National Grassroots Immigrant Strategy Conference
Friday - Sunday July 28-30, 2006
Ward Circle Building , American University
Washington , DC

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/2006Conference/

Together, We Build A New National, Broad-Based, Immigrant Rights / Civil Rights Movement!

Information Hotline: (800)598-6379

Conference Flyer (Spanish English)

Please visit our initial lists of workshops and campaign proposals:

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/2006Conference/updates.html
 

Registration

Conference Registration:
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/2006Conference/registration.htm

Registration fee: $45.00 (includes 6 meals), $25.00 for low-income/students.

 

About the Conference

http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/2006Conference/about.html

Organized by: National Immigrant Solidarity Network
URL: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org 

 

The success of May 1st's "A Day Without Immigrants" has been an historical turning point for the immigrant rights movement. The National Immigrant Solidarity Network was one of the main groups who helped to organize the historical Los Angeles March 25th "Gran Marcha" and the national May 1st "A Day Without Immigrants" boycott/strike (Please visit http://www.NoHR4437.org)

Recognizing that:

·         The Senate’s immigration 'reform' bill (S. 2611) positive provisions, are far outweighed by the damaging impacts it will have

·         When the Senate bill meets that of the House (HR 4437) in conference the outcome, if there is any, will inevitably be worse.

·         There is a pressing need to quickly ourselves nationally for what we know will be a long grassroots campaign to defeat the racist anti-immigration legislation currently being debated.

·         There is a need to maintain the momentum of the undeniable success of the Los Angeles March 25th "Gran Marcha" and the national May 1st "A Day Without Immigrants" boycott/strike.

·         In order to successfully move forward in our organizing process, there is a need to resolve the conflicts that have arisen within the movement, many of which (not all,) are a result of tactical differences (primarily regarding the May 1 boycott.)

·         TRUE SOLIDARITY (founded on mutual aid and respect and demonstrated through embracing a diversity of tactics,) between progressive mobilizations  

We envision this as a grassroots activist conference of broad-based, multiethnic organizers from African American, Native American, African immigrant, Asian American, Latino/Latina, Arab-Muslim-North African, progressive labor, interfaith, LGBT, student, anti-war/peace and global justice groups from across the country, such as: National Organization for Women, Casa Freehold, Camp Democracy, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights are planning to attend,  and it’ll be benefit for them to understand different angle of the issue, with positive and constrictive discussion on how to formulate their campaign strategy.

The following are the Working Goals of the Conference:

·         Agree on points of unity for a new civil/ human /immigrant rights movement.

·         Create a broad-based, multiethnic, community-led national immigrant solidarity coalition (similar to coalition models such as United for Peace & Justice and US Labor Against the War), with an elected steering committee and working groups.

·         Set a 6-9 month national campaign strategy plan for united action.

·         Establish a framework for true solidarity amongst organizations nationally by:  recognizing our common points of unity and the value of a diversity of tactics.  Such solidarity will, hopefully, resolve the conflicts that have arisen in the movement and allow us to focus on the work at hand

The Call:

We invite your organization:

·         To attend and endorse the conference;

·         To register as soon as possible—to do so will help us finalize logistics with the university.

·         To guide the program of the conference by offering workshops;

·         To support our call for creating a national coalition, and consider running for a position on the steering committee or in working groups;

·         To bring proposals for the 6-9 month campaign strategy.

 

Points of Unity

We ask the conference participants to endorse the Ten Points for Immigrant Rights, draft by the Los Angeles March 25th Coalition:

- No to the anti-immigrant HR4437/SB2611 legislations from Congress
- No to militarization of the border
- No to criminalization of immigrant communities
- No to the planned immigrant crackdown across the country
- No to the guest worker program
- No to the Employer Sanction

- Yes to amnesty for undocumented immigrants
- Yes to immigrant family reunification
- Yes to a humane path to citizenship
- Yes to labor rights and living wages for all workers

On May 1st, we showed the world that our force, our strength and our voice cannot be silenced from this moment on! This is the birth of a new civil rights movement for the 21st century, and we will fight for our demands until we prevail.

