Category: Immigration - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Iowa Is Better Than This! Webinar - Community Event

1/30/2022

"Iowa is Better Than This! Lamenting Iowa's Discriminatory Legislation" - A Free Hybrid Webinar
Wednesday, February 16th at 5:00 pm

In Person and Via Zoom

One Human Family and Numerous Organizations

Over the past year, the Iowa Legislature has considered and/or passed legislation that does not represent "Iowa Nice" values. We need to be heard as we Lament these actions!

Join us in this statewide Lamentation so our legislators know that these policies are not acceptable in a state that cares for all people. Let your voice be heard! We have options for online participation (via Zoom) and in-person sites across the state.

We lament the past to serve as a warning for the future!

For more information, go to OneHumanFamilyQCA.org. Read their statement, attached below.

Online Zoom Registration here.

In-Person Registration here.

Allison Ambrose

iowa_is_better_than_this_statement_2022.pdf
File Size:	219 kb
File Type:	pdf

PACG Book Club for October 2021

9/19/2021

**PACG Book Club for October 2021 - American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins**

For October we will read and discuss American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. We will meet via Zoom on October 18th, the third Monday of the month, at 5:30 pm.

Here is more information about the book from Goodreads:

"También de este lado hay sueños.
On this side, too, there are dreams.

Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.

Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?"

Click on my name for a Zoom link to the Book Club meeting. (Note: If you are already on the list of Book Club members you will get a link without having to contact me each month.)

Alta Price

PACG Book Club for September 2021

5/22/2021

**PACG Book Club for September 2021 - Separated: Inside an American Tragedy by Jacob Soboroff**

Our September 2021 book will be Separated: Inside an American Tragedy by Jacob Soboroff. We will meet via Zoom on Monday, September 27th at 5:30 pm. (Note: We are meeting the fourth Monday instead of the usual third Monday since Alta will be out of town on the third Monday.)

Here is a description of the book from Goodreads:

"NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, winner of the 2019 Walter Cronkite Award for his reporting on the child separation crisis, delivers a profoundly personal and moving report from the border and beyond, revealing the wrenching human story behind one of the most disturbing passages of modern American history.

Donald Trump’s most infamous decision as president, to systematically separate thousands of migrant families at the border, was in effect for months before most Americans saw the living conditions of the children in custody at the epicenter of the policy. NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff was among the first journalists to expose the truth of what their lives were like on the inside after seeing them firsthand. His widely shared reports in June 2018 ignited public scrutiny that contributed to the President reversing his own policy by Executive Order, and earned Soboroff the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Broadcast Journalism and the 2019 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism.

In Separated, Soboroff weaves together his own experience unexpectedly covering this national issue with other key figures in the drama he met along the way, including feuding administration officials responsible for tearing apart and then reuniting families, and the parents and children who were caught in the middle. He reveals new and exclusive details of how the policy was carried out, and how its affects are still being felt.

Today, there is still not a full accounting of the total number of children the President ripped away from their parents. The exact number may never be known, only that it is in the thousands. Now the President is doubling down on draconian immigration policies, including threatening to hold migrant families indefinitely and making tens of thousands applying for asylum wait in some of Mexico’s most dangerous cities. Separated is required reading for anyone who wants to understand how Trump and his administration were able to carry out this inhumane policy, and how so many missed what was happening before it was too late. Soboroff lays out compassionately, yet in the starkest of terms, its human toll, and makes clear what is at stake in the 2020 presidential election."

Contact me by clicking on my name for a link to the Zoom meeting.

Alta Price

PACG Book Club for June 2021

5/22/2021

**PACG Book Club for June 2021 - Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in America's Heartland by Art Cullen**

Our June 2021 book will be Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in America's Heartland by Art Cullen. We will meet via Zoom on Monday, June 21st at 5:30 pm.

Art Cullen of the Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, Iowa, won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing due to "tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa," to quote the Pulitzer organization.

In his book Cullen also describes what immigration looks like in his small rural Iowa town. We felt this book would also be of interest to our Civil Rights activists working on immigration issues.

Here is a description of the book from Goodreads:

"A reminder that even the smallest newspapers can hold the most powerful among us accountable." --The New York Times Book Review

"[The Storm Lake Times has an] unwavering commitment to elevating the community... Not the enemy of the people but a voice for the people." --Beto O'Rourke, Democratic Presidential Candidate, via Instagram

"From a Pulitzer-winning newspaperman, an unsentimental ode to America's heartland--a story of reinvention and resilience, environmental and economic struggle, and surprising diversity and hope.

