CAREERS AND INTERNSHIPS AT SIREN // FORME PARTE DE NUESTRO EQUIPO

FORME PARTE DE NUESTRO EQUIPO 

Para satisfacer las crecientes necesidades de nuestras comunidades de inmigrantes y refugiados, SIREN ha crecido enormemente en los últimos tres años duplicando el tamaño de nuestro personal, expandiendo nuestro alcance geográfico y casi triplicando nuestro presupuesto. Estamos buscando personas dedicadas y talentosas para unirse a nuestro movimiento en la construcción del poder de inmigrantes y refugiados. Ayúdenos a correr la voz acerca de las posiciones abiertas que actualmente tenemos disponibles en nuestras oficinas en el Área de la Bahía y Valle Central. SIREN ofrece un salario competitivo y un gran paquete de beneficios.

Para obtener más información o para presentar una solicitud, visítenos http://www.siren-bayarea.org/jobs.

CAREERS AND INTERNSHIPS AT SIREN 

In order to meet the growing needs of our immigrant and refugees communities, SIREN has grown tremendously within the past three years by doubling our staff size, expanding our geographic reach and almost tripling our budget. We are looking for dedicated, talented individuals to join our movement in building immigrant and refugee power. Help us spread the word about the open positions we currently have available in both our Bay Area and Central Valley offices. SIREN offers a competitive salary and a great benefits package.

For more information or to apply, please visit us at www.siren-bayarea.org/jobs.

SIREN EN LAS NOTICIAS

Fresno establece un comité de inmigración "largamente vencido", pero no tiene fondos. / Fresno establishes ‘long overdue’ immigration committee–but it has no funding. Fresno Bee Online: February 17, 2019.

Gutiérrez: Los inmigrantes tienen el poder con nuestro voto. / Gutierrez: Immigrants hold the power with our vote. San Jose Spotlight: February 6, 2019.

Se espera que Trump se centre en la seguridad de las fronteras en la dirección de la Oficina Oval de la Casa Blanca. / Trump expected to focus on border security in address from Oval Office. KGO-AM Online: January 9, 2019.

SIREN IN THE NEWS

Fresno establishes ‘long overdue’ immigration committee–but it has no funding. Fresno Bee Online: February 17, 2019.
 

Gutierrez: Immigrants hold the power with our vote. San Jose Spotlight: February 6, 2019.
 

Trump expected to focus on border security in address from Oval Office. KGO-AM Online: January 9, 2019. 

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Fresno establishes ‘long overdue’ immigration committee — but it has no funding

BY YESENIA AMARO, Fresno Bee

FEBRUARY 17, 2019 06:00 AM,

UPDATED FEBRUARY 17, 2019 02:08 PM

MI FAMILIA VOTA MI FAMILIA VOTA

Fresno immigrant advocates believe a “long overdue” new advisory committee will make a dent on issues affecting the local immigrant community — despite having no funding attached.

The Fresno City Council on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution to establish a 15-member immigrant affairs committee. The committee will be tasked with advising the City Council on issues related to immigrants, according to the resolution. 

In June 2017, the City Council turned down a proposal to establish a legal defense fund for immigrants facing deportation.

The proposal asked for the city to include $200,000 in its 2017-18 budget for its contribution to the public-private legal fund that had been pushed by immigration and civil rights advocates.

Some acknowledged that not having to make an upfront funding commitment for the advisory committee might have played a role in the unanimous support for Thursday’s resolution. 

Samuel Molina, state director for Mi Familia Vota, said he and others had been advocating for the committee for about a year and a half. 

“It’s long overdue,” Molina said.

While he agreed that having no funding attached might have contributed to the passage of the resolution, he believes the committee can accomplish several things.

For example, it shows the immigrant community that the City Council stands with them and takes their concerns seriously, he said. The committee has the potential to address several issues within the immigrant community, like transition into citizenship and language barriers.

Plus, similar committees in other jurisdictions have shown to be effective. “Committees have worked to develop strategic plans on addressing immigrant issues and needs,” he said.

Council Member Luis Chavez said the city has to start somewhere when it comes to communicating with the immigrant community and including immigrants in the city’s decision-making process.

