Events

VACOLAO – 2020 VIRGINIA LATINO/IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY DAY

 Thursday, January 16, 2020, Richmond, Virginia (Scholarships available)

 WHAT: Join the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)’s 2020 Immigrant Advocacy Day to meet with elected representatives and advocate for legislation and issues important to Virginia’s immigrant communities. One of the top priorities of VACOLAO’s legislative agenda is Driver’s License Access for all immigrants in Virginia.

WHEN: Thursday, January 16, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. (We will provide light breakfast and lunch)

Transportation available from Falls Church. It will leave from 6066 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041 at 6:30am that morning. Please arrive by 6:15am. We will be returning to northern Virginia at 5:00pm.

WHERE: We will convene at a place TBD in Richmond, VA 23219 and will meet our representatives at the new building of the Virginia General Assembly.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

Registration fee: $ 20.00. Please register here

If you pay by check, please make payable to the order of VACOLAO and send us at 6066 Leesburg Pike, suite 520, Falls Church, VA 22041

SCHOLARSHIPS: Limited scholarship assistance is available to cover the event registration fee. To apply for a scholarship, please proceed with your registration and choose “scholarship”. Applications will be evaluated on a first-come first-serve basis.

CONTACT: Contact us at [email protected] or by phone at 703-772-1555.

For more information, please visit www.vacolao.org

10^th Virginia Immigrant Advocates Summit

WHAT: We are excited to announce the 10^th Virginia Immigrant Advocates Summit. Over the past decade, the Summit has brought together immigrant rights advocates, immigrant community members and allies to discuss, motivate, educate, strategize, and identify challenges facing immigrant communities across our state.

This year the summit among many topics, we will focus on possible changes to Virginia’s political landscape and legislative updates for the 2020 General Assembly including the driver’s license campaign for undocumented immigrants and in-state tuition for immigrant students; meaningful access to higher education for immigrant students. At the local level, we will focus on how local communities can be proactive to address the border crisis, family separation, ICE raids and other immigration related issues. We will also look at defending immigrant workers’ rights.  At the federal level, we will also focus on the 2020 Census and changes to federal immigration policies and practices.

Here is the program of the summit https://drive.google.com/file/d/130f-OQjkytASKzbQ6u97U69ll6sYVxpj/view?usp=sharing

WHEN: Thursday, November 14th, 2019 from 8:30am to 5:00pm

WHERE: 6935 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003 (Annandale United Methodist Church)

REGISTRATION: You can proceed with your registration at this link: https://10thvirginiaimmigrantadvocatessummit.eventbrite.com

COST: $ 40.00 plus a processing fee.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Limited scholarship assistance is available to cover the full event registration fee. To apply for a scholarship, please proceed with your registration and choose “scholarship”. Applications will be evaluated on a first-come first-serve basis.

If you would like to sponsor this event, please contact Edgar Aranda-Yanoc at [email protected]. or 703-772-1555.

ORGANIZED BY:

Centreville Immigration Forum,

Congregation Action Network

Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center

DREAMer Mothers in Action (DMIA),

Herndon-Reston Indivisible Immigration Issues Committee,

Just Neighbors,

Legal Aid Justice Center

Mason DREAMers,

Sin Barreras (Without Barriers)

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP),

Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)

RALLY TO END MASSIVE ICE RAIDS THAT SEPARATE FAMILIES AND TERRORIZE CHILDREN

WHAT: This past week, hundreds of hard-working immigrants in Mississippi, many with no criminal history, were arrested by ICE in the largest work-site raid in US history. Their detention left many children without one or both of their parents and many left terrified having to rely on neighbors or strangers for food and shelter.  While immigrant families were devastated at the separation of beloved family members, their employer was allowed to remain free, the same employer who paid $3.75 million to settle an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission class-action suit charging the company with sexual harassment, national origin and race discrimination, and retaliation against Latino workers at one of his Mississippi plants. While the current administration has actively sought to hunt down, detain and deport as many immigrants of color as possible, many worker rights advocates also believe that this and similar raids are part of an effort to silence vulnerable immigrant workers who might seek to challenge unsafe or discriminatory working conditions.

This cannot be allowed to stand. Come out and demand an end to immigration raids, detentions and deportations that separate families and terrorize children many of whom are US citizens. Tell the Deportment of Homeland Security and the Trump administration that America is a county of immigrants and we will stand with them until attacks on their families and communities ends.

WHEN: Friday, August 16, 2019 from 12pm to 1pm

WHERE 500 12th St SW, Washington, DC 20536 – Headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

For information, please contact us at [email protected] or call us at 703-720-5604.

ORGANIZED BY:  Centreville Immigration Forum (CIF), Congregation Action Network, Dreamers Mothers in Action (DMIA), Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR), and Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)

RALLY TO PROTECT IMMIGRANT CHILDREN – STOP THE ABUSES AND DEATHS!

WHAT:  Are you outraged at the recent reports of abuses and deaths of immigrant children detained in President Trump’s camps and looking for a way to fight back? Come join us at our Rally to Protect Immigrant Children where we will demand that this administration provide safe and sanitary housing and care for all immigrants detained by DHS, respect the Flores Decree and stop the devastating family separations. Come out and make your voice heard in defense of immigrants’ rights.  These children need all of us to act and we must not remain silent.

WHEN: Tuesday, July 2nd from 10:00 am to 11:00 am

WHERE: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004 (Outside U.S. Customs & Border Protection)

For more information, please contact [email protected]

Organized by Centreville Immigration Forum (CIF), International Mayan League, Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) and Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO).

Virginia Federal Advocacy Day on the Hill

WHAT: VACIR, LAJC and VACOLAO invite you to join us at our advocacy day where we will bring Virginia constituents to Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Virginia Senate and House caucuses to discuss issues important to immigrant communities in our state.

On June 4th, the House passed the Dream and Promise Act which will now move to the Senate where it faces an uphill battle. We will meet with the offices of Senators Kaine and Warner to urge them to support the passage of this bill that would provide permanent relief for millions of TPS holders, DREAMers and Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED)

We will also be discussing with our senators and house representatives the IDEA act, the nomination of Ken Cuccinelli as Acting Director of USCIS and other issues and thank the representatives for their support of the Dream and Promise Act and the recent passage of the Beyer Amendment that would require increased reporting on unaccompanied children from federal agencies.

WHERE: We will convene at (Bread for the World) and walk to US Congress.

WHEN: Monday, June 24, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. – 2:30pm

WHO: Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO), Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR) and Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC).

REGISTRATION REQUIERED: Fill out this ink: https://forms.gle/j7Xx1z3HiXPnrTbu9

CONTACT:  Please contact Edgar Aranda Yanoc at [email protected] for more information.