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What You Can Do Now: Local Actions to Reunite Families

6/22/2018

What You Can Do Now: Local Actions to Reunite Families

Despite Trump’s executive order, our country is still locking up children on our southern border, hopefully without separating them from their parents. Families seeking asylum can be locked up indefinitely under this executive order. There is NO plan to reunite the kidnapped children with their parents, some of whom are in the process of being deported.

Read this information from the ACLU: Fact-Checking Family Separation

The way we treat refugees seeking asylum violates international law and treaties we have signed, as discussed in this diary at Daily Kos: The Immigration Law No One is Talking About.

Actions you can take:

Attend a Rally or Prayer Vigil.

Defending the Children Rally
            When: Saturday, June 23 at 1 pm
            Where: Faye’s Field, near the Bettendorf Public Library, 18th and Spruce Hills Drive
            Music by Laura Rodriguez. Bring signs (Where Are the Children?, etc.)

Prayer Vigil and Letter Writing Action Event
            When: Saturday, June 23 at 7 pm
            Where: First Presbyterian Church, 1702 Iowa St, Davenport
            Contact: styrt@fpcdavenport.org to read/lead

Keep Families Together Rally: Madres Unidas/Mothers United
            When: Saturday, June 30 at 11 am
            Where: Vander Veer Park, Davenport
            Register to attend here.

            We are collecting new or gently used children’s shoes to use during our action.
            We will then donate them. Through noon on Friday June 29 you can bring the shoes
            to Metropolitan Community Church, 2930 Locust St, Davenport. Please drop off
            during business hours.

Keep Families Together Rally
            When: Monday, July 2 at 5 pm
            Where: In front of Davenport offices of Senators Ernst and Grassley
            Hosted by: Quad Cities Interfaith

            We will be delivering a cage with stuffed animals to their offices, calling
on them to take a stand and release the 2,000 children in detention.

Call Congress to tell them:

You want the kidnapped children returned to their parents.
End the zero-tolerance policy that would lock up families indefinitely.
Bring back the Family Case Management Program that Trump ended in June 2017 which allowed families to be placed into a program, together, that connected them with a case manager and legal orientation that ensured they understood how to apply for asylum and attend immigration court proceedings. The program had a 99.6 percent appearance rate at immigration court hearings for those enrolled in the program.

Iowa:

Senator Chuck Grassley (202) 224-3744
Senator Joni Ernst (202) 224-3254
Rep. Dave Loebsack (202) 225-6576

Illinois:

Senator Tammy Duckworth (202) 224-2854
Senator Dick Durbin (202) 224-2152
Rep. Cheri Bustos (202) 225-5905

Alta Price, PACG Board President

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What You Can Do Now - Call on Congress to End Family Separation

6/17/2018

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What You Can Do Now - Call on Congress to End Family Separation

A disturbing photo of a two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker .

The story in the Washington Post containing the above photo : ‘America is better than this’: What a doctor saw in a Texas shelter for migrant children.

Call Congress. Let them know you want the practice of family separation to end. Ask them to support bills that will help reunite children already taken from their parents and prohibit future removals. Those include the Senate's HELP Separated Children Act and Keep Families Together Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union offers a script for calling the Senate, although please feel free to use my outraged comments below if you prefer!

Iowa:

Senator Chuck Grassley (202) 224-3744
Senator Joni Ernst (202) 224-3254
Representative Dave Loebsack (202) 225-6576

Ask Senators Grassley and Ernst why they are not cosponsoring legislation to keep ICE from tearing children away from their parents and locking them up in detention centers, including “tent cities”. Do they approve of this Trump Administration practice? Do they agree with Attorney General Jeff Sessions that this response to immigrant parents and children seeking asylum is justified by the “Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order”?

Ask Representative Loebsack what the House is doing to end family separation.

Illinois:

Senator Tammy Duckworth (202) 224-2854
Senator Dick Durbin (202) 224-2152
Representative Cheri Bustos (202) 225-5905

Thank Senators Duckworth and Durbin, who are both cosponsors of the HELP Separated Children Act and Keep Families Together Act.

Ask Representative Bustos what the House is doing to end family separation.

Alta Price, PACG Civil Rights Forum

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Candidates for Governer of Iowa - Position on the Environment

6/3/2018

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Cathy Glasson - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

She has endorsements from Iowa environmental activists.
Iowa has some of the dirtiest water in the country. Runoff from large, industrial-scale farms is dumping a toxic mix of insecticide, manure and chemical fertilizers into our waterways and soil.
I’m all in for cleaning up our water and building up our family farms.
We need a Governor who isn’t bought and paid for by the polluters. That’s why I’ve signed a pledge not to take a penny in campaign contributions from the oil, gas and coal industries. And I won’t take any money from the factory farms either.
It’s time to get serious about protecting our environment in Iowa. As Governor, I’ll force the corporate polluters who are fouling our water to clean it up. I’ll demand a moratorium on new or expanding factory farms until there are fewer than 100 polluted waterways in our state.

Fred Hubbell - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

Environment Priority

As Iowans, we take great pride in our land and natural resources — from our fertile soil to our rivers, lakes and trails all across the state. They not only drive our economy but boost our quality of life. By investing in renewable energy, preserving our topsoil, and bringing together all Iowans, urban and rural, to address growing water and air quality concerns, we can ensure that the Iowa we all love is safe and protected for future generations.

