Episode 188: Immigration Part I
Just the word immigration elicits feelings, but do you know the facts? This episode is the first part of a series where L. Joy takes a deep dive into immigration. She is hearing from organizations working on immigration reform, attorneys, elected officials, and others, to help answer what is comprehensive immigration reform, who are the decision makers, and how do we get civically engaged around making positive change around immigration.
Homework:
Read H.R.1177 - The U.S. Citizenship Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1177/text
Read the letter from The Closers in Congress to Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Budget https://lindasanchez.house.gov/sites/lindasanchez.house.gov/files/2021.07.13%20Closers%20Recon%20Immigration%20Letter%20Final.pdf
Check out the work United We Dream is doing to fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants. https://unitedwedream.org/
Reach out to your elected representatives in Congress and Senate, to find out if they have or will sign on to the efforts of The Closers
Our Guests:
Representative Linda Sanchez: A former labor lawyer, Linda T. Sánchez represents California’s 38th congressional district – but the first thing her family and friends will tell you is that she’s never stopped “kicking ass for the working class.” Most of all, she is also a proud mom, dog lover, and Dodgers fan.
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, Sánchez is the first Latina to serve on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means and the House Judiciary Committee. A lifelong progressive, Sánchez has devoted her career to helping working people get ahead: advocating for families, improving America’s education system, and bringing jobs to Southern California.
Sánchez was born in Orange, California, the sixth of seven children, to immigrant parents from Mexico. Her father Ignacio worked as an industrial machinist and mechanic at a plastics and rubber plant, and her mother Maria was an elementary school teacher who decided to further her education by attending school at night. Growing up in a proud Latino household, Sánchez’s parents inspired her to take advantage of the opportunities they never had.
When reflecting upon the importance that her family and parents had in her life, Sánchez says, “In every Latino family, there’s a sense of ‘We need to stick together.’ But I think in our particular family, that’s even stronger because our folks expected great things from us. They wanted us to take advantage of all the opportunities they never had.”
Cynthia Garcia is a queer, undocumented womxn born in Nayarit, Mexico. She migrated to the U.S. at the age of 15 fully undocumented. Cynthia arrived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she has found community through organizing and has been able to learn from the leadership of Black and Indigenous Womxn in the state who have helped shape her understanding of the systems of oppression impacting our daily lives.
Cynthia began her organizing work fighting against deportation on the local level, empowering immigrant families, and disrupting the collaboration between ICE and local law enforcement. She now leads the Community Protection Campaigns work of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country. Cynthia is herself protected from deportation because of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA). When she is not organizing, she enjoys time writing, finding local food spots, and random short road trips.
