Action Item: Advocacy days in Washington DC in April 2011

[pappu]

Immigration Voice: Announces Advocacy days in Washington DC in April.

Immigration Voice in its continued efforts to find legislative and administrative fixes is holding Advocacy Days in Washington DC on Monday, April 4th and Tuesday, April 5th.

2011 is a crucial year to get the fix needed to clear the backlogs and allow for our high skilled immigrants to get the relief needed. We need to capitalize on the opportunity to push for legislation now, as it is unlikely to have any favorable immigration bill to be brought for the next 2-3 years (Primary campaigns, Presidential campaigns will take priority).

IV’s vision is to hold more than 400 meetings with the legislator offices both in the House and the Senate. We will also be holding meetings with senior administration officials working on immigration issues. As a grassroots organization we need members from all across the country to register, participate in the advocacy event, bring awareness on our issues and seek a positive vote on our provisions from the legislators.

We aim to resolve this issue but we cannot do it alone and therefore it is imperative for everyone, and by that we mean EVERY ONE to participate in one way or the other. If you wanted to be a part of the past events but couldn’t, then now is your chance to make your voices heard and fight for a fair system and just process. Always remember, we are in United States at the invitation of our employers and our employers have filed our green card petitions in order to retain us. It is only fair and only just to ask for a system that achieves that objective without delays and without putting the immigrants in probationary limbo for 6-12 years. And it is your obligation to yourself and your family to stand up for your rights and ask Congress to legislate and fix the system so that it works the way it was originally intended to work.

Our previous efforts such as the June Advocacy 2010, September Advocacy and Rally 2007, Flower campaign, San Jose Rally, and many intermediary mini advocacy events in DC has allowed us to be one step closer to the goal. We need to make this upcoming event as a final push for reform. The President’s STOU address and feedback from Lawmaker meetings have provided us the encouragement to pursue this endeavor. As many of our members know, the efforts in our last advocacy days are consequential in how we are perceived by the lawmaker offices. IV calls upon members who participated previously to provide their input on the need for advocacy efforts and persuade many others to join in.

Immigration Voice will arrange for meetings, advocacy material, and other logistics necessary for all the events during the Advocacy Days. All you have to do is show up. We request our members to come in on Saturday, April 2nd for orientation and training. Please make arrangements to carpool (for driving distances), book airline tickets, and contact friends in DC/MD area to host you. IV will not sponsor your travel and stay for this event. We expect each one of you to take the initiative and stand up for yourself and your family and use this opportunity to ask lawmakers to act on high-skilled immigration issue.

Our efforts have to be of a massive scale, we need members from every State to participate in the event. To be successful we need more than 200 members attending meetings. We also need to know in advance on your attendance. Please take the time to talk to your employers, arrange for a leave of absence, and register for the event as soon as possible. Make every possible attempt to be in DC.

To conduct such an effort, IV also needs contributions. Our estimated cost is around $50,000 for the event. We need generous contributions from our members, especially from members who are unable to make it to the DC event. To be clear, all one time contributions starting from February 1st will be considered as a contribution to the advocacy event. All the recurring donations will continue to go towards Donor forum access. Our advocacy event costs will be on top of our regular costs and we need to pay for both.

Please register here.

Poster to spread the word..

Other details are to follow.

IV Team.

[pappu]

Thank you for registering with Immigration Voice for the advocacy efforts in Washington DC. Your participation in such efforts will help tremendously in bringing about the positive changes we seek.


Situation Room for the event
Washington Court Hotel
525 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Maps for reference:
1. Buildings 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10 are the ones we will be visiting.
2. Situation Room and Legislative office buildings.
3. Airport Distances from the Situation Room

Hotel Options
1. Priceline bidding on Hotels as low as $60/night
2. Air Bed & Breakfast - staying with locals.

Dress Code
Tie and/or Jacket for Meetings and Congressional Reception - Monday, Apr 4th and Tuesday, Apr 5th

Parking Issues
Saturday, Sunday parking on the street is free.
Parking in the hotel costs $30/day

Have Questions?
Call 202-386-6250
If you were unable to attend the conference call, please contact me.

[pappu]

(1) How do I arrive at my hotel / place of stay in the DC metro area (VA/MD/DC)?

If you are flying into DC area (IAD/DCA/BWI) and are being hosted by a DC area member, please call your host and arrange for transportation. Most likely who ever is hosting you may be willing to pick you up from the airport. If that's not the case, please refer to instructions below.

Please refer to transportation instructions below for each airport

BWI:
Option 1: Amtrak has daily service to Union station starting at $12. Keep in mind that Acela Express may have a higher charge than other trains. Go to the schedules tab on the home page linked above and chose BWI (Baltimore –Thurgood Marshall Airport) to Union Station, Washington (WAS) for schedules on the day and time of your arrival.

Option 2: Bus-Metro There is bus service from BWI to Greenbelt Metro Station and from there to downtown Washington DC. Cost of this Bus-Metro trip is about $7.

If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.

IAD: At the arrivals door 4, Wash flyer bus leaves to West Falls Church metro station (orange line) as per the attached schedule. Fare is 10$ each way and 18$ round trip.

If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.

DCA: Regan National Airport has a metro station that is on both Blue and Orange lines.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.

(2) What is the best mode of transportation in the DC area and why?

Metro. I-495, also known as the Capital Beltway is one of the worst traffic hot spots or infamously known as the biggest parking lot in the DC area. I-66 connecting VA and DC is completely HOV (2 or more per vehicle). Finally Parking spots are tough to find are limited to maximum of 1 or 2 hours. One day parking spots are tough to find nearby and costs about 25$ a day.

(3) What is the fare on the metro and how should I pay?

Fare on the metro varies with the on boarding and off boarding stations. Metro has pre paid fare cards (DO NOT BUY SMART TRIP CARDS) vended by the automated systems and can be paid using Credit card or cash. One-way fare during time peak time from the suburbs to Union Station (Senate) or Capital South (House) is 5$.

You can get the exact fare from the wmata trip planner on Metro’s website. Charge your fare card with the money needed on the first time during the weekend to avoid standing in line during the weekday. On the three days, you will use the Metro at least 6 times. So please charge your fare card to 6 times the one-way fare between your stations.

(4) How early should I start every day?

Please do NOT underestimate the time it takes to get to the hill by Metro, then to the Situation room (if needed) and then your actual meeting. You will need to start 2 hours ahead of your meeting time from your hotel in the suburbs.

(5) Is there a hot line number where I can call for help?

Yes, IV will set up a hotline. 202-386-6250.

(6) What to say to the lawmakers in the meetings? How to put our point across?

A lot of this will be provided during brain storming sessions on Sunday. Please refer to the attached “How to Have a Successful Congressional Visit”

(7) Please tell me plans for the Sunday session?

Please Make sure you be there for the Sunday session. Sunday session will begin from 9:00 AM and will last till 9:00 PM. There will be several rounds of sessions lasting a couple of hours with breaks in between. You can attend any of these depending on your availability and arrival time. Use this day to also read the materials we would be providing you for meetings and ask us any questions you may have. You can meet others who would accompany you and brush up on talking points and plans for each meeting. We will also help you with some research on each lawmaker office. For example- position of the lawmaker office, voting record on past bills, issues championed in the past and present etc. Sunday sessions will be very helpful for getting fully prepared for next days of meetings.

(8) Please tell me plans for Monday and Tuesday? What are the agenda items other than meetings.

Monday, meeting with the legislative offices (9 am - 5pm)
Tuesday, meeting with legislative offices and a congressional reception in the evening (5:30 pm). So please book your flights back home on red eye flights Tuesday night or early morning flights on Wednesday.

(9) Where is the Congressional Reception?

Info will be provided in the situation room on Sunday.

(10) Can I invite my Lawmaker office staff/Lawmaker for the Congressional Reception?

Absolutely. We encourage members to invite the staffers and Lawmakers. If you already have good rapport with the office it would be very helpful. Please contact us and we will provide you with a formal invitation for the office.

(11) Security Screenings[/b]

Entry to each of the buildings require standard security screening.

[LONGGCQUE]

I will contribute for this financially. Had contributed $100 for 2010 June advocacy days. Will also spread the word.

[gc_on_demand]

me and my wife will try to attend this event. If not for any reason will contribute 100 USD for event.

[gcgonewild]

All we have is hope

[looneytunezez]

We are travelling to India from March last week to first week May.
Will support this effort financially....

[actaccord]

the Advocacy day.....first time participation... hope it will great experience

[tonyHK12]

Will donate $100 for the event

[eb3retro]

r2i ing end of Feb 2011. But, will contribute financially though.

[pappu]

Originally Posted by eb3retro

r2i ing end of Feb 2011. But, will contribute financially though.

Any reasons for R2i?

Is it your EB3 wait?
With a Jan 03 PD it is sad to see someone giving up after a 7 year wait and coming so close to getting current.

[goosetavo]

Wouldn't miss it! Count me in. It was a great experience last summer and I hope more people will be on hand this time, this is our moment!

[hello]

Will Attend and contribute $100

[StarSun]

The online registration form is up and running, please check the first post. Please make sure that you are committed to attending the event before registering.

[eb3retro]

Pappu, I really lost my interest in this. After waiting for so long, I have come to a state where I find this to be not worth it anymore. I don't want to continue with this uncertainity any longer and my children are growing up and I want to move on in my life. Negotiating a good job offer for a good position. Its not that I am going to get my GC in 6 months or let alone in 2 years with a total of more than 8000 people ahead of me. So, I am looking at a minimum of 2 years wait and I do not think its worth waiting any longer. Getting a GC in 3-5 years seems tobe a OK wait, but more than 7 years, I want to use my time in something else more precious. Did not mean to hijack the purpose of this thread, just wrote it because you asked that question.

Originally Posted by pappu

Any reasons for R2i?

Is it your EB3 wait?
With a Jan 03 PD it is sad to see someone giving up after a 7 year wait and coming so close to getting current.