United We'll Win! Together We'll Achieve Our Dreams!

 

Lists of Workshops

 

Organizing Day Labor Center (Casa Freehold)

Developing Immigrant Community Programs (National Organization for Women)

LGBT Caucus (Queers For Economic Justice)

 

Immigrant Media Strategy, Talking Points Formulation SmartMeMe Media Collective)

How to Build Your Low Cost Activist Webpage

 

Counter-Minutemen Organizing ( Los Angeles March 25th Coalition)

A Multi-Ethnic "Role-Playing" Activist Approach towards Immigrant Education and Understanding ( Mission : Middle East )

Detention and Deportation: Overview and Organizing (National Immigration Project/Detention Watch Network)

Women's Caucus (National Organization for Women)

Rights on the Line (American Friends Service Committee)

Low-wage immigrant worker strategies (American Friends Service Committee)

March 25th, May 1st organizing ( Los Angeles March 25th Coalition)

Away from Militarization and Towards Human Mobility: Civil Disobedience and Direct Action-Militarization/Diverse Tactics to Achieve Goals (American Civil Liberties Union of Texas )

 

Planning Camp Democracy ( Camp Democracy )

War on Terror Against Immigrants—The Arabs and Muslim Experience

Latest Updates on the Immigrant Legislation - An Introduction (National Immigrant Solidarity Network)

Panel: Immigrant Student Organizing (National Council of La Raza, National Asian American Student Conference)

 

Panel: Labor Union and Immigrant Organizing (Carpenters' District Council of Greater Kansas City and Vicinity)

Multi-Ethnic Organizing (Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign)

 

Acknowledging the Role of Faith in Addressing Social Justice and Defending Immigrant Rights

Trade and Immigration: Organizing around the failed "Free Trade Model" (Campaign for Labor Rights)

 

Panel Dialogue: Our May 1 Experience

 

Panel Dialogue: Lessons and Suggestions for the Immigrant Movements

 

Lists of Participating Organizations Includes

 

Casa Freehold * Los Angeles March 25th Coalition * New York May 1st Coalition * National Organization of Women * Western Mass Coalition of Immigrant Rights * National Immigrant Solidarity Network* SmartMeme Media Collective * Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants * Solidarity Committee of Capital District, NY * Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign * Woodbridge Workers Committee * Campaign For Labor Rights * Camp Democracy * Mission: Middle East * Queers for Economic Justice* ACLU of Texas * National Asian American Student Conference * National Immigration Project * Detention Watch Network * AFSC (Washington DC, Baltimore, Cambridge) * United Students Against Sweatshops * Industrial Workers of the World * National Council of LA Raza * Massachusetts Global Action * Industrial Workers of the World * National Interfaith Committee For Worker Justice * Greater Boston Stop the Wars Coalition * Boston May Day Coalition * Hispanic Organizations Leadership Alliance * Guyanese-American Workers United * Carpenters' District Council Kansas City * Student Immigrant Movement * North American Alliance for Fair Employment * Western Mass Global Action Coalition * Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala * United for a Fair Economy * Washtenaw County Workers Center (and more to come…)

 

 

=====================================================

National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org
mail: info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org
New York : (212)330-8172
Los Angeles : (213)403-0131
Washington D.C. : (202)595-8990

Please consider making a donation to the important work of National Immigrant Solidarity Network

Send check pay to:
National Immigrant Solidarity Network/AFGJ

and mail to:
ActionLA / The Peace Center
8124 West 3rd Street, Suite 104
Los Angeles , California 90048
(All donations are tax deductible)

*to join the immigrant Solidarity Network daily news litserv, send e-mail to: isn-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
or visit: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/isn

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Please join our following listservs:
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