“This is a way to bring them to the table,” he said. “I think what we are trying to do here, is the first step in building a bridge with city hall and the immigrant community.”

Each council member will nominate two members and the mayor will appoint one, Chavez said. All committee members are expected to be in place by the end of March or early April, and the group will start its work soon after that. 

The committee’s meetings will be subject to the Brown Act and will be open to the public, according to the resolution.

Eliseo V. Gamino, chair of the Central Valley Leadership Roundtable, said he hopes the committee will have resources and accountability. 

The committee should be based on assistance and in “helping keep families together” – a need that has recently been illustrated with the case of a Navy veteran who fears could be deported, Gamino said. 

But Gamino said the committee does need adequate resources to be effective. 

“It has to have appropriate resources and accountability goals to help families stay... together and avoid deportation without due process,” he said. 

Chavez said the committee will have city hall resources, as well as access to department heads, the city’s attorney’s office and access to his personal office. 

Issues the advisory committee can help address, Chavez said, range from long wait times for international flights at the Fresno International Airport due to an inadequate number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, to offering English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and making citizenship classes more widely available. 

The legal defense fund is an issue the committee could bring back to the table as well, he said. 

Maricela Gutierrez, executive director with Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Services (SIREN), applauded the new committee. 

“I think this is a step in the right direction,” she said. “Our wish and dream is that one day there is actually an office of immigrants and refugee affairs.”

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article226344450.html

Gutiérrez: Immigrants hold the power with our vote

SIREN started the 2019 year in the immigrant and refugees rights movement with the federal government in a partial shutdown, where more than 800,000 federal workers were working without pay due to a failure between President Donald Trump and Congress to compromise over a useless and unnecessary border wall.

And on January 25, after 35 days of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, a budget continuing resolution was passed to open the government for another three weeks — without funding for the border wall.

From the resistance by members of Congress who refused to give in to Trump’s border demands, a major theme rang true — immigrant voters helped put Congress in a position to resist this discriminatory and racist wall.

For the November 2018 midterm elections, we saw record voter turnout among immigrants on the regional, state, and national level. Though SIREN doesn’t engage voters on behalf of candidates, we heard the frustration from voters in those districts where incumbent members of Congress lost.

Our volunteers made more than 80,000 phone calls to Congressional Districts 10 and 21, who were represented by Rep. Jeff Denham and Rep. David Valadao, respectively, this past election. The number one concern voiced by immigrant voters was how Congress wasn’t doing enough for immigrants.

From not protecting immigrant youth by failing to pass a clean DREAM Act to not pushing back against Trump’s draconian immigration executive orders, immigrant voters shared their disapproval for their members of Congress and their empty promises. As a result, the two incumbents lost their congressional seats this past November, along with other incumbents across the state and country.

San Joaquin Valley’s elected officials must stand up for immigrants

San Joaquin Valley’s elected officials must stand up for immigrants

BY MARICELA GUTIÉRREZ 

SEPTEMBER 04, 2018 11:47 AM,

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 04, 2018 10:47 AM

Pro-ICE supporter Ben Bergquam, left, and Jaimie Loza, right, who spoke out for immigrant rights, have a heated exchange at the community rally outside the Hall of Records building, Tuesday Aug 8, 2018. The demonstration was held to protest recent arrests by ICE agents at the Fresno County Courthouse. JOHN WALKER FRESNO BEE FILE

Since mid-July, Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials have been making arrests at Fresno’s courthouses, violating people’s right to due process and continuing to stoke fear within the immigrant community. It’s no coincidence that Fresno County is home to one of the fiercest in-state critics of California’s sanctuary policies, Sheriff Margaret Mims, who has proudly announced that her deputies and ICE have a strong working relationship. Though she claims that she is complying with state laws, the experience of community members in the Valley proves that there continues to be tight entanglement between her office and ICE. In our daily interactions with the immigrant community, providing legal services and know your rights trainings, we have heard more and more stories about a growing fear of contacting local law enforcement because of legitimate concerns of potential deportation.

