Urgent Action Item: Send Flowers Campaign

[pappu]

Immigration Voice Action Alert

Hello Everyone:

Please participate in this action item:

FLOWER CAMPAIGN: Immigration Voice has decided to support and encourage participation in the initiative taken up by active members to send flowers to USCIS headquarters in Washington DC on 10th, 11th and 12th July. This gesture on part of half a million legal skilled immigrants is intended to raise awareness on the profound impact of visa backlogs on the lives and careers of these individuals and their families. In addition to that, they have incurred financial losses and have gone through a lot of stress due to reversal of July visa bulletin and the USCIS actions that caused the bulletin reversal.

This gesture is unlikely to cause a reversal of bulletin revision but it is surely going to draw attention of USCIS, DOS, Congress and the media to the unresolved problem of green card backlogs that result from numerical caps. The low numerical cap is the root cause of these issues and it is important to send flowers and create a necessary impact to get attention of media outlets. We already have picked up some press and are likely to do a lot better by the end of the week since major newspapers and media outlets have started asking us about the "flower campaign". A few hundred orders are already in place but we need more. So it is of utmost importance that EVERY MEMBER participate and get involved. See directions below.

Directions participating in the flower campaign:

The 2 most important parts of this flower campaign are that -

A) It should reach on 10th, 11th or 12th July 2007 and
B) It must have the one-line message prescribed (see below) without any edits and changes. Message consistency and timeliness are of utmost importance. Please stick to the one-line message listed below for the signature card that goes with flowers. Please also include your first-name and last-name or just the first-name.

Where to order flowers online:

The links below feature discounted because of affiliates. If you go to FTD.com directly, you will not see the same prices. We are providing you with three flower arrangements in the increasing order of price. In case, if the lowest priced flowers are not available, use the next one. Make sure you chose the correct delivery date of Jul 10th, 11th or 12th and these have to be ordered ASAP.

The 3 options are (Copy paste the URL in your browser window):

http://www.ftd.com/12379/catalog/product.epl?product_id=SMRB&rv=1

http://www.ftd.com/12379/catalog/product.epl?product_id=FVP5&refer_by=&index_id=pro duct_bestsellers

http://www.ftd.com/12379/catalog/product.epl?product_id=6026&refer_by=&index_id=pro duct_bestsellers


Delivery Date:

Order for delivery date on July 10th, 11th or 12th. Order as early as possible on Tuesday or Wednesday as it would be too late on Thursday and same-day delivery may be difficult.

Recipient Name:

Emilio Gonzalez

Organization:

USCIS

Delivery Address:

20 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington D.C. 20529

Phone number: 202-272-1330

Message On Signature Card That Goes With Flowers (Do Not Edit. Use Exactly As Below For Consistency And Maximum Impact):

"Kindly do not return our I-485 petitions in July and honor the original DOS visa bulletin
[ first-name last-name ] - An employment based immigrant."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[prashantkh]

I have already sent flowers to Emilio Gonzalez, USCIS. Please update if IV is planning to send flowers to DOS as well.

[conchshell]

When we started this flower campaign three days back, there was hardly any support, people were skeptical about this approach, and participants were divided on this issue.

Three days later we have coverage in Time of India, IV core suprting the campaign, and a great momentum among people to send flowers. This is a classic example of the fact that if we unite and act at once, it would be difficult for USCIS to ignore us. However we need to give up the tendency of "let others go in forefront, and I stay back" to reap the benefits of a struggle but avoid the potential inconvenience.

Please digg, talk to your friends, encourage them to protest in this noble way, and remind them that sitting back and venting their anger on various forums alone will not help the cause. At some point we need to act and let the other side realize that if they hurt us, we know the human and peaceful ways to cause massive emberrasement to them. However we need to give up the tendency of "let others go in forefront, and I stay back" to reap the benefits of a struggle but avoid the potential inconvenience.

Couple of days back I was reading a web site about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Its a website hosted by Sarvodaya society which was established by the father of the nation. It was impressive to read about the man who left his own self far behind to serve a nation. I have heard many of my countrymen delivering a great talk, but then their own actions do not follow their speech. Probably that's why Albert Instine said "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.", so I though that it would be appropriate to quote Gandhi's own formula about how to leave selfishness behind, and join a peaceful protest against opression :
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

[bigtiger]

Order # FNL1788624
Deliver on: Tuesday
Jul. 10, 2007 Edit Delivery Info
Delivery by: FedEx®, DHL® or UPS®
Deliver to: Emilio Gonzalez
Business
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20529
US
202-307-1565
Occasion: Get Well
Gift Message and Signature: I hope that your agency gets well soon, understands our plight and does all it can to do the best job. I hope you empathize with a legal immigrant's frustration. A small token of peaceful protest and hoping for the best.

Edit Gift Message

Sweetheart Mixed Rose Bouquet with Vase
F492 $ 32.99 Edit this product
$ (8.24)
Service Charges $ 13.99
Taxes $ 0.00

Subtotal $ 38.74

-------------------------------
Order Confirmation



Thank you for ordering from FTD.COM.




We will send you an e-mail confirming your order within 24 hours. If you have any questions or comments, please us or call us at 1-800-SEND-FTD (1-800-736-3383).



Please print this page for your records. An order number has been assigned to each gift item.

[engineer]

Sent Flowers to be delivered on July 10th.

