OntheWilderSide

Long Island Immigration Alliance
Sunday, August 17, 2008 from 03:00 PM – 06:00 PM

The Art Gallery, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Road
Manhasset, NY 11030

Let’s Celebrate Our Victories!

Thanks to your commitment and support, we soundly defeated most of the anti-immigrant initiatives put before the Suffolk County Legislature, and we won more friends on Long Island. Let’s celebrate our victories!

Let Us Give Praise to Whom Praise is Due!

Jim Claffey, founder of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, has been a mentor, friend and a skilled advocate whose calm demenanor belies a strength that makes us all proud. Jim and his wife will be dedicating their time and efforts to empowering the impoverished in Honduras. That is entirely in line with Jim’s calling and his work with immigrants on Long Island. Let’s celebrate Jim’s achievements and give him a great send-off!

Let’s Build the Most Powerful Immigrant Movement on Long Island!

The road ahead is full of challenges. Anti-immigrant voices are gearing up for the next round. We must do the same to ensure victory in the battles ahead. Your financial support will contribute to developing our capacity to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of immigrant integration and protection.

Dear friend,
I was first shocked, then outraged when I read in the NY Times this Sunday how an hospital had taken upon itself to deport an immigrant because it had concluded that his care had become too expensive and it could not offload the care of the patient onto another facility because the immigrant’s residence in the US was unauthorized.
I am certain that you were just as shocked and outraged as I was by this story, especially after seeing the picture of the immigrant on the front page of the NY Times.
But then I thought that anti-immigrant groups must be celebrating. Groups like the Federation for Immigration Rerform (FAIR), Numbers USA, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the Minutemen, and their allies must be saying to themselves that their hate-filled propaganda scapegoating immigrants, and their strategy of undermining immigration through attrition must be working. And I am sure that with what they see as victory they are both pouring more money into negative immigrant advertising and going hat in hand to their supporters for more cash to spend on ads.
I wish we had as much money as they do. But the Long Island Immigrant Alliance (LIIA) does not. And because it does not, we cannot engage the opposition as strongly as we should, or reach out to potential allies and ensure that they remain wedded to the idea that immigration and fairness to immigrants make the United States of America, a better, stronger and more economically viable world leader and a place to live.
That is why I come to you, urging you to both celebrate our victories and get us ready for the battles to come on August 17. I am requesting a modest contribution, in line with your commitment to the cause of fair immigration and your ability to give. We want to welcome you and your family on what we hope will be a beautiful afternoon when we can take comfort in each other’s solidarity. Children and youths under 15 are welcome and will be admitted free of charge.
We are thankful that pastries and sweets will be provided by Peter’s Cakes of Cedarhurst, NY. We can win over to our side businesses like Peter’s Cakes which support immigrant rights on Long Island. We can rally many more people to our cause.
Please RSVP and make your contribution today. If you cannot attend the event because of previous plans, please make a contribution via credit card or mail in your contribution.
I am looking forward to personally greeting you on August 17.
Sincerely,

Luis Valenzuela
Executive Director

P.S. We should not be caught off-guard, we should be able to match the opposition dollar for dollar, and overwhelm it with the power that popular solidarity with immigrants brings to the political and socio-economic debate. Give generously.

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