TAKE URGENT ACTION TO STOP (in)SECURE COMMUNITIES!

1) Take Action to Stop ICE's ramped up efforts to force "Secure Communities" on Vermont. Join the National Day of Action on August 15th!

Call the White House and VT Senators Leahy, Sanders and Congressman Welch and ask them to put an end to 'Secure Communities'.

2) Sign the petition to stop ICE’s Secure Communities Program in Vermont!

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1) National Call in Day to the White House to Stop ICE's "Secure Communities" on August 15th.

Join the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and various organizations throughout the country, including VTMFSP, in raising our voices to urge President Obama and the Administration to heed the call from community members, advocates, faith leaders and elected officials around the country to put an end to the misnamed "Secure Communities" (S-comm) program.

This past week the Obama Administration committed itself to pushing Secure Communities to every state in the country, regardless of whether each state or community wants to participate in this widely discredited mass deportation program.

Suspend "Secure Communities." Stop the Detentions & Deportations.

Restore our Rights. Investigate the Abuses.

White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111

Line is open 9am-5pm Eastern | 8am-4pm Central | 6am-2pm Pacific

Senator Leahy: (802) 863-2525; (802) 229-0569; http://leahy.senate.gov/contact/

Senator Sanders: (802) 862-0697; http://sanders.senate.gov/contact/

Congressman Welch: 802-652-2450; http://welch.house.gov

Enough is enough! Our communities will not be silenced or appeased. "Department of Homeland Security" announced last Friday that they would continue to rollout S-comm nationally and rescinded all agreements with states, effectively closing all doors for opting out of the deportation program. Most troubling is that the announcement was made in the face of widespread opposition by a broad echo of voices including elected officials and members of Congress who called for an investigation into the program.

We have already made our message clear to ICE. Cosmetic reforms and the creation of an Advisory Committee are insufficient in addressing the mounting concerns raised around the country about the devastating impacts of S-comm on diverse communities.

Now it's time we send a clear message to the White House about the misnamed "Secure Communities" program:

*S-comm separates families,destroys communities, and violates our due process rights.

*DHS is usingS-comm as a vehicle to meet the agency's deportation goal of 400,000 people per year, subjecting people to detention and deportation regardless of whether or not they committed any "crime," the degree of severity of legal infractions, how long ago any charges occurred, what kind of rehabilitation has taken place, or what ties they have to communities.

*S-comm compromises our communities' safety by driving a wedge between local police and the communities they are supposed to serve, adding tension to the already tenuous relationship.

*S-comm encourages racial profiling and indiscriminately funnels immigrants into an unjust and dysfunctional immigration detention and deportation system.

Join your neighbors, co-workers, community members and Call the White House Today!

Dial 202-456-1111 for the President, and Senators/Congressman numbers above, and tell them:

My name is ___________, and I'm calling from [name of your organization] in [city, state].

I am calling to urge the President or Senator Leahy, Sanders/ Rep.Welch to urge the president) to heed the call by communities, advocates, faith leaders, and elected officials across the country to suspend the "Secure Communities" program and stop the widespread deportation of our community members.

Until there is a reasonable solution with a real path to legalization for over two generations of immigrant community members to adjust their status, we urge you to suspend S-Comm and keep our families together.

We are deeply disturbed by the recent DHS announcement to rescind all MOU's with the states under the President's directive, only to continue with unabated and absolute disregard for widespread opposition to S-Comm.

In the spirit of democracy, I urge (Senator/Rep________ to call upon...) the President to suspend the Secure Communities program, stop the deportations, and investigate the widely-reported abuses that have been caused by policies fueling increased repression and racial profiling of immigrant communities.

(For Sen. Sanders/Leahy and Rep. Welch: "I was also very pleased to read the letter by Congresswoman Serrano of New York denouncing S-Comm, and urge you to join him by sending you own letter."

Thank you.

You can find his letter on-line at: http://serrano.house.gov/press-release/serrano-objects-new-secure-commun...

Let us know how it went! Please take a minute to share it here

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dExmQy1yeHl...

2) Take Action to stop ICE’s Secure Communities Program in Vermont!

Since launching the petition calling on governor Shumlin to have Vermont publicly opt-out of “Secure Communities”, VTMFSP and our partners have collected over 400 signatures statewide. However, the national picture has worsened and we need to ramp up our efforts to stop Secure Communities!

If you haven’t signed the letter yet, visit http://www.migrantjustice.net/node/98. Please FORWARD this link to all your contacts and help us gather more support!

Secure Communities is one of several federal policies that blur the lines between local and state police and immigration agents, creating an environment of racial profiling. New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts have all said NO to Secure Communities; it’s time for Vermont to join in.

The migrant farmworker community, the population most affected by this policy, has decided to petition Gov. Shumlin themselves and are preparing for an in person visit to seek his support to opt out of Secure Communities and declare VT a Bias-Free Policing State.

Check out this great 7 Days article about the farm worker petition drive:

http://www.7dvt.com/2011migrant-workers-lobby-governor-speak-out-against...

And this inspiring posting by VTMFSP volunteer Dana Woodruff:

http://dandelionessherbals.blogspot.com/2011/08/ice-is-drawing-line-whic...

Thank you very much for helping us keep this dangerous program out of Vermont. Your efforts, combined with those happening all around the country, are showing ICE that we will not allow them to trample on our communities!