Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Press Release, I don't want to be Brazilian I want to be American!!!!!!!

As part of my immigrant series that I started I have decided to add this piece.   A couple of years ago before I had my baby I volunteered for a immigrant coalition near Boston.  Their are a lot of Brazilians in Massachusetts.   I figured this work would help me toward my desire to be involved in non-profit work, and my study of poverty around the world.

Here is an actual press release from that coalition below.  A young Brazilian girl who was doing the tour stated "If President Obama now told me I could be either Brazilian or American, I would choose American, no question.  "I love America.  I feel American.  I just want the chance to work and contribute to my community fully."

I would like to know how other Brazilians feel about what she has stated.  Or how her former home town back in Brazil would feel. What this means about the country itself, and is this a betrayal.







Undocumented Immigrants Tour Sharing Stories, Calling for Reform
Despite pain of family separations, immigrants take strength from unity and promise of comprehensive immigration reform bill in March

BOSTON –  "The only thing that makes us different from most Americans is a social security card," said Samantha, an undocumented immigrant from Brazil who rode a bus across 500 miles through four New England states this weekend to share her story and ask Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year. Along with other riders, Samantha spoke before gathered crowds and to individual reporters at six stops on the New England------------ Bus Tour, part of a national mobilization to show the human face of the current broken immigration system.
One of the ten other immigrants and supporters on the bus was Samantha's younger brother João, who expects to receive work authorization under President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Samantha, however, cannot apply for DACA herself, since applicants must have arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday. Samantha arrived when she was 16-and-a-half.
"If President Obama now told me I could be either Brazilian or American, I would chose American, no questions," said  Samantha, now 29. "I love America. I feel American. I just want the chance to live and work and contribute to my community fully. As soon as we pass reform, I plan to finally go to college."
Rosmery Abigail Hernandez has been fortunate enough to realize her college dreams, since she graduated from a Massachusetts high school the same month that President Obama declared DACA last June. But she rode the bus because the passage of DACA is only a temporary, partial fix.
"There are four people in my family," Abigail said. "And they have four different immigration statuses. I feel like I'm going to wake up and see us pulled in four different directions one morning."
As Samantha, Abigail and the others shared their stories at each stop, audience members ranging in age from 13 to 73 also came forward with their own heartbreaking stories of fear and separation. "I cry myself to sleep every night worrying about my father," said one young girl at the Gloria Dei Step Up Center in Providence.

"Girls this age should be studying their school books, not worrying about losing a parent," said Center Founder-Director Keila Rodriguez. "We need to join together and stop this from constantly happening to working families with young children in towns across America."
Despite the pain and frustration, the tour was lifted by the support  of local community organizations.  Another bus rider, Belgica, summarized the tour's mission at this closing stop, "We cry our tears, of course, but this tour is special because it helps us come out of the shadows, unite, and raise our voice as one to keep families together."
Samantha and her brother João, front left, 

For more information Deleted that too sorry
Supporters of the: Deleted that sorry.


I have more information about this tour and the coalition.  I also can do research for anyone that needs this information and more but they need to leave a comment below with their email.