10.16.2017

NEW YORK – As Members of Congress are in their home districts this week, the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), a national network of community organizing groups, will hold a week of action in support of a clean Dream Act, with a slew of actions planned by CPD’s state partner organizations in nearly ten states nationwide.

The actions include mass marches, phone banking, door-to-door canvassing in the neighborhoods of key Representatives, and information sessions for affected DACA recipients. They echo a similar wave of actions that followed the decision to rescind DACA in early September, and signify that organizing groups are raising the heat on their elected representatives. Hundreds are expected to hit the streets from coast to coast.

“Our communities know firsthand the toll that the end of DACA has taken on their families, friends, and neighbors. Whether in Colorado or California, they have seen the terror the Trump administration has inflicted, and they are fighting back, neighborhood by neighborhood and family by family,” said Jerónimo Saldaña, Campaign Director for Immigrant Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy. “The fight for a clean Dream Act will be decided by communities rising up to defend their dignity and their future, communities who are growing stronger and more unified with every passing day. We are proud to support this fight, and we will continue supporting our communities until every immigrant is treated with respect.”

The actions will demand legislative protections for Dreamers without any additional provisions for further border militarization or additional resources for Trump’s deportation machine. They will also call for reforms to legalize the more than 400,000 people with Temporary Protected Status who came to the United States fleeing natural disasters or civil wars.

They are principally targeted at Republican Members of Congress who have failed to take a public stand on or outright opposed a clean Dream Act, including Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

The actions include:

• California: Working Partnerships USA will be passing out pledge cards for people to sign and send to the Wisconsin offices of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), with a copy going to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

• Colorado: United for a New Economy will hold a team meeting on October 25 in Denver to create a plan of action to support DACA and improve Driver’s Licenses in Colorado.

• New Jersey: Make the Road New Jersey will be holding protests and petition deliveries at the offices of Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Rep. Rodney Freylinghuysen (R-NJ).

• New York: Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change will hold a series of canvasses, rallies, and digital ads at the offices of Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY)

• Oregon: Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste will be hosting free DACA assistance clinics throughout the week, as well as a Saturday march in Monmouth to support Dreamers.

• Pennsylvania:

  • CASA will be holding a week-long vigil and protest outside the Lancaster, Pennsylvania office of Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), with additional phone banking to Rep. Smucker’s office.

  • Make the Road Pennsylvania, One Pennsylvania, and Center for Coalfield Justice will be holding a week of patch-through calls to targeted Members of Congress, including Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA), Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA), and Rep. Lloyd Smucker.

• Texas:

  • In Houston, the Texas Organizing Project will be organizing a “mega-canvass” in communities affected by Hurricane Harvey, including Know Your Rights seminars aimed at young immigrants.

  • The Workers Defense Project will be hosting a clinic to help DACA recipients affected by wage theft.

###

Media Contact:

Asya Pikovsky, apikovsky@populardemocracy.org, 207-522-2442