When The Storm Lake Times, a tiny Iowa twice-weekly, won a Pulitzer Prize for taking on big corporate agri-industry for poisoning the local rivers and lake, it was a coup on many counts: a strike for the well being of a rural community; and a triumph for that endangered species, a family-run rural news weekly.

In this candid and timely book, Cullen describes how the heartland has changed dramatically over his career, as seen from the vantage point of a farming and meatpacking town of 15,000 in Northwest Iowa. Politics, agriculture, the environment, and immigration are all themes in Storm Lake, a chronicle of a resilient newspaper, as much a survivor as its town.

Iowa plays an outsize role in national politics. Iowa introduced Barack Obama and voted bigly for Donald Trump. Is the state leaning blue, red, or purple in the lead-up to 2020? Is it a bellwether for America? A nostalgic mirage from The Music Man, or a harbinger of America's future? Cullen's answer is complicated and honest--but with optimism and the stubbornness that is still the state's, and his, dominant quality."

Contact me by clicking on my name for a Zoom link to the June PACG Book Club meeting.

Alta Price

Quad Cities Sanctuary Coalition Fundraiser in Support of Local Asylum-Seeker

3/1/2021

Our local asylum-seeker needs your help! Update

Civil Rights Forum

Our initial goal of raising $2000 was achieved! Our new goal of an additional $1000 will enable Ana to find housing.

Thank you so much for helping us reach our goal to cover our immediate needs! Once Ana’s case is favorably decided, we want to assist her in settling into our community by helping her find affordable housing. The funds could be used to make a deposit on an apartment and pay for the first month of rent. There may be other expenses associated with getting settled. If Ana should decide to live elsewhere, the extra funds will be used to help the next asylum-seeker sponsored by a congregation or group in our community.

For local news about the UUCQC sponsoring our asylum-seeker click this link to the QC Times article.

Progressive Action for the Common Good is a member of the Quad Cities Sanctuary Coalition (QCSC). Alta Price and Margie Mejia-Caraballo are the PACG representatives to the QCSC.

Ana, an asylum-seeker from El Salvador, was released from dehumanizing conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention due to a partnership between the Quad Cities Sanctuary Coalition and the Sanctuary Project at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities (UUCQC).

Due to the disruptive nature of our immigration system and other factors, we have had unexpected expenses of over $2,000 and there have been increased demands on our volunteers. For instance, ICE has repeatedly re-scheduled appointments upon us arriving in Chicago, in spite of our best efforts to confirm the appointment before undertaking the trip!

Please donate to our fund and learn more at our "From Detention to Asylum" campaign on Faithify at https://faithify.org/projects/from-detention-to-asylum/. The fundraiser is from March 1st to March 30th.

If you would like to volunteer with the Sanctuary Project at the UUCQC, please fill out this Google Form. We especially need drivers, both locally and those willing to drive to Chicago (we are mindful of Covid protocols).

As ICE releases asylum seekers, more sponsors will be needed, so also please consider whether sponsoring an asylum-seeker is right for your organization. If interested, please email sanctuary@uucqc.org to arrange a discussion with a member of our group.

We have made a post with this information on Facebook in case you are able to share it.

Contact me if you have questions.

Alta Price

Deportation Defense Summit via Zoom

8/13/2020

Deportation Defense Summit via Zoom
Saturday, August 22nd at 10:00 am

Deportation Defense Summit Registration

Join us for a virtual Deportation Defense Summit on Saturday, August 22nd from 10:00 am to noon, to learn how you can help in the fight to stop deportations and keep families together. This dynamic training will offer an orientation on protective accompaniment and how we can use organizing, direct action and movement building to win!

Read more about the Deportation Defense Summit in Newsweek.

Registration is free, but required. Speaker announcements will be coming soon.

Julie Ross

Spread the Word About the Illinois COVID-19 Immigrant Family Support Project - What You Can Do Now

6/11/2020

Spread the Word About the
Illinois COVID-19 Immigrant Family Support Project

On Monday, June 8th, Illinois launched a $2 Million COVID-19 Immigrant Family Support Project to provide financial assistance to low-income immigrant families impacted by COVID-19.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) explains:

The COVID-19 pandemic put the systemic failures of our health care, labor, economic and public safety infrastructure on full display. Our communities have been uninsured, underpaid, and over-policed long before this crisis struck.

