CASA en acción da su respaldo a candidatos locales y estatales en Virginia
PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA:
Viernes, Agosto 16, 2019
CONTACTE: Diana Castaneda, [email protected], (240) 515-5561
Falls Church, VA – CASA in Action, la organización electoral pro inmigrante más grande de la región, se complace en anunciar su respaldo a veintisiete candidatos para las elecciones generales de Virginia el 5 de noviembre de 2019. La junta de CASA in Action entrevistó y votó a favor de candidatos que apoyan una agenda pro inmigrante que beneficia a las familias trabajadoras.
“Este es el momento para que los votantes en Virginia acudan a las urnas, eleven sus voces y elijan legisladores estatales y locales que compartan nuestros valores. Estos candidatos son campeones comprometidos a luchar por nuestras familias trabajadoras y la comunidad inmigrante”, dijo Luis Aguilar, Director de CASA in Action Virginia.
Este es el perfil de algunos de los candidatos entre muchos, que inspiraron a los miembros de CASA in Action a movilizarse:
– Defensor de los derechos de los trabajadores, Neri Canahui se desempeñó como Presidente de su Sindicato Local de Carpinteros y de la Junta Ejecutiva de la Federación Laboral del Norte de Virginia. Neri ha luchado para aumentar el salario mínimo y ampliar los derechos de negociación colectiva.
– Miembro de la Junta Cooperativa Eléctrica del Norte de Virginia, Ann Wheeler está decidida a luchar por políticas progresistas y transformar en azul demócrata la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, el próximo noviembre.
– Como inmigrante de primera generación y musulmán, Raheel Sheikh abogó por poner fin a la prohibición de viaje a musulmanes y el perfil racial en el condado de Prince William. Su objetivo es hacer que el Condado de Prince William sea más inclusivo, donde personas de todos los orígenes y creencias sean bienvenidas.
– Hala Ayala, es madre soltera de dos hijos, fundadora y ex presidenta del capítulo del Condado de Prince William para la Organización Nacional para la Mujer. Hala ha luchado por el incremento e igualdad salarial.
– Un encarnizado defensor que ha dedicado su vida a la justicia social, Joshua Cole es un activista progresista que luchará contra la aplicación indebida de la justicia en nuestra diversa comunidad. Él defiende una reforma a nuestro sistema de justicia penal.
– Como abogada que defiende a los niños, Karen Keys Gamarra está decidida a eliminar las barreras en nuestro sistema educativo que impactan de manera considerable a los estudiantes de color.
– Respaldado por nuestros miembros debido a su exitosa victoria primaria, Josh King trabajará para terminar con el discriminatorio programa 287 (g) en el Condado de Prince William, el cual permite a los agentes locales actuar como agentes con funciones migratorias.
“Este otoño, no sólo vamos a barrer la Asamblea General de Virginia, también vamos a lograr victorias históricas a través de nuestros increíbