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Reform Hardship Waivers

When U.S. citizens sponsor their husbands and wives for immigration, too many become trapped in the unthinking and counterproductive web of administrative violations that separate them from each other and their children or from America.

For far too many such violations, the immigration system’s only response is long-term or even permanent bars against admission to the United States. Sanctions on immigration violations have a purpose and a place. When the damage they do to families of U.S. citizens and our national interest in their well being is far greater than the damage done by the violation, we have turned the purpose of immigration law on its head. The right of U.S. citizens to marry whom we please, to form families and build a future for our children is far more important than incomprehensible immigration forms, administrative violations, paperwork errors, and minor offenses.

We are working for common sense reform of the existing waiver system (forms I-601, I-212), with uniform, objective standards that balance the national interest in family unity and fairness with the gravity of the offenses. Such a framework could be applied to sponsored workers and family members.

You must login or register before you can join the waiver reform group and take part in forum discussions.

CIR ASAP Act Introduced: Great Step Forward for Family Unity

December 15, 2009 - Congressman Ortiz and 91 co-sponsors introduced HR 4321, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009. For the first time ever, all of our urgent issues are addressed in one bill.

As constituents and voters, American Families United applauds Congressman Ortiz, Congressman Gutierrez and other co-sponsors of the bill for their strong support of family values, and we urge the Chairwoman of the Immigration Subcommittee in the House of Representatives to include these family values reforms in the final comprehensive immigration reform bill to come out of committee.

The full text of the bill is available at the Library of Congress:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.4321:

Our issues are addressed in the following sections of the bill:
End Stepchild Deportation - sections 311 and 312
Reform Hardship Waivers - sections 304 and 305
Reunite Green Card Spouses - section 302
Improve Name Check Delays - section 604

A detailed analysis of these sections of the bill will be posted in the relevant issue groups.

Denied! An Immigration Story of Faith and Hope

December 3, 2009 -- Keith Campbell began marketing his book, "Denied!". Long-time members may remember Keith and Akiko in the press two years ago. Now is your chance to read the full story of their 10-year, bitter fight to be together, and maybe pick up a copy for a friend as well, to help educate the public about the reality that faces far too many families today.

Denied! is available on Amazon.com

P.S. Please don't forget to sign on to www.igive.com/afu before making your purchase to earn a donation to American Families United.

LOVE and DOCUMENTS @ the Egyptian Theater -Hollywood-tickets now online!!

November 30, 2009 - For those in Los Angeles, our short (puppet) documentary highlighting the waiver issue was accepted to the 6th Annual Artivist Film Festival! Ben Fine, the director, will be there for Q & A afterwards!

DHS Secretary Nepolitano Starts Push for Immigration Reform

November 14, 2009 - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Nepolitano said in a speech today that President Obama has asked her to take a lead role is pushing for immigration reform early next year. Statements from some key players in Congress were reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Holiday fundraiser

We've made great strides this year, and we want to keep going in 2010 until all our urgent issues are solved. In addition to the support of the Circle of Hope, we need to raise $17,000 to enable us continue to help more families by:

* Keeping a seat at the table in Washington, DC
* Enabling our volunteers to organize to push through laws

As soon as we meet this goal, we plan to organize our next national lobby day.

P.S. You can also donate by shopping.

Credit Card Design

We're asking for your help creating the American Families United credit card. All you need to do is find a digital photo or image that you think represents American Families United. There is only one rule: you must own the picture you submit and agree that we can give it to the credit card company in order to print the cards.

Marco, an AFU member who is the graphic designer who developed our logo, will help put add our logo to the picture. An example follows:

We are able to present five different designs, and if more photos are submitted, we will hold a vote to pick the final five cards.

Please send your picture(s) to:
photos@americanfamiliesunited.org

Saturday, October 10th House Parties

Saturday, October 10, 2009, American Families United is joining in house parties around the world to support the legal defense defense funds and advocacy efforts to help one of our member families -- Dan and Hoa Hanson. Please see http://freehoa.org for their story.

Attend one near you (see map below) or host a party. Contact info@hoadefense.org for party addresses.

Your party can be a small get together for coffee with 5 close friends, or it can be a big fête with 100 people – this is just a way to tell others about Dan and Hoa’s situation and families like them that are affected by the immigration policies in the United States. Write letters (see the templates on the site), encourage donations to Hoa and Dan and/or American Families United, and contact the media to share the story.


View Free Hoa Saturday in a larger map

Great First Step for Families and a Major Victory for American Families United

May 20th, 2009 - American Families United applauds Senators Menendez, Kennedy, Gillibrand and Schumer for the introduction of the Reuniting Families Act of 2009. The bill is a great step forward for American citizens and permanent residents legally sponsoring their spouses and young children to immigrate and live with them as fully integrated Americans.

Read the text of the bill here: The Reuniting Families Act of 2009

How does the bill address the urgent issues faced by nuclear families?

Fiancée Visa Age Out Reform - for the first time, innocent step-children and their families threatened with 10 or more year forced separation solely because they turned 21 have hope of justice! Sections 8 and 9 of the bill would ensure that US citizens can sponsor their step-children up to age 21, regardless of whether a spousal or fiancée visa is used. These changes would be retroactive to protect families in crisis now. This is a major victory for American Families United, which first proposed a solution to this problem over two years ago: this bill marks the first time the issue has been addressed in a bill.

February 2nd, 2009 Lobby Day


American Families United members in 2226 Rayburn Office Building


On Monday, Feb 2nd, 2009, AFU held it's 3rd lobby day. We met with the staff of 29 Congressmen and Senators from around the country.

October 1st, 2007 Lobby Day

Accompanied by former Congressman Bruce Morrison and Paul Donnelly, we visited the offices of 20 different Congressmen and Senators. The overall objective was to raise awareness with Legislators who were new to our issues and answer questions about our legislative proposals. We wrapped up the day with a personal visit with Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren who has championed the cause of Family Immigration Reform. We had very positive feedback from the offices we visited and look forward to our followup communications.

For some American Families United members, this was the first trip to become a part of the legislative process. It was a great experience for everyone to meet our representatives in DC, learn more about the process of a bill becoming a law and meet legislators face to face. It was a special treat for many of us to meet each other after talking on the phone for so long.

April 27th, 2007 Lobby Day

Separated families from Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, West Virgina, North Carolina, and Texas came to Capitol Hill for our first lobby day on April 27th.



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