[mpen-dayton] FW: MPEN Special Issue on Trumpcare & DACA

FYI. Best, Munsup

P.S. Please reply back to me with 'unsubscribe' added to the subject line if you no longer want to receive my e-Newsletters. The convenient link to unsubscribe is no longer available due to security reasons to protect my email servers.

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• FW: The DREAM Act we want
• FW: Rally to SAVE health care in Ohio
• FW: Call Sen. Portman now: Health care repeal is back
• FW: Time to stop Trumpcare again
• FW: Bernie's long-awaited single-payer bill arrives at last!
• FW: Trumpcare is ALIVE!
• FW: We have to kill Trumpcare
• FW: I am ASHAMED of you:
• FW: NAACP Support for DREAMers & Questions and Answers

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From: Donna De La Cruz, Reform Immigration FOR America
Subject: The DREAM Act we want

Last week, Democratic leaders went to the White House for a late-night meeting with Trump, and they came away with an announcement: a way forward on a permanent legislative solution for DREAMers in exchange for new immigration enforcement measures that the Democrats have long opposed.

This deal plays right into Trump's anti-immigrant agenda, using immigrants' lives and futures as political bargaining chips. That's unacceptable. Call your representative and tell them to demand a clean DREAM Act that includes a clear path to citizenship for DREAMers WITHOUT funding Trump's already out-of-control enforcement agenda.

There are members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who know we need to do better, who recognize that immigrants make America great and that hate hurts us all. But too many Members are at risk of falling in line with Trump's plans — unless they hear from you. Will your representative stand up for the immigrant community? Or stand with Trump's agenda of hate?

Call your representative and tell them to push for a DREAM Act that doesn't give a single dollar to fund hate.

 

 

From: Katie O'Connell, People For the American Way
Subject: Rally to SAVE health care in Ohio>>

We desperately hoped this wouldn't happen again, but it looks like the Affordable Care Act repeal effort is back and rearing its ugly head.

All signs are indicating that the Republicans are close to the 50 votes they need to actually pass the repeal... and the Graham-Cassidy version of the bill is very, very bad. Once again, it eliminates funding for Planned Parenthood, slashes coverage for pre-existing conditions, seriously undermines Medicaid, and will obliterate health care for millions.

Rallies in Senate target states like yours are being scheduled quickly -- will you show up to be part of the grassroots rapid response effort to kick the Graham-Cassidy bill to the curb?

Info on the events scheduled in your state:
   

What: All Day ACA OFfice Visits
When: Tomorrow, September 20 at 9am
Where: Rob Portman's Cleveland Office
Find out more and RSVP>>

What: Rally to End Trumpcare for Good
When: Tuesday, September 26 at 12pm
Where: 37 W Broad St Ste 300, Columbus, Ohio 43215
Find out more and RSVP>>

The GOP will not let go of their cruel attempts to eliminate health care for millions of Americans -- and they need to know that people like you will not stop fighting until Trumpcare is permanently dead.

Please come out to let the Republicans know you will NOT let them overturn health care in Cleveland tomorrow>>

And in Columbus on the 26th>>

 

 

From: Ben, Amy, Emma, Shari, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Civic Action
Subject: Call now: Health care repeal is back

Trumpcare is back. Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller, and Ron Johnson have introduced a new bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and take away health care from tens of millions of Americans. That's why every Republican senator needs to hear from constituents today—and every day—until this bill is defeated.

Will you call Senator Rob Portman now and tell him to protect our care?

Here is where to call: Sen. Portman - (202) 224-3353

This repeal proposal is being called "the most radical one yet."¹

The news media is not yet taking this effort seriously, with most calling it dead on arrival, but Sen. Cassidy is saying he is already close to securing 50 votes.² Plus, Donald Trump has said that repealing the ACA is a priority, and that he's prepared to sign this bill into law. They're trying to sneak this bill through Congress before the end of the month, which is the deadline for repeal to require only 50 votes.³ These next 12 days are make-or-break for what could be the final Republican attempt to take away our health care.

We've defeated Trumpcare over and over, and now we need to do it one more time by raising a deafening roar against any plan that would take away health care, cut Medicaid, and drive up insurance premiums.

