Shirley Tan came from the Philippines decades ago, and built a life with her partner Jay, giving birth to twin boys and becoming a full-time mom. But Shirley faced the biggest challenge of her life as she fought to stay on in the United States, crippled by laws that do not allow gay and lesbian couples to sponsor their partners. Watch this video and take action to ensure that the U.S. government restores due process and fairness to our immigration system.
Is 2010 the Year for Immigration Reform?
On the very same day that health care reform passed in Congress, Restore Fairness joined 200,000 workers, families and communities to march for just and humane immigration reform. The atmosphere was electric. Crowds chanting slogans, waving American flags, reasserting the need to restore fundamental human rights to our broken immigration system, cheering President Obama as he extended his support to immigration reform. Watch this video and take action to ensure that the U.S. government restores due process and fairness to our immigration system.
A Transgender Detainee Speaks Out
Courage comes in many different forms. For Esmeralda, a transgender asylum seeker from Mexico, who faced horrific circumstances in immigration detention, it came in the form of seeking justice. Kept in a segregated cell with other transgender detainees, Esmeralda never realized that her experience in detention would match the trauma of discrimination she had faced back home. But her story is also one of hope for change. Watch Esmeralda’s powerful story and take action to ensure that the U.S. government restores due process and fairness to our immigration system.
Denied Medical Care: An HIV+ Detainee Speaks Out
Ali, a Pakistani-born, HIV+ gay man, had been living in New York City for 30 years with a Green Card. He spent more than a year suffering in immigrant detention where he witnessed the worst kind of physical abuse and medical mistreatment, including constantly fighting to get his HIV medication which he needed to survive and often being given the wrong medications or doses. He says, “There’s no benefit for HIV+ or AIDS people. If you die in your room they don’t care.” Watch Ali’s story and take action to ensure that the U.S. government creates legally enforceable detention standards and implements cost effective alternatives to detention.
