) Retired military/Construction Industry, Phone: (404) 656-7454 / Email: Mike.Dugan@senate.ga.gov
Senator Harold V. Jones II (D)
(Augusta, GA) Attorney, Phone: (404) 463-3942
Senator Valencia Seay (D)
(Riverdale, GA) Businesswoman, Phone: (404) 656-5095 / Email: valencia.seay@senate.ga.gov
Senator Dr. Ben Watson (R)
(Savannah, GA) Medical Doctor, Phone: (404) 656-7880 / Email: ben.watson@senate.ga.gov
Senator Michael Williams (R)
(Cumming, GA) Small Business Owner, Email: michael.williams@senate.ga.gov / Phone: 404.656.7127
Lt. Governor Casey Cage, President of the Senate (R)
(Gainesville, GA), Phone: (404) 656-5030 / Email: casey.cagle@ltgov.ga.gov
Finally, please read this blog post by Anton Flores, “GA Sen. McKoon’s Senate Bill 6 lacks moral compass”. http://www.alternacommunity.com/2015/01/27/mckoon_sb6/
And here is the follow up blog post that did get Georgia Senator Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) upset because Flores calls SB6 immoral. Please read this.
These are the Georgia State Senators who have co-sponsored the legislation: Steve Gooch (R); William Ligon (R); Bill Heath (R); PK Martin (R); Greg Kirk (R); Bruce Thompson (R); Marty Harbin (R); Frank Ginn (R); Michael Williams (R); Mike Crane (R); Judson Hill (R).
GALEO Day at the Capitol is coming soon! Save the date!
Save us for the GALEO Leadership Council Lobby Day at the Capitol on March 26th! Check our website for details. YOUR voice in person will be needed! www.GALEO.org.
Early voting is under attack! Call your State Representative and ask them to vote NO on HB194.
GALEO opposes efforts to scale back early voting. HB194 is proposing to slash early voting by seven days. GALEO opposes this legislation because we believe we need more options for voting and not less.
You can call 1-877-721-4575 to be connected to your State Representative. You will need to enter your zip code and be connected directly. If you live in a zip code that includes several State Representatives, you will need to know who your State Rep. is. Please find out who your State Representative is and call them to vote NO on HB194.
To find out who your State Representative is, please follow this link:
http://openstates.org/ga/legislators/
Join us! 12th Annual GALEO Power Breakfast, You are invited!
Date: Friday, May 8, 2015, Time: 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Keynote Speaker: AnMarie Martin, Georgia Peace Officer & Community Activist
The 12th Annual GALEO Power Breakfast is one of the principle fundraising events for GALEO & the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund.
Location: Hilton Atlanta Northeast in Norcross.
More information posted on www.GALEO.org.
Register online at this link: http://galeo.ejoinme.org/12thAnnPB
Your help is needed at Naturalization Ceremonies on Fridays! Help us register new voters!
Last year leading up to the 2014 election, we registered over 7,000 New Americans at naturalization ceremonies. Volunteers are needed on Fridays to help us with this initiative. Please volunteer if you can!
There will be lots of options in March for ceremonies on Fridays this year at USCIS in Tucker, GA and other places. Are YOU able to volunteer with us any on Fridays? Let us know by sending an email to samuel@2014old.galeo.org to confirm your participation. Please let us know which Friday ceremonies you may be able to volunteer with us and please provide your cell phone number too. We will follow up with you with more details once you confirm. Feel free to invite friends too!
If you have any questions, please send an email to Samuel Aguilar, GALEO Program Coordinator at samuel@2014old.galeo.org for more details.
Get involved in 2015 with the GALEO Leadership Council! Join us and let’s work on community efforts together!
Next meeting is on Tuesday, March 10th at the LAA, 6:30 PM – 8 PM!
Meetings are scheduled every month at the Latin American Association Board Room. Come meet the GALEO Leadership Council and hear about the 6 committees that you can be part of. We encourage you to bring a friend as we continue our work for the year.
Please send me an email if you are interested in getting more involved to jerry@2014old.galeo.org.
Stay tuned for other updates.
If YOU would like to join our GALEO Leadership Council, please become a member and let us know that you would like to get involved and participate!
http://tinyurl.com/GALEOMembership
GALEO is seeking College Interns for Summer & Fall 2015!
Interested in working on immigration reform and voter engagement in Georgia?
GALEO seeks undergraduate or graduate students every semester (Spring, Summer & Fall) for several part-time internships in community relations and administrative support. All student interns will be required to work a minimum of 10-15 hours per week and work directly with the Executive Director and Program Manager on a variety of important duties.
For more details, please visit this link:
http://2014old.galeo.org/join-galeo/internships/
Please send a resume and writing sample to Samuel Aguilar, GALEO Program Coordinator at samuel@2014old.galeo.org.
Follow GALEO on Instagram!
Are you on Instagram?
Please follow GALEO at the following link:
http://instagram.com/galeopics
Resources on President Obama’s immigration action. Please share.
Two new websites where you can find more resources are www.adminrelief.org and www.iAmerica.org.
The Immigration Policy Center also has this resource page on #ImmigrationAction. Please share with others:
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/executive-action-immigration-resource-page
Federal government information in Spanish:
http://www.uscis.gov/es/accionmigratoria
Resource from United We DREAM on 5 tips to get ready:
http://unitedwedream.org/4-things-can-now-prepare-presidents-announcement-immigration/
Help us protect Latino voters’ civil rights!
Donate whatever amount you can to the Latino Voter Defense Fund.
We have raised over $24,000.00 and we will be moving forward soon with litigation against the City of Gainesville and/or the City of Dalton. The cities have at-large voting processes which dilute the Latino community’s ability to select candidates of choice and depresses the Latino vote in Gainesville and Hall County. GALEO strongly believes that these situations are in violation of the Voting Rights Act and will be seeking relief soon from federal courts. Please contribute to this effort to help us cover our non-legal costs for our experts. Every donation counts! You may donate by following this link here! Thank you!