Will you call your senator right now and say, "Don't take away our health care. Say no to Graham-Cassidy or any version of Trumpcare."?

Here's where to call: Sen. Portman - (202) 224-3353

Then click here and tell us how your call went.

We have stopped this trainwreck before, and we need to spot it again. We know that grassroots pressure works. If this bill moves forward, we'll rally, make phone calls, and fight tooth and nail against it. Let's start by raising an outcry to let every Republican senator know that we're watching, and that we will hold them accountable.

Sources:

    

1. "Republicans wind up one last Hail Mary to repeal Obamacare," Vox, September 12, 2017
   https://act.moveon.org/go/14513?t=15&akid=189887%2E1195276%2EBJ-xcl
2. "Bill Cassidy says Obamacare overhaul bill is close to 50 votes," Washington Examiner, September 15, 2017
   http://act.moveon.org/go/14514?t=17&akid=189887%2E1195276%2EBJ-xcl
3. "Trump says 'inaction is not an option' after GOP senators unveil last-gasp Obamacare repeal plan," CNBC, September 13, 2017
   https://act.moveon.org/go/14515?t=19&akid=189887%2E1195276%2EBJ-xcl

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?  Donate monthly or make a one-time gift

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

 

 

From: Nicole Regalado;  Campaign Manager, CREDO Action from Working Assets, CREDO Action
Subject: Sign the petition: Time to stop Trumpcare again

Time to stop Trumpcare again
  

Petition to Congress: "Put the health and well-being of your constituents first. Block and resist the cruel and heartless Graham-Cassidy bill and stop right-wing Republicans' last-ditch effort to gut health care for millions of Americans." Add your name:   Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Trump Republicans have not given up their quest to gut our health care. Two extreme right-wing Republican senators from South Carolina and Louisiana – Senator Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, respectively – just introduced a so-called compromise bill (Graham-Cassidy) to win over the supposedly moderate wing of their party. But make no mistake, their latest proposal is just as cruel and heartless as the Trumpcare bills that came before it. Graham-Cassidy would roll back Medicaid expansion, end protections for people with pre-existing conditions and cut funding to Planned Parenthood.1 Mitch McConnell is so desperate for a win on health care that he is now trying to ram through the Graham-Cassidy bill by Sept. 30 to avoid a democratic filibuster and the public scrutiny of the bill's dangerous impact.2 Our collective activism helped stop Trumpcare three times before. Now, we need to use the same grassroots power to block this latest attack and make sure that we defeat the Republicans' zombie Trumpcare bill once and for all.   Tell Congress: Do everything in your power to protect our health care. Block the dangerous Graham-Cassidy bill. Click here to sign the petition.   Republicans are using the same old dirty tricks to advance this latest version of Trumpcare. Once again, they are pushing through a secretive bill to steal health care from millions of people that they drafted behind closed doors and with no time for public hearings, constituent input or amendments.   The Graham-Cassidy bill would:     End employer-provided health coverage for many Americans. Eliminate subsidies that help middle- and low-income people purchase health plans. Dramatically cut funding to support states' Medicaid costs and allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, an attack that could leave millions of people with disabilities and low-income families without health coverage. Give states the power to remove more expensive health services like maternity care from the list of essential benefits that insurance providers are required to cover. Allow insurance providers to charge more and reduce the quality of care for people with pre-existing conditions. Defund Planned Parenthood. Increase health care premiums for seniors.3,4,5,6 Graham-Cassidy would also replace federal funding for Medicaid expansion and health care subsidies with a state block grant that would shrink over time. The block grant gives states the power to design their own health programs but less money to run them. Many Democratic states like California, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and the federal government gave them more funding to cover the cost of new and more Medicaid beneficiaries. Graham-Cassidy would force states to absorb the cost of expanding Medicaid and eventually roll back the expansion.   By 2026, states that expand Medicaid would have 50 percent less federal funding to keep the program going.7 Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who opposes the bill, has called Graham-Cassidy's block grant scheme a "game" to take away federal funding from Democratic states.8 It is also an insidious attack on the health care of more than 15 million low-income people covered under Medicaid expansion.9 Senate Republicans claim they are just a few votes short of repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with Graham-Cassidy, which is why we must speak out now.10   Tell Congress: Do everything in your power to protect our health care. Block the dangerous Graham-Cassidy bill. Click here to sign the petition.   We have signed petitions. We have made calls. We have showed up to congressional offices. We have shared videos, graphics and articles via our social media channels. Our activism has worked to defeat Trumpcare before, and we can win again if we put forward a massive show of resistance against Trump Republicans' latest attempt to gut our health care. Will you help ramp-up the pressure now to make sure members of Congress do the right thing and reject the heartless Graham-Cassidy bill? Tell Congress: Do everything in your power to protect our health care. Block the dangerous Graham-Cassidy bill. Click on the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Resist_GrahamCassidy?t=8&akid=25055%2E1004336%2EX5jFor Add your name: References: Sarah Kliff, "Cassidy-Graham: The last GOP health plan left standing, explained," Vox, Sept. 13, 2017. Dylan Scott, "Senate Republicans claim they are a few votes away from repealing Obamacare," Vox, Sept. 15, 2017. Kim Soffen, "There's one Obamacare repeal bill left standing. Here's what's in it." The Washington Post, Sept. 6, 2017. Scott, "Senate Republicans claim they are a few votes away from repealing Obamacare." Kliff, "Cassidy-Graham: The last GOP health plan left standing, explained." Jennifer Haberkorn, "Graham, Cassidy unveil last-ditch Obamacare repeal bill," POLITICO, Sept. 13, 2017. Margaret Hartmann, "4 Ways Graham-Cassidy Would Make the Health-Care System Far Worse," New York Magazine, Sept. 19, 2017. Ibid. Kaiser Family Foundation, "5 Ways the Graham-Cassidy Proposal Puts Medicaid Coverage At Risk," Sept. 19, 2017. Dan Mangan, "Senator says Obamacare repeal bill close to enough votes to pass, but there's reason to be skeptical," CNBC, Sept. 15, 2017.

 

 

From: SPAN Ohio on behalf of Ben and Stephanie; Healthcare-NOW! National Staff
Subject: Bernie's long-awaited single-payer bill arrives at last!

Sanders Bill Introduced

Bernie Sanders introduced his long awaited single payer bill, The Medicare For All Act of 2017, yesterday. Previously, single payer bills in the Senate had no support from other Senators, but this time the bill was introduced with 16 original co-sponsors.

A week before introduction there was major concern in the Single Payer community when it was leaked that the bill contained cost sharing provisions. The reason given was that in order to gain co-sponsors, cost sharing had to be included. Leaders from Single Payer advocacy groups as well as Our Revolution contacted Sanders office to voice their disapproval. Working with his office, they were able to get cost sharing provisions removed.

Sanders' bill, S. 1804, is considered to be a companion bill to HR 676, the Improved and Expanded Medicare for All Act, introduced into the House by Congressman John Conyers. Lori Kearns, healthcare policy aide to Sanders, said the bill should be posted on Congress.gov by next week. The page for the bill is here.

Original co-sponsors include Senators Tammy Baldwin (WI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Cory Booker (NJ), Al Franken (MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Kamala Harris (CA), Martin Heinrich (NM), Mazie Hirono (HI), Patrick Leahy (VT), Edward Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Brian Schatz (HI), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Tom Udall (NM), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI).

Where is Sherrod Brown?

Noticeably absent from the list is Ohio's Senator, Sherrod Brown. Brown has verbally stated his support for Medicare for All, but when it came time to make that support concrete, he declined. The reason given is he is too busy defending the ACA and promoting his own bill which would allow a buy in to Medicare for those over 55.

While his efforts are well meaning, they fall far short of healthcare that is truly universal, truly affordable, and accountable to the people it serves, rather than Wall Street investors. It is not acceptable to give lip service to supporting Medicare for All, but not to the bill itself.

We need to educate Sherrod.

Senator Brown needs to hear from his constituents. Give his office a call.

