FAMILY MAN: Joel Colindrés, a Guatemalan born, 14 year resident of the US was set to be deported on August 17th, after receiving notice during a check in with ICE on 7/21/17, giving him just 28 to leave the country or fight his case. Despite years of efforts to obtain legal status and working diligently to become a Citizen, Colindres fell victim to bad representation in addition to a lengthy legal process drawn out by the immigration system. If you followed his story closely since July of 2017, you may recall that just forty minutes before his flight on the deportation date of 8/17/17, his (new) lawyer was able to pause his removal by a verbal stay from the 2nd Circuit Court. Soon thereafter, his case was transferred to the 5th Circuit Court, causing him to loose that protection. Since then, he and his family have been laying low and keeping quiet while they wait for his I-212 to hopefully be approved; one of the last pieces to his journey that if granted, would make him a permanent resident. Since getting the initial deportation date back in July, Joel has complied with all of ICE's requirements, including checking in with ICE two times a week. It was at this recent check in on Thursday, December 28th, 2017 that ICE decided that his time is up, again, despite not being finished with the process. It is their system that is saying his time is up but yet their system that is not ruling on the paperwork in a timely manner. They then issued him another deportation date, giving him and his family another 30 days to live the nightmare they were just in four months ago. All he and his family are requesting is time. Time to review his case and let the process continue. Colindrés has been married to a U.S. citizen for almost eight years and has two American-born children, ages 6 and 3. Colindrés is a hardworking, tax-paying, and loving father and husband, who has worked at the same company for his 13 years here; paying taxes for each of those years via an TIN (Tax payer ID). He is not a criminal, doesn't even have so much as a parking ticket and gives back to the community in which he resides and owns a home in. In the last years, Colindrés has checked in with immigration and was granted a stay of removal. He voluntary went into the immigration process and had been actively trying to become a US citizen. All he is requesting is more time to stay in the United States with his family while he waits for his paperwork to be processed. We are asking ICE to reconsider Colindrés' case and keep this family together. Please also sign our second petition: https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-the-deportation-17?source=c.em.mt&r_by=19584925 Please also follow the Facebook page for live updates and calls to action: https://www.facebook.com/savejoelcolindres/ Please help support the family with relocation expenses below: https://www.gofundme.com/reunite-the-colindres-family #SaveJoelColindres

The shortchanging of New York's MTA has made this the #SummerOfHell for any subway rider. The over-crowded trains, long waits on the platforms, and escapes from broken-down cars isn't the way the subway is supposed to operate. It's fixable. But that would require Governor Cuomo to invest in the improvements the system needs, not in pet projects and vanity decorations. We love our city. But we haven't been loving what's been happening to the subway. Cuomo already announced that the MTA is in a "state of emergency" but he hasn't taken moves to actually fix it. Add your name and tell him it's about time.

According to a recent New York Times article, "tens of thousands of people who took out private loans to pay for college but have not been able to keep up payments may get their debts wiped away because critical paperwork is missing." This is a fantastic idea! The article goes on to report that "many people with private student loans end up shouldering debt that they never earn enough to repay... private loans lack that flexibility, and they often carry interest rates that can reach double digits. Because of those steep rates, the size of the loans can quickly balloon, leaving borrowers to pay hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of dollars each month." However, someone at National Collegiate has the opportunity to make it all go away. In 2014, Chilean artist Papas Fritas burned the paperwork for thousands of dollars of student debt in that country. This is an opportunity to do the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKkmY-DKI78 Education should be a right, not an opportunity for predatory lenders to make a fortune. It is time for increased protections for borrowers and more regulation of private lenders to avoid the exploitation of people seeking access to higher education.

On May 1st, 2017 Wilmer Catalan Ramirez filed a lawsuit for the excessive use of force that ICE used when they raided his home, and the Chicago Police Department and the City of Chicago for wrongfully putting him in the gang database. Chicago’s mayor and city council should be advocates for every city resident who falls victim to Trump’s deportation force, but especially for those whose physical well-being is in danger and those who the city has had a specific role in leading to his wrongful detention. Wilmer's detention was part of a national immigration raid targeting suspected gang members. It is clear that ICE wouldn’t have targeted Wilmer if it wasn’t for the Chicago police department. The police created the gang database at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request in 2012 as part of his efforts to be ‘tough on crime.’ But since then, it has proven to be like other lists of names compiled by police in other parts of the country: arbitrary, discriminatory, and with dire consequences for those whose names get entered. Wilmer didn’t find out he was on the list until ICE agents cited it as the reason they broke down his door. He never had a chance to look at the evidence and defend himself. Join us in asking Mayor Emanuel and the city council for the least they could do to correct this error and advocate for Wilmer’s release, and start to review the procedures and content of the Chicago gang database.