[mmeraney]

Order Number: FNL1788621


Order Date: Saturday 07/07/2007
Delivery On: Tuesday 07/10/2007
Delivery To: Emilio Gonzalez
Residence
20 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20529-0001
USA
2023071565


Gift Message: I understand that your agency does all it can to do
the best job. I hope you empathize with a legal immigrant's frustration. A small token of peaceful symbolic act and hoping for the best.

[nixstor]

Originally Posted by gdhiren

Message? Should we go little sarcastic?
I am so sorry about the recent death of integrity and predictability of US immigration system. May God Bless USCIS.

Ha haa! I think Rep Lofgren already said that in diff words.

[lkrastogi]

Order Number: FNN107xxxx


Order Date: Saturday 07/07/2007
Delivery On: Tuesday 07/10/2007
Delivery To: Emilio T. Gonzalez
Business
USCIS
20 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20529-0001
USA
2023071565


Gift Message: I understand that your agency does all it can to do
the best job. I hope you empathize with a legal immigrant's frustration. A small token of peaceful symbolic act and hoping for the best.

[ckichannagari]

Order # FNM1320782



Deliver on:
Tuesday
Jul. 10, 2007

Delivery by:
FedEx®, DHL® or UPS®
Deliver to: Emilio Gonzalez
Business
20 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20529
US
202-307-1565
Gift Message and Signature: I understand that your agency does all it can to do the best job. I hope you empathize with a legal immigrant's frustration. A small token of peaceful symbolic act and hoping for the best.


Sweetheart Mixed Rose Bouquet
F488 $ 24.99
$ (6.24)
Service Charges $ 13.99
Taxes $ 0.00

Subtotal $ 32.74

[ksnewyork]

I just sent in my order as well (Order # FNK1822256) for delivery on July 10. I hope this works because this whole situation sucks.

[gcnirvana]

Order # FNN1075666

Deliver on: Tuesday
Jul. 10, 2007
Delivery by: FedEx®, DHL® or UPS®
Deliver to: Emilio T. Gonzalez
Business
USCIS
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C., DC 20529
US
202-307-1565
Gift Message and Signature: Kindly do not return our I-485 petitions in July and please honor the original DOS visa bulletin"
XXXX - An employment based immigrant.

[gcnirvana]

Folks,
Please stick to Pappu's template in his first post while sending flowers to USCIS. Use his message AS IT IS and do not deviate from that. This will have a much better impact.

Go IV Go...start bombing USCIS with flowers

[johnamit]

Order # FNK1822265



Deliver on: Tuesday
Jul. 10, 2007
Delivery by: FedEx®, DHL® or UPS®
Deliver to: Emilio Gonzalez
Business
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20529
US
202-307-1565
Gift Message and Signature: "Kindly do not return our I-485 petitions in July and honor the original DOS visa bulletin"
[name] - An employment based immigrant.


Sweetheart Mixed Rose Bouquet
F488 $ 24.99
$ (6.24)
Service Charges $ 13.99
Taxes $ 0.00

Subtotal $ 32.74


More details on FTD.COM's delivery policies





All prices are in US dollars. Total: $ 32.74

[abhijitp]

Originally Posted by pappu

UPDATE: 1:40 PM Eastern Time 07 July 2007:
SEND FLOWERS CAMPAIGN
Vikas C is co-ordinating this event and working with IV Core team. Please contact info@immigrationvoice.org
Immigration Voice will be supporting this effort- HOWEVER, it is important to maintain a single tone in our message. STICK TO THE MESSAGE PROVIDED BELOW IN THE BOX. THIS MESSAGE MUST GO AS-IS IN YOUR CARD WITH FLOWERS WITHOUT ANY EDITS. THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN CAREFULLY CRAFTED BY THE CORE AFTER CONSIDERABLE THOUGHT AND IT AIMS TO HAVE MAX IMPACT WITH LASER FOCUS ON JULY BULLETIN ONLY.

INCLUDE YOUR FIRST NAME AND LAST NAME OR JUST THE FIRST NAME IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE USING BOTH.

DONT TRY TO GET SARCASTIC OR RUDE AS THAT WILL BACKFIRE. Any activity must be executed in a controlled manner, ensuring that there is a positive outcome. There must be consistency in our messaging to the external world.
======================

The links below feature discounted because of affiliates. If you go to FTD.com directly, you will not see the same prices. We are providing you with three flower arrangements in the increasing order of price. In case, if the lowest priced flowers are not available, use the next one. Make sure you chose the correct delivery date of Jul 10th, 11th or 12th and these have to be ordered ASAP.

Where to order in cost-effective way:

http://www.ftd.com/12379/catalog/pro...t_id=SMRB&rv=1

http://www.ftd.com/12379/catalog/pro...ct_bestsellers

http://www.ftd.com/12379/catalog/pro...ct_bestsellers


Delivery Date:

Order the deliver date on July 10th, 11th or 12th. No later than 12th coz it would be too late by then. Send it as early as possible out of the 3 designed delivery dates of 10th, 11th and 12th. If you want them to reach on 10th, you have to order them by midnight tonight. For 11th and 12th too, order them asap as same-day delivery would not be possible.


Address

Emilio T. Gonzalez
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20529
Phone number: 202-307-1565

Message with flowers

PLEASE STICK TO THIS AND DO NOT CHANGE/EDIT THIS IN ANY WAY. MESSAGE SHOULD BE CONSISTENT AND IT SHOULD BE EXACLTY THIS




===================

Done. Scheduled to deliver on July 10th.
I selected "Other" for the "Occasion". Everything else done per Pappu's template.

[youngindia]

sent flowers 07/10/07