News
Town Hall Meeting with Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren holds up need for Immigration Reform
People Acting in Community Together (PACT San Jose), August 8, 2009
On August 7, over 750 people, including clergy of many faiths, came together in San Jose, CA for a town hall meeting with Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren to highlight the urgent need for just and humane comprehensive immigration reform (CIR).
Members of PICO affiliate People Acting in Community Together (PACT San Jose), together with ally organizations, gave powerful testimony about how they are affected by the broken immigration system:
- Chris Sutherlin, a local construction business owner spoke about the need for both health and immigration reform.
- Tony Alexander, Political Director for the UFCW Local 5, shared how the African American community and labor will benefit from CIR.
- Four youth - Phalguni, Quyhn, Nadia and Monserrat - courageously shared how the broken immigration system affects them and their families.
Watch videos of these testimonies here:
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a long-time champion for immigration reform and Chair of the House Immigration Sub-Committee, committed to:
- Work for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, including family reunification; a pathway to residency for undocumented people including students; and respect for human rights and workers' rights.
- Share our urgency for reform with Speaker Pelosi and President Obama. She encouraged the crowd to continue writing and calling those offices directly.
- Work with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to stop home-raids, harmful policies like the flawed E-Verify and ensure the safety and dignity of detainees.
This meeting, organized in partnership with SIREN, CCIR and SVAIR, was one of dozens of events happening around the country through Reform Immigration For America and the PICO National Network.
For more information on PACT, visit www.pactsj.org
Media Coverage
Immigrants tell their stories of fighting red tape, San Jose Mercury News