Lourdes has lived in Ann Arbor for 20 years, she has three U.S. citizen children - she is a devoted mother and community member. Lourdes first came in contact with ICE in 2010, and after being detained for almost a month ICE "traded" Lourdes for her husband. Lourdes' husband was deported and Lourdes was allowed to stay in the United States. Every year Lourdes has to check in with immigration and every year she is granted a stay of removal. In March Lourdes's stay of removal was denied and she has been ordered to buy her plane ticket and leave the country by August 2nd. We are asking ICE to grant Lourdes a stay of removal and keep this family together.

According to a 2015 report by Mapping Police Violence, the Bakersfield Police Department was found to have killed more people per million residents than any other large police department in the United States. Between the start of 2013 and the end of 2015, 29 people had been killed by law enforcement officers in kern county . Mapping Police Violence identified two of those people as black. Thirteen of those killed by police were identified by the group as Hispanic, ten were white, one was Asian, and three were racially unidentified. In December of 2016, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris opened separate civil pattern or practice investigations into the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and the Bakersfield Police Department . “Excessive use of force and police misconduct erode and undermine the public’s trust in our law enforcement agencies,” Attorney General Harris said. “These investigations will objectively, impartially, and thoroughly examine whether the Kern County Sheriff’s Office or the Bakersfield Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force or other civil rights violations." We seek justice for Francisco Serna. We demand a criminal justice system that ceases to criminalize communities of color and no longer permits the violence committed against our bodies to be seen as lawful . This abuelito's life mattered and we must not allow his death to be in vain.

Jose Valle Rodriguez is an Ypsilanti resident, loving husband and father. He has been detained at the Battle Creek Immigration Facility for almost a month after being arrested by ICE officials. Jose has been in the U.S. since he was 17 years old, 12 years ago Jose was a passenger in a car during a traffic stop, and because he was undocumented was taken into detention and was told he would have a court date with immigration. Weeks and months passed but he court papers never arrived because they were sent to the wrong address. Now years later, ICE wants to deport him to El Salvador, one of the world's most dangerous countries. If deported Jose's life could be in danger. Jose's own father-in-law was murdered by a gang and now they are threatening Jose and his family back in El Salvador. Please help stop Jose's deportation and reunite him with his wife and two year old son.

Youth should not be charged as adults. Youth being charged as adults is one of the most important justice issues in California. The fate of the young people who have a shot at going back to juvenile court because of Prop 57 is of th utmost importance. #DreamBeyondBars #Freedom4Dajon Please sign this petition and show District Attorney Nancy O'Malley and the Judge that the community supports Dajon and does NOT want to see him treated as an adult.

The recent hunger strikes by people detained at the NWDC have brought renewed attention to the deplorable conditions at the GEO-owned facility. The detention center affects not only more than 1,505 people who can be held any given day, but also their children, families, and neighbors who form the backbone of our communities. You can read the full letter at: https://www.scribd.com/document/352037160/NWDCR-Tacoma-Letter-2017

On March 23 2017, Francisco Valdez, a 24 year old Mexicano/Venezolano was murdered by PHX Police Department after his mother made a call that he was in emotional distress. She thought police would provide help to her son and make sure he didn't hurt himself. Shortly after arriving, police officers shot Francisco, who was unarmed, in the back four times in his mother’s living room. Instead of providing help, the police ended his life and devastated his family and his entire community. Three months after the incident, the Phoenix Police Department and the Office of Public Records refuses to release the police report. Frascisco’s mother, Lorenza Valdez has submitted a records request with no results. Puente Movement and Center for Neighborhood Leadership have submitted their own requests and Public Records has refused to release it. Both organizations have made multiple attempts at getting the exact language in city policy or law that points to the PHX PD’s right to withhold a police report for three months and no response has been given. At a Phoenix City Council meeting on May 10, Councilmember Nowakowski made a request for the report and has also been denied access. What are Phoenix PD and the City of Phoenix hiding? TODAY we need the entire community to stand up to this City and Department’s lack of accountability and transparency. Sign this petition and share it widely. Demand Phoenix PD Chief Jeri Williams and Mayor Greg Stanton to release the police report immediately!

We can not tolerate the commodification of our culture. Recording a song in Spanish does not make you a Latino and referring to Justin Bieber as a Latin King is just plain ignorant. Even worse, Gabe Bergado recently wrote an article for Teen Vogue calling Spotify out for making a Pulse playlist with almost no Latinx artists. To Spotify's credit, they eventually responded to the backlash by adding Latinx artists to the list. We hope they take this petition into consideration, pull the Justin Beiber add, and think twice before their next ad.

Since 1899, that statue has been a hateful symbol of the brutality of slavery; it memorializes white supremacy and human bondage. Even today, racists and klansmen continue to worship it . . . Yet we know it only represents those people who continue to support the racist agenda of white supremacists. We cannot continue to display hateful symbols in public . . . . TAKE THE STATUE DOWN!