Washington, DC: 202-224-2315
Ohio: Cleveland: 216-522-7272
Columbus: 614-469-2083
Cincinnati: 513-684-1021
Lorain: 440-242-4100
Toll Free: 1-888-896-OHIO

Don't Leave Out Rob Portman

In the spirit of universality, give Rob a call as well. Let's get the first Republican co-sponsor on board!

Washington, DC: 202-224-3353
Ohio: Cincinnati: 513-684-3265
Cleveland: 216-522-7095
Columbus: 614-469-6774
Toledo: 419-259-3895
Toll Free: 1-800-205-6446 (OHIO) Rings in the Columbus Office.

Talking Points:
  

• Single Payer is not government control of health care and a single payer system would result in less government control than we currently have in the Affordable Care Act.
• It saves money. Every other advanced democracy covers virtually all of its people at a cost relative to national income of something like 60% of what the United States pays. That's just wasted money—money that could buy other things. Estimates show that a national program would save about a half trillion dollars in its first year.* In Ohio, a state based plan would save public employers $2-3 billion each year.**
• It acts as an economic stimulus. By reducing the cost of healthcare to consumers, they have more discretionary income to spend on goods and services from other sectors of the economy, thus creating the need for more jobs to produce those good and services.***
• In addition to creating jobs, mainly in the manufacturing and retail sectors, it would create additional tax revenue to carry on existing programs and decrease the deficit. ***
• It supports entrepreneurship by removing the burden of increasingly expensive employee benefit programs and frees up business resources to concentrate on providing a quality product or service.
• Controls costs by encouraging competition and allowing a free exchange between the consumer (i.e. patients) and the service providers (i.e. doctors and hospitals) with universal access and availability especially at the mostly small business primary care level.
• Frees up resources currently duplicated on redundant systems like Worker's Compensation or medical liability written into auto, home, and business insurances.
• It provides support to the middle class in a time of anxiety. Globalization has thus far tended to enrich the rich and squeeze the middle, not only in the United States, but in almost every developed country. Health security puts a floor under the middle class without radical change to the rest of the economic system.
• Allows and encourages consumers to assume personal responsibility for their own health, with completely open access to preventive and primary services including medical screening, health education, mental health and long term care services, dental and vision, and more.
• Reduces medical malpractice and "defensive medicine" by removing the incentive of consumers to sue the providers in an attempt to recover personal losses in the form of medical bills.
• Restores the doctor/patient relationship by putting medical decisions in their hands rather than in the hands of insurance companies which seek to deny or limit healthcare.
• All industrialized nations except the United States have some form of universal health care, which puts US businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Single Payer would level the global playing field for business.

* Friedman, Gerald, PHD, July 31, 2013; Funding HR 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act: How we can afford a national single payer health plan.
** Analysis done from school reports and reports from county auditors on health care costs by SPAN Ohio.
*** Single Payer/Medicare for All An Economic Stimulus Plan for the Nation, Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, 2009

You can also participate in this action by Healthcare-NOW!

The 31 Senate Democrats who haven't yet signed onto Sanders's Medicare for All bill are already feeling the heat - but it's time to turn it up even more. Healthcare-NOW teamed up with some big national organizations like Daily Kos, Public Citizen, People Demanding Action, Center for Popular Democracy, and many others and launched an online petition to ALL our Senators with a message they will be hearing loud and clear over the next months: Cosponsor the Medicare for All Act!

Sign the petition demanding your Senators sign onto the Medicare for All Act!

This is the moment we're in: "Medicare for All" is trending on Facebook. Establishment superstars like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker falling over themselves to rally for single payer. A third of Senate Democrats have put their name on a bill that would establish a single payer system in the U.S. with no copays, deductibles for all care including dental, vision, and mental healthcare. THIS is the moment to act!

Sign & Share the petition to All our Senators Demanding Medicare for All!

The petition is only one prong of a pressure campaign that we'll be leading over the next couple months; we'll also be calling, organizing district visits, holding public hearings on single payer, and doing in-person signature gathering for the petition. Let's kick it off strong!

SPAN exists due to the generosity of individual donors. Please consider a donation today: Donations
SPAN Ohio is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization.Donations to SPAN Ohio are not tax deductible.