The Central Valley is being acutely impacted by Trump’s war on immigrants – so much so that my organization, the Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network is poised to open a new office in Fresno due to increased demand. I have witnessed the plight of immigrants in our community firsthand since I was young. I grew up in the Fresno area as the daughter of immigrant farmworkers, hearing the stories of abusive employers and seeing my family and neighbors racially profiled by police and targeted by ICE. Now, as the executive director of SIREN, an immigrant and refugee rights advocacy organization, I’ve been connecting with many people who have been swept up by ICE in their brutal campaign.

SIREN Condemns National Emergency Declaration on Border Wall // SIREN condena Declaración Nacional de Emergencia en El Muro Fronterizo

For Immediate Release: Friday, February 15, 2019

Contact: mediainquiries@siren-bayarea.org; (408) 453-3003

Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) Condemns National Emergency Declaration on Border Wall

Congress must be bold in fighting against Trump’s racist agenda

Today, Trump declared a national emergency to create a border wall. Despite members of Congress on both sides of the aisle caving into his demands for funding for immigration enforcement and detention yesterday, he continues to advance his white supremacist agenda to further militarize the border, dehumanize immigrants and refugees, and play up the politics of racism and fear. By making this emergency declaration, he is openly undermining Congress and will immediately face challenges in court.

The following is a statement from Maricela Gutiérrez, Executive Director of SIREN:

“The true emergencies are the rampant detention and deportation of immigrants, turning back of asylum-seekers, and the lives of DACA-recipients and TPS holders being in limbo since this Administration took office.  It is disturbing, yet not surprising, that Trump is willing to take unilateral and unconstitutional steps to get his racist wall - especially after Congress abandoned the immigrant community and shamefully handed him more money for detention beds, immigration agents, and border barriers yesterday. While we look forward to supporting efforts to challenge Trump’s declaration in court, it is imperative that our members of Congress show courage and remain accountable to their constituents by taking steps to reverse this dangerous declaration and completely defunding ICE and CBP. ”

Help support our efforts to #DefundHate and fight back against Trump’s attacks on immigrant and refugee communities by making a donation to SIREN today.

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La Red de Servicios, Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Educación (SIREN) condena Declaración Nacional de Emergencia en El Muro Fronterizo
El Congreso debe ser audaz en la lucha contra la agenda racista de Trump

Hoy, Trump hizo una declaración de emergencia nacional para crear un muro fronterizo. A pesar de que los miembros del Congreso a ambos lados del pasillo se hundieron en sus demandas de fondos para la aplicación de la ley de inmigración y la detención ayer, continúa avanzando en su agenda de supremacía blanca para militarizar aún más la frontera, deshumanizar a los inmigrantes y refugiados, y poner en práctica la política de racismo y temor. Al hacer esta declaración de emergencia, está socavando abiertamente al Congreso e inmediatamente enfrentará desafíos en la corte.

La siguiente es una declaración de Maricela Gutiérrez, Directora Ejecutiva de SIREN:

“Las verdaderas emergencias son la detención y deportación desenfrenada de inmigrantes, el rechazo de los solicitantes de asilo y las vidas de los beneficiarios de DACA y los titulares de TPS que están en el limbo desde que esta Administración asumió el cargo. Es preocupante, pero no sorprendente, que Trump esté dispuesto a tomar medidas unilaterales e inconstitucionales para obtener su muro racista, especialmente después de que el Congreso abandonó a la comunidad de inmigrantes y le entregó vergonzosamente más dinero para camas de detención, agentes de inmigración y barreras fronterizas ayer. Si bien esperamos apoyar los esfuerzos para desafiar la declaración de Trump en la corte, es imperativo que nuestros miembros del Congreso demuestren valor y sean responsables ante sus electores al tomar medidas para revertir esta peligrosa declaración y eliminar completamente el ICE y el CBP. ”

Apoye nuestros esfuerzos para #DefundirElOdio y luchar contra los ataques de Trump contra las comunidades de inmigrantes y refugiados haciendo una donación a SIREN hoy.

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SIREN is an immigrant rights organization based in Northern California and the Central Valley. Its mission is to empower low-income immigrants and refugees through community education and organizing, leadership development, policy advocacy, civic engagement and legal services. We believe that all people regardless of legal status or nationality are entitled to essential services, human dignity, basic rights and protections, and access to full participation in society.

Maricela Gutiérrez - Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network
http://siren.nationbuilder.com/

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