Rally: To all the guys in NJ, NY, PA, MD, VA who are on the fence

[GCplease]

I was on the fence regarding this rally thing for a long time and now I have finally decided to attend the rally. Reason, I am attending – appreciation of what Immigration Voice has achieved in less than 2 years.

I have the greatest respect for the core guys. Their intentions are noble. IV has achieved a lot in my opinion.

IV continues to employ Lobbying agency, Patton Boggs to lobby for our cause as Lobbying is the most effective way to get things done in the Senate and the House. These are the changes IV is advocating for, as far as I can infer from this forum –
Increase the Visa limitation of 140,000 visas a year,
removing the 7 % limit every country is subjected to, which affects highly skilled legal immigrants from countries like India and China,
Request the congressmen to consider a separate Bill for the Legal immigrants.
Success in any of this would greatly reduce our Green Card wait time.

Most politicians were not aware of something called Legal Immigrants. When they discussed Immigration reform last year, they considered it as a reform for the illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is too complex and it failed repeatedly in the Senate and the House. We went down along with it.

IV’s action items have changed this and now they recognize the legal immigrants which was evidenced by the reversal of the Visa bulletin fiasco we all witnessed in July. IV’s flower campaign and the San Jose rally caught the media’s attention which played a huge part in the reversal of the July Visa bulletin. I don’t have to remind you guys that IV was the first to come out with the news that USCIS is going to retract the Updated July bulletin two days before it actually happened.

High profile Immigration Attorneys like Sheela Murthy are endorsing IV on their website and are donating generously towards the rally.
http://www.murthy.com/news/n_ivraly.html

I can hear a lot of buzz in the media regarding the Legal immigration and Reverse brain drain in the past three to four weeks.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...ion-Reform.php - Silicon Valley executives call for Immigration Reforms

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/S...3526093&page=1 – Reverse brain drain

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/...0709litan.html - 25 % of companies founded over the last decade are by Immigrants

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...intsrc=hm_list

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=201802703

Guys, I think the timing is right to announce our presence here and request the Congress to enact a bill which will speed up this Green Card process. A huge step towards this will be to attend the September 18 Rally in DC.

If Congress does not come up with some reform for us, we will continue to be in the present unpleasant state for another 5 to 6 years. Please refer the Factsheet at http://immigrationvoice.org/media/fo..._FactSheet.doc

I am not saying, Congress will immediately act after seeing the Rally, but hey, we can at least try and do our bit.

I look at it this way – Say, you see a mango tree. You want the mango, of course it is out of your reach and you can’t get it easily. You can wait patiently for the mango to ripen and fall to the ground. Or, you take the initiative and hurl a stone at the mango. You may get lucky and get the mango. If not, all you lose is a stone. Now, don’t tell me the stone is going to fall back on your head . Here, the Mango is the Reforms which will facilitate the enactment of a Legal immigration bill which will reduce our wait time, the stone is attending the rally. All we lose is one vacation day guys.

So, guys who are in drivable distance from DC, please do consider attending the Rally. Bring as many people as you possibly can to the rally. This is the least we can do for IV and for ourselves.

[akhilmahajan]

Originally Posted by GCplease

I was on the fence regarding this rally thing for a long time and now I have finally decided to attend the rally. Reason, I am attending – appreciation of what Immigration Voice has achieved in less than 2 years.

I have the greatest respect for the core guys. Their intentions are noble. IV has achieved a lot in my opinion.

IV continues to employ Lobbying agency, Patton Boggs to lobby for our cause as Lobbying is the most effective way to get things done in the Senate and the House. These are the changes IV is advocating for, as far as I can infer from this forum –
Increase the Visa limitation of 140,000 visas a year,
removing the 7 % limit every country is subjected to, which affects highly skilled legal immigrants from countries like India and China,
Request the congressmen to consider a separate Bill for the Legal immigrants.
Success in any of this would greatly reduce our Green Card wait time.

Most politicians were not aware of something called Legal Immigrants. When they discussed Immigration reform last year, they considered it as a reform for the illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is too complex and it failed repeatedly in the Senate and the House. We went down along with it.

IV’s action items have changed this and now they recognize the legal immigrants which was evidenced by the reversal of the Visa bulletin fiasco we all witnessed in July. IV’s flower campaign and the San Jose rally caught the media’s attention which played a huge part in the reversal of the July Visa bulletin. I don’t have to remind you guys that IV was the first to come out with the news that USCIS is going to retract the Updated July bulletin two days before it actually happened.

High profile Immigration Attorneys like Sheela Murthy are endorsing IV on their website and are donating generously towards the rally.
http://www.murthy.com/news/n_ivraly.html

I can hear a lot of buzz in the media regarding the Legal immigration and Reverse brain drain in the past three to four weeks.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...ion-Reform.php - Silicon Valley executives call for Immigration Reforms

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/S...3526093&page=1 – Reverse brain drain

http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/...0709litan.html - 25 % of companies founded over the last decade are by Immigrants

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...intsrc=hm_list

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=201802703

Guys, I think the timing is right to announce our presence here and request the Congress to enact a bill which will speed up this Green Card process. A huge step towards this will be to attend the September 18 Rally in DC.

If Congress does not come up with some reform for us, we will continue to be in the present unpleasant state for another 5 to 6 years. Please refer the Factsheet at http://immigrationvoice.org/media/fo..._FactSheet.doc

I am not saying, Congress will immediately act after seeing the Rally, but hey, we can at least try and do our bit.

I look at it this way – Say, you see a mango tree. You want the mango, of course it is out of your reach and you can’t get it easily. You can wait patiently for the mango to ripen and fall to the ground. Or, you take the initiative and hurl a stone at the mango. You may get lucky and get the mango. If not, all you lose is a stone. Now, don’t tell me the stone is going to fall back on your head . Here, the Mango is the Reforms which will facilitate the enactment of a Legal immigration bill which will reduce our wait time, the stone is attending the rally. All we lose is one vacation day guys.

So, guys who are in drivable distance from DC, please do consider attending the Rally. Bring as many people as you possibly can to the rally. This is the least we can do for IV and for ourselves.

folks please try to understand the magnitude of the problem. Ppl living close by definitely need to make the numbers. We need more and more members coming to the rally. We need to be heard and need to be heard with a bang.
Come on folks come forward and join us at the rally.

[dtekkedil]

Come on people... without "BIG" numbers we cannot be effective.

It is one day in your work week. But it may save your lives... save you from having high BP, anxiety attacks, nervous breakdowns, ulcers etc etc (it is a long list!) (If you already have\had these... sorry... hope it isn't too late for your friends ).

So please join the rally and make it a success!

[superdesi2100]

I was on the fence as well; however, made up my mind today. I am attending the rally. Booked the tickets and now trying to work out accommodation and transportation in DC. :-)

[chanduv23]

ALL THE FENCE SITTERS IN THE TRI STATE AREA - RALLY IS FUN AND WILL YIELD RESULTS- PLEASE TAKE A DAY OFF AND MAKE IT TO THE RALLY - YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU WERE THERE

[needhelp!]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by superdesi2100

I was on the fence as well; however, made up my mind today. I am attending the rally. Booked the tickets and now trying to work out accommodation and transportation in DC. :-)

[sammyb]

Because of some reason of very personal matter which I do not have any control on, I will not able to attend the rally on 18th ... I feel bad for that ... but sometime in life things happen which you can't alter ... anyway ... I will follow the updates on the rally ... contributed a small amount till date and will try to make another before the rally...

Thanks IV to give face to thousands of legal immigrants in this country who till date were cornered by the pro-illegal immigrant groups...

Originally Posted by chanduv23

ALL THE FENCE SITTERS IN THE TRI STATE AREA - RALLY IS FUN AND WILL YIELD RESULTS- PLEASE TAKE A DAY OFF AND MAKE IT TO THE RALLY - YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU WERE THERE

[mpadapa]

This is the time folks. Now or never

Imagine the benefits like peace of mind, better career growth, pay rise,.....

One day off from work is nothing compared to the benefits U R going to reap. A faster GC might qualify U for more vacations (if U move up the ladder in some companies). So don't whine about a day off

If U R from east-coast hop on the bus for a free ride... If U are from tri-state, click on my signature

[GCplease]

Another reason for us to be in the DC Rally.

Governor Schwarzenegger Leads Multi-State Push for Immigration Reform to Protect Skilled Workforce

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/7381/

Come on guys, all the forces are aligning in the direct direction.