As the faults of these systems are laid bare, we have an opportunity and responsibility to fight for a vision of a world where the most vulnerable are not left out but also given the opportunity to live lives of dignity and respect.

The COVID-19 Immigrant Family Support Project is just one avenue to respond to the needs of our communities.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Immigration Funders Collaborative will provide direct assistance to families that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences. ICIRR and IDHS will work with Illinois Welcoming Centers (IWC), Immigrant Family Resource Program (IFRP), and New Americans Initiative (NAI) partners with current contracts to deliver this much needed program.

Quad Cities Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees (QCAIR), World Relief - Moline and Open Door (Rock Island Welcoming Center) each received a grant for 20 applications for Rock Island and Henry County residents. They’re working together to ensure that 60 eligible QC families complete the application process prior to the June 30, 2020 deadline.

Qualified applicants must be not eligible for the federal stimulus package, unemployment insurance and federal benefits; he/she must have a photo ID and proof of address (official document with printed name and address, e.g. phone bill, utility bill, bank statement, etc.).

The deadline for application is June 30th. The successful applicant will receive a cash award of $1000, which is limited to one per household. This is state funding, and is exempt from Public Charge.

Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. To expedite your application, please contact them no later than Friday, June 26th.

Contact one of the people below to begin this process. Assistance in Spanish and French are also available (flyers in each language may be downloaded below).

QCAIR: Nana Ouro-Agoro – 309-716-7437 or nana.ouro-agoro@qcair.org

World Relief:  Habie Timbo -309-938-0275 or htimbo@wr.org

Open Door:  Loredia Dixon – 309-793-8201

French Speakers:  Nana Ouro-Agoro – 309-716-7437 or nana.ouro-agoro@qcair.org

Spanish Speakers:  Maria Bribriesco – 563-505-5711 or qcair@qcair.org

Note:  When you go to the ICIRR website, it says "Funding Update – the $2 Million funds have been exhausted." Disregard this message! The QC groups have already been granted these applications and funding is guaranteed (although application submission does not guarantee approval of request). The state of Illinois is continuing to seek further funding for this program.

Flyer in English

illinois_immigrant_covid_relief_eng.pdf
File Size:	279 kb
File Type:	pdf

Flyer in French

illinois_immigrant_covid_relief_french.pdf
File Size:	211 kb
File Type:	pdf

Flyer in Spanish

illinois_immigrant_covid_relief_spanish.pdf
File Size:	211 kb
File Type:	pdf

After Action Report - Civil Rights Forum Met with Theresa Greenfield

2/20/2020

After Action Report - Crisis at the Border Visit with Theresa Greenfield
Tuesday, February 18th at noon

The PACG Civil Rights Forum organized a visit with Theresa Greenfield, who is running in the Democratic primary to be the candidate to run against Senator Joni Ernst. Immigration activists from the many organizations in the Quad Cities working on immigration issues met with Ms. Greenfield to deliver our message, beginning with: "Children do not belong in detention." At the PACG Blog you can read our complete "ask" and some proposed legislation.

We are trying to set up a similar meeting with Republican candidate, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is running in the Republican primary for the Congressional seat of retiring Representative Dave Loebsack. We will also visit with other candidates or elected officials in both Iowa and Illinois. Contact Alta if you want to participate.

Alta Price

Dr. Bobrow-Strain Lecture on the U.S. - Mexico Border at Augustana

2/16/2020

The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: Understanding the U.S.-Mexico Border

The Civil Rights Forum of PACG invites everyone concerned about the crisis on the southern border to attend this lecture.

After Action Report - Crisis at the Border Visit with Bobby Schilling

2/6/2020

After Action Report - Crisis at the Border Visit with
Bobby Schilling

Civil Rights Forum

The PACG Civil Rights Forum organized a visit with Bobby Schilling, who is running in the Republican primary for the Congressional seat of retiring Congressman Dave Loebsack. Immigration activists from the many organizations in the Quad Cities working on immigration issues met with Mr. Schilling to deliver our message, beginning with: "Children do not belong in detention." You can read our complete "ask" and some proposed legislation at our PACG Blog post.

We are trying to set up a similar meeting with Republican candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks. We will also visit with other candidates or elected officials in both Iowa and Illinois. Contact Alta if you want to participate.

Alta Price