 

 

From: Katie O'Connell; Digital Communications Coordinator, Signature needed NOW (PFAW)
Subject: Trumpcare is ALIVE!

This is NOT a false alarm.

Republicans in the Senate are dangerously close to having the votes they need to REPEAL health care by the end of the month!

We have just 11 days to stop them -- that's when a deadline hits to prevent them from passing the bill with a simple majority. After that, they would need 60 votes (which they cannot get).

Millions of Americans could lose their health care. Their lives are on the line ... as is the biggest progressive victory so far during the Trump presidency.

This is an emergency in the truest sense -- don't wait a second.

Add your name NOW to demand that the Congress kill this last ditch effort to repeal Obamacare>>

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Previous message from Katie O'Connell; Digital Communications Coordinator:

Republicans in Congress have been relentless in their attempts to destroy the Affordable Care Act. They're down to wire, but they still have 12 days left to attempt to take away health care from millions, maybe tens of millions, of Americans. We must stop them!

Please sign the petition to say NO to Obamacare repeal and Trumpcare NOW>>

Reports are that Senate Republicans are close to the 51 votes they need to pass the monstrous Graham-Cassidy bill... even Senator John McCain who dramatically voted "no" last time is on board with this cruel bill. Senator Chris Murphy tweeted that the bill is "an intellectual and moral garbage truck fire," if that gives you an idea of just how bad it is.

And the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced today that they can ONLY provide a preliminary assessment of the Graham-Cassidy bill -- it will take several weeks for them to provide estimates on health insurance coverage or premiums. So by the time Congress tries to pass this monster, we may not even know the actual impact it will have on Americans.

SIGN NOW: Demand that your Congress members FULLY REJECT the latest health care repeal attempt>>

Here's what you need to know about this bill -- one that Slate magazine is calling the GOP's "most extreme bill yet":
  

1. It REPEALS health care -- but it does not actually replace it in a way that works… it just hands health care control to the states with block grants to fund the program that EXPIRE in 2026.
2. Medicaid expansion funding would be slashed by a THIRD by 2026 and completely eliminated by 2027.
3. Subsidies for low-income people on Obamacare would be scrapped entirely.
4. Insurers can charge older customers FIVE TIMES more than younger ones.
5. The bill ENDS any protections against discriminating against patients with preexisting conditions leaving them vulnerable to skyrocketing rates or complete loss of coverage.

This isn't all of course. The bill introduces caps to Medicaid starting in 2020, states can change coverage of "essential health benefits" potentially eliminating coverage for mental health conditions and hospital visits, and Planned Parenthood is facing a one-year funding freeze.

Even Forbes Magazine, often described as a center-right publication, is pillorying the bill describing it as "another punitive bill" and "more draconian than its failed predecessor." The bill is not only cruel, it is immoral, and an utter abdication of Congresspersons' duties to serve the people that elected them.

This bill simply cannot pass. We are not even going to know the extent of the damage it will do without a full CBO score that cannot be released in the 12 days the GOP has to pass this hideous attempt to rip health care away from millions.

Please sign the petition IMMEDIATELY>>
and

 

 

From: John Sellers, Other98
Subject: Signature Needed: We have to kill Trumpcare

This is a red alert moment: Trumpcare is back from the dead and Americans' health and well-being are on the line.

The Republican's proposed legislation would cause an estimated 32 million Americans to lose coverage, end a Medicaid expansion that has helped 11 million gain coverage, cut coverage for seniors, children, and people with disabilities, end protection for pre-existing conditions, increase out-of-pocket healthcare costs across the board, cause premiums to spike by more than 20%, eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, and so much more.

Take action today and tell your elected officials to kill this bill before it can do any damage.

The good news is that the rules that make it possible for Republicans to potentially ram this bill through expire on September 30th. If we can hold them off till then we might just stand a fighting chance.

Together we can still win!