Andy McGuire- Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

McGuire: “As a physician and scientist, I refuse to embrace an anti-science agenda that ignores facts, and mountains of evidence that show climate change is the most serious global threat to the future of our society.”
Des Moines, IA –In observance of Earth Day, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Andy McGuire, issued the following statement:

“Now more than ever we must remain vigilant and fight for our planet that is currently under attack by federal and state governments driven by an anti-science agenda. It’s no longer enough to remind one another to reduce, reuse and recycle. We must make a commitment to hold our leaders accountable when they ignore environmental regulations and instead promote policies that ignore data and scientific facts."
“By standing with Trump, Gov. Reynolds has already made it clear that she is willing to put party over both Iowa jobs and our planet. As a physician and scientist, I refuse to embrace an anti-science agenda that ignores facts, and mountains of evidence that show climate change is the most serious global threat to the future of our society. Iowans will always be able to count on me to stand up for a clean, safe environment. I will oppose climate deniers, including President Trump, and take the appropriate steps to tackle this issue head on, without hesitation."
“Like all mothers and friends of agriculture across this great state, I see with my own eyes the absence of our spring. Just one year ago we had our corn planted by Earth Day. But this spring global warming has brought us a new twist in climate extremes: Extreme cold and a winter that won’t quit. These problems are sure to grow worse in the future and I am prepared to lessen the harm to coming generations.”

***McGuire was born in Waterloo, Iowa – the daughter of a World War II veteran and a hard-working mother in a family of eight. McGuire is the mother of seven children; and raised a family while training to be a doctor. As a medical director, she focused on preventive care, including vaccinations and prenatal checks***

John Norris - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

A Real Strategy for Water Quality:

The problem with water quality is undeniable and it has reached a crisis level. Decades of over-application of fertilizer has created the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and now it’s reaching hazardous levels in Iowa…
As governor, I will ensure that appropriate resources are invested to address this critical public health issue. First and foremost, we need to direct far more federal, state and local funds to the nutrient reduction strategy. This program brings together policymakers, farmers, and scientists to identify and implement strategies that reduce farming nutrients in our water. The scale of the problem will require a significant and longstanding commitment from the state that is simply not being considered at the statehouse this year.

Ross Wilburn - DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNER OF IOWA

Healthy Iowa also calls for cleaning up and protecting the state’s environment, including groundwater, with involvement from agricultural, industrial and environmental experts.
Climate change is real and ongoing, so we need to prepare our state and communities to act in ways that absorb the stress caused by climate change and to change how we operate—and even how we live our daily lives—so we can better prepare for and limit the impacts of climate change.
We can start by putting in place what 63 percent of Iowa voters already said in approving a state constitutional amendment creating the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. Let’s follow through on that mandate and establish a strong fund to protect and preserve our state, which for generations has given back and made this a state where Iowans can work, play and enjoy their lives.

Governor Kim Reynolds - REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF IOWA issued the following statement 9-7-2017 after the Clean Jobs Midwest report showed Iowa leading in wind energy jobs.

“Iowa’s renewable energy leadership is crucial to recruiting companies, including Apple’s recent data center announcement. In turn, we see more job growth in these sectors."

Governor Kim Reynolds testified before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) August 1, 2017 Governor Reynolds on behalf of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Below are her remarks, as prepared for delivery:

"As governor of a Midwestern state, I’ve long been a passionate supporter of biofuels. I understand how crucial a robust RFS is to farmers and the entire Iowa economy…"
"We commend the administration for its commitment to keeping the Renewable Fuel Standard at the level set by Congress."

Governor Kim Reynolds in her first State of the State address stressed the need for cleaner waters.

"Improving water quality is a shared goal of Iowans. Urban and rural stakeholders have worked collaboratively making great strides."
"My hope is that a water quality bill is the first piece of legislation I sign as governor…The passage of this monumental legislation does not mean the water quality discussion is over; rather it ignites the conversation to implement and scale practices that will continue to make an impact on water quality."

Governor Kim Reynolds: Scale back Waters of US rule

The 2015 WOTUS rule released during the Obama administration was a massive federal land grab, creating confusing and uncertainty for regulators, farmers, ranchers and others who depend on their ability to work the land. As the administration considers the rewrite of WOTUS, we would encourage them to take the 'Scalia approach' and significantly scale back the amount of federal overreach seen in the first rule.

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What You Can Do Now: Local Actions to Reunite Families

What You Can Do Now: Local Actions to Reunite Families

What You Can Do Now - Call on Congress to End Family Separation

What You Can Do Now - Call on Congress to End Family Separation

Candidates for Governer of Iowa - Position on the Environment

​​Cathy Glasson - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

​Fred Hubbell - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

​Environment Priority

​Andy McGuire- Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

​John Norris - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

​A Real Strategy for Water Quality:

​Ross Wilburn - DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNER OF IOWA

​Governor Kim Reynolds - REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF IOWA issued the following statement 9-7-2017 after the Clean Jobs Midwest report showed Iowa leading in wind energy jobs.

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Cathy Glasson - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

Fred Hubbell - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

Environment Priority

Andy McGuire- Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

John Norris - Democratic candidate for Governer of iowa

A Real Strategy for Water Quality:

Ross Wilburn - DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNER OF IOWA

Governor Kim Reynolds - REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF IOWA issued the following statement 9-7-2017 after the Clean Jobs Midwest report showed Iowa leading in wind energy jobs.