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SEIU Launches Permanent Latino Absentee Voter Campaign
SIREN Supporters Attend California Shared Prosperity Forum
Congress Passes More Border Enforcement
TPS Re-Registration Workshop for Salvadorans at SIREN August 28
Farmworkers in California Suffer Harsh Conditions
Repealing the 14th Amendment: Shortsighted and Divisive
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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) of California, the California Teachers Association (CTA) and Latino leaders recently launched the “Por Nuestras Familias- Todos a Votar!” statewide campaign aiming to register thousands of new Latino voters and boost November’s Latino election turnout by signing up Latinos as new, permanent absentee (PAV) voters. 
Over 1,000 people filled the Pacifica High School gym in Oxnard, California on August 7 for the California Shared Prosperity forum where advocates from SIREN and community supporters expected to hear from gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman. The audience consisted of low income working families, community advocates, service providers, and students. Testimony from people deeply impacted by budget cuts in previous years moved the audience. They are living in fear of the Governor’s current proposed cuts to balance this year’s $19 billion budget deficit. 
On August 10 by a voice vote Congress unanimously passed a $600 million bill (HR 6080) to increase border security that headed to the President’s desk for his signature. The bill will provide $305.9 million for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including 1,000 new Border Patrol Agents and $29 billion for new Customs and Border Protection. It is fully funded through fee increases to business visa categories. 
On Saturday, August 28 SIREN will host a free workshop to re-register Salvadorans for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The event is organized by Union Salvadoreña de Estudiantes. It will feature Renee Saucedo, attorney from la Raza Centro Legal, and will also include workshops on NACARA, Arizona’s SB 1070, and immigration reform. 
"Unacceptable" is what popped into my head after hearing the
testimonies of farmworkers at the Buena Vista Migrant Labor Camp in Watsonville on August 8. It is unacceptable that farmworkers are not given something as simple as purified water to drink. It is unacceptable that they are forced to work under harsh conditions and only given a short lunch break. It is unacceptable that all of this is happening in our back yards and people are not aware of these injustices. 
In July Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposed to deny US citizenship to children born on US soil who are the children of undocumented parents, by changing the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. An extremely controversial proposal, it highlights the ineffective and nonsensical policies permeating the national debate on immigration. It is shortsighted and does not solve our current immigration system. Rather, it detracts efforts from the real issues. As Senator John Kerry (D-MA) replied to Republicans, “We cannot force their parents’ countries to embrace them, nor should we reject them. They have done nothing wrong. They are born innocent.” 