Chip In To Keep Us Going

 

 

From: Open Letter to Republicans -- Bold Democrats
Subject: [READ THIS] I am ASHAMED of you:

BREAKING: Republicans introduce NEW bill to destroy Obamacare

Read our open letter to Republicans -- then sign on
and donate to STOP them from destroying healthcare >>
  

Dear Republican Politicians, I am ashamed of you. Your country is ashamed of you. A week ago, Democratic Senators introduced Medicare for All to make healthcare a RIGHT for all Americans. And how do Republicans respond? You introduce another bill that would REPEAL Obamacare and strip coverage away from millions. Your bill would lead to tens-of-thousands of needless deaths EACH YEAR. You've proven yet again who your TRUE constituents are: insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and the ultra-wealthy -- all looking for a tax cut. ENOUGH. We will stop YOU. I will stop YOU. We will NEVER stop fighting back. By signing this letter and making a donation, I'm committing to DEFEAT you in 2018. DONATE NOW TO ADD YOUR NAME OFFICIALLY TO THIS LETTER >> Republicans, you've staked your claim as the party that wants to take away healthcare from the neediest Americans. You think it's a great idea for insurance companies to cancel insurance plans if someone has a pre-existing condition. Your policies are cruel and senseless. You DESERVE to lose your next election and every election. So today I'm staking my claim: I will fight you for as long as it takes. I sign my name proudly. I'm standing up for the healthcare of millions -- and I will not stop fighting until healthcare is a guaranteed right. We will defeat you,

http://go.boldpac.com/Letter-to-Republicans

PAID FOR BY CHC BOLD PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE.

 

 

From: Dr. Jerome L. Reide; Regional Field Director, NAACP Midwest Region III
Subject: FW: Support for DREAMers

The NAACP has just filed a lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Homeland Secretary Elaine Duke, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, in defense of people of color eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). There are more than 500,000 undocumented black immigrants in the US. NAACP's membership includes DACA registrants from across the United States.

In a press statement that will be released, Interim President Derrick Johnson states:

"By establishing DACA, the United States made a promise to protect its most vulnerable residents—young, undocumented immigrants, who are overwhelmingly people of color. In exchange for providing the government with extensive information about themselves and their families, these young immigrants received this country's assurance that they could build lives for themselves in the United States without fear of prosecution or deportation. Now, President Trump has reneged on that promise. By rescinding DACA, President Trump puts hundreds of thousands of lives and livelihoods at risk. Immigrants and DACA registrants have been positive members of society; they contribute to community; they open businesses; they pay taxes and they are generally law abiding. But instead of celebrating their contributions, President Trump is kicking DACA registrants and eligible people out of the country and upending their lives. Furthermore, there are nearly a thousand people that serve in our military who will be affected by cancelling DACA. These individuals have risked their lives to protect our country, and how does the President repay them? This is not the American Way."

The lawsuit seeks to stop the Trump Administration from reneging on the government's promise to share the American dream with immigrant children who have become productive, valued members of our community.  Joseph M. Sellers, Partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC is representing the NAACP in this filing.

Over the next few days we will have an aggressive media push to share our point of view. Use this email and the points below as a guide in case you get calls or questions from constituents:
  

• DACA does not only effect Latino and Mexican immigrants
• 1 % of DACA recipients from top countries are black
• 20,000 youth from Caribbean nations of the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are eligible for DACA

Please forward all media inquires to Malik Russell, Director of Communications, at 410-580-5220 or mrussell@naacpnet.org.

-------------------------------------------
From: Hilary O. Shelton
Subject: Support for DREAMers

On September 5, 2017, U.S. Attorney General Sessions announced that as of March 5, 2018, the Trump Administration would formally terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or "DACA" program which President Obama had initiated and the NAACP supported in June of 2012.  The program allowed some individuals who entered the country without documentation as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.  As of 2017, approximately 800,000 individuals—referred to as "DREAMers", named for legislation known as the DREAM Act—were enrolled in the program created by DACA.   Soon after the program was announced in 2012, it was estimated that as many as 1.7 million people already living in the U.S. might qualify.  DREAMers originate from all parts of the world including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe, and currently live in every state in our nation.

