Celebrating the first anniversary of the historic electoral victory of President Obama, this Tuesday November 3rd, the Mexican-American Coalition for Immigration Reform (MX-A Coalition) joined a rally organized by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) across the street from Grant Park in Chicago where organizations such as NALACC, CONFEMEX, Progreso Latino; La Voz Latina; Mujeres Latinas en Accion and others participated.; Prominent Chicago progressive leaders including, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff; Jewish Council on Urban Affairs Jane Ramsey, LGBT leader Rep. Greg Harris, ICIRR Board President Juan Salgado along with elected officials and hundreds of community leaders were present. Read more…
A coalition of progressive groups and leaders gathered in Chicago on Tuesday with an urgent message for President Barack Obama: Hurry up.
A few hundred yards from where Obama delivered his acceptance speech in Grant Park last November, Chicago leaders and group representatives marked the one-year anniversary of his election. Speakers at the noon rally at Spertus Institute urged the president to immediate action. Read more…
This week marks the first anniversary of Barack Obama's historic election as president. Progressive leaders from Illinois played no small role in shaping his political career and ultimately his national victory, which opened the door to the promise of change on so many fronts. This afternoon, many of those same leaders commemorated the occasion by joining together at a Chicago rally and urging their old friend to have courage on progressive issues as he moves forward in Washington. Read more…
When U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) outlined an immigration reform bill in Washington Tuesday, Chicago-area activists were there to hear it. Gutierrez is expected to introduce the bill to Congress soon, but not everyone is happy with it.
Jesus Carlin, youth organizer with the Chicago-based advocacy group Sin Fronteras, went to Washington earlier this week with about 50 others from his group. The rally and Gutierrez’ announcement, Carlin said, proved the push for immigration reform was still there. Read more…
Immigration reform activists will travel to Washington next week to make their case to lawmakers.
Emma Lozano, founder of Sin Fronteras and one of the trip’s organizers, said the Latino community feels frustrated with a Democratic administration that hasn’t made good on campaign promises to Hispanic voters. Read more…
CHICAGO — The mayor-elect of a North Shore suburb said Wednesday that he would drop many restrictions against illegal immigrants imposed by his predecessor. Read more…
The list of politicians in Illinois who engage in open immigrant bashing is thankfully small, and after Tuesday's election it just shrank by two. Read more…
In an op-ed published today, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) executive director Joshua Hoyt writes that, while the defeat of Republican and anti-immigrant activist Rosanna Read more…