SIREN Successfully Completes “Rebuild the American Dream” Campaign
Over 20,000 immigrant voters were asked if they would support taxing the rich and corporations.
In the past month of November, SIREN successfully completed a campaign in which more than 20,000 immigrant voters were asked whether or not they would support a potential 2012 initiative to tax the rich and corporations. The campaign, called Rebuild the American Dream, was completed in collaboration with Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV), a statewide group dedicated to make the immigrant vote an important factor in California elections. The goal of the campaign is to assess the position immigrant voters would take if they were to vote immediately on this issue. Within the time allocated, SIREN was able to surpass the goal of 1,500 voters to take a positive response to this question. “It was a great learning experience for me,” Conny Cortes, a SIREN immigrant leader and campaign volunteer said. “I had never participated in campaigns like this before, and it was really rewarding to be able to inspire some voters to become civically engaged again. Many of them were so disillusioned with our current politics, they were not even planning to vote in 2012, but I was able to let them know their vote is important for all of us in the state.” The volunteers who participated in this campaign received certificates from local, state and federal elected officials as a recognition for their work. In addition, volunteers also came together on November 17th, in a special celebration held by SIREN for this and other successful campaigns. In the coming year, SIREN will continue to work with immigrant voters around the 2012 elections and encourage them to become civically engaged. For more information on this campaign, or to get involved, contact Lucila Ortiz at Lucila@siren-bayarea.org.