The DREAM Act has once again been introduced with strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate (S. 1615, by Senators Lindsey Graham, SC, and Richard Durbin, IL) and in the US House (H.R. 3440, by Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard, CA, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, FL) in the 115^th Congress. The DREAM Act would allow these young people to earn lawful permanent residence and eventually American citizenship if they: are longtime residents who came to the U.S. as children; graduate from high school or obtain a GED; pursue higher education, work lawfully for at least three years, or serve in the military; pass security and law enforcement background checks and pay a reasonable application fee; demonstrate proficiency in the English language and a knowledge of United States history; and have not committed a felony or other serious crimes and do not pose a threat to our country.

Please contact your elected representatives this week and le them know of your strong support for DREAMers and the DREAM Act.  For more information about the plight of the DREAMers and to find out how you can become an effective advocate, please see the Action Alert.

Thank you!
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NAACP DACA Suit Questions and Answers

TALKING POINTS ON NAACP LAWSUIT AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FOR ENDING DACA
    

Why are you filing this complaint now, after a deal to preserve this program has presumably been announced?
    

• While we appreciate that the Democrats and President Trump has seemingly negotiated a compromise, I think we can all agree that, with this White House, nothing is for certain.
• The morning after this agreement was reported, Trump himself then said that no deal was in place.
• We cannot take this White House at their word. That's why we are acting now to hold them to the full letter of the law, on behalf of DACA recipients.

How does your case differentiate from the other lawsuits that have already been filed on this matter?
    

• The goal of our complaint is not to make a unique argument – it is to make the best argument.
• We allege that the Trump Administration unlawfully reneged on their promise to protect young, undocumented immigrants of color living in the United States.
• Furthermore, we allege that they violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
• We believe that this argument is one that the Court will find compelling.
• Our hope is that, along with the other cases that have been filed thus far, we will build momentum within our legal system – with a series of victories – to protect DACA and its recipients.

Why is the NAACP weighing in on DACA?
   

• The NAACP's membership includes DACA registrants across the United States.
• There are approximately 800,000 DACA recipients across the country, and the vast majority of them and those eligible for DACA are people of color.
• According to The Migration Policy institute, about 36,000 immigrants of African origin were also immediately eligible for the DACA program.
• Additionally, the report shows that over 20,000 youth from Caribbean nations of the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are eligible for DACA.
• As the original civil rights organization, we are committed to fighting to end racial hatred and discrimination, wherever it persists.
• We are filing this lawsuit to do exactly that, protecting the hundreds of thousands of Mexican, Caribbean and African immigrants who have been affected by the unlawful termination of the DACA program. Our goal is to prevent the Trump Administration from implementing the full implications of rescinding DACA.

The NAACP has previously enjoyed working relationships with presidents on both sides of the aisle. By filing this lawsuit, are you drawing a line in the sand with the Trump Administration?
   

• The NAACP is always fighting to end racial hatred and discrimination and guarantee everyone a place in our democracy.
• We have worked with presidents on both sides of the political spectrum to achieve this aim, and, in the case of President Trump, we are still willing to do so.
• If he is willing to work with us to advance civil rights in our country, our door is always open – but we have yet to see that commitment or interest from him.
• And should the President continue to demonstrate no interest in listening to issues facing communities of color, we are not going to agonize – we are going to organize. And that is exactly what our lawsuit is doing today.

Does the NAACP believe that Donald Trump is a white supremacist?
    

• We have long believed that Donald Trump empowers white supremacists and feeds hatred across our nation.
• As we saw immediately after the violence in Charlottesville, President Trump has embraced and defended the actions of neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and white nationalists. This reveals a man lacking any moral compass and an understanding of what it means to be an American in the 21st century.
• His decision to terminate DACA is just an extension of that cruelty.

Why is the NAACP working with outside counsel, as opposed to the LDF, in this matter?
  

• Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC has a proven track record of bringing successfully, progressives actions like our lawsuit. We look forward to working with them on this case. 
• Though we share part of a name, the NAACP LDF is largely independent of the NAACP. That said, we are proud to work with them on many issues.

Link to Press Release: http://www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-files-lawsuit-defense-daca-eligible-people-color/

 

End of MPEN e-Newsletter