cir2013 Archives - Benach Collopy

Congratulations to the National Center for Transgender Equality: Let’s Hope ENDA Does Better than CIR!

November 13, 2013

Last night, Jen Cook and I went to the National Council for Transgender Equality's (NCTE) 10th Anniversary event. The evening was themed "Our Moment," reflecting the organization's intention to build upon the successes of the...

Meet Jim Mowrer, Running Against Steve King of Iowa

August 23, 2013

On Tuesday, August 20, approximately fifty people gathered at Benach Collopy’s offices in Washington, DC to meet and support a 27 year old candidate for Congress from the 4th District of Iowa. Jim Mowrer, born...

Arizona loses again, but its citizens win

June 17, 2013

Today, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. that the state of Arizona cannot separately require an individual to prove he is a citizen in order to register...

CIS Bureaucrats Union Joins ICE Bureaucrats Union in Opposing Immigration Reform

May 23, 2013

The day before the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the most significant piece of immigration legislation since 1996, the "President of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, the union representing 12,000 United States Citizenship &...

From the Committee to the Senate Floor: The Immigration Bill Survives!

May 22, 2013

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hB4OwHbhsg] Yesterday, by a vote of 13-5, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 744, the immigration reform bill. Three Republicans (Lindsey Graham (SC), Jeff Flake (AZ) and Orrin Hatch (UT)) joined...

The April 10 Immigrant Rights Rally by Liana Montecinos

April 23, 2013

“¡Obama escucha, seguimos en la lucha!” This shouting was heard from downtown on 14th street as Sandra, Mariela, and I made posters to join thousands of people at the immigration rally held in front...

An Open Letter to Rep. Spencer Bachus

March 21, 2013

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgscE9lFZN4&w=560&h=315] Dear Congressman Bachus, Thank you very much for speaking out about the overuse of detention by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in civil proceedings to determine the removability of individuals in the U.S. ...

The Leaked White House Immigration Bill: the Legalization Component

February 20, 2013

It took only three years longer than promised—and a leak that may or may not have been intentional—but the White House has finally produced a legislative proposal to fix the immigration system. Dubbed the Comprehensive...

Hey FAU! Drop GEO!

February 20, 2013

Yesterday, after receiving a gift of $6 million, Florida Atlantic University announced that it was renaming its stadium "The Geo Group Stadium," after the for-profit prison company, best known for operating detention facilities on behalf...

Immigration Reform Follies!

February 20, 2013

The past few days have revealed tremendous silliness in the immigration reform debate. It is a true pity given the serious stakes involved for everyone persecuted by the U.S.' brutal immigration laws. Just today, we...

Should I Seek a Provisional Waiver or Just Wait for Immigration Reform?

February 13, 2013

The optimism and hope that have been generated by all of the hype around immigration reform has been intense. Every day, a new prominent political figure comes out in favor of immigration reform. Look, Sean...

The Whine of the ICE Bureaucrats

February 3, 2013

It has been a tough week for the ICE bureaucrats who have sought to undermine the political leadership of this country to pursue their own restrictivist and nativist agenda. Regular readers of this blog (my...

Does President Obama want to drop the one year asylum rule?

February 1, 2013

There is a single line in the President's immigration proposal that has escaped a lot of attention. As the idiotic "back of the line" concept and the path to citizenship dominate the headlines, the...

Immigration Reform 2013: The President’s Plan

February 1, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lVIuW8vJ_E&w=560&h=315] What a week it has been. There has been more positive discussion of immigration reform in the last week than in the past decade and while none of it is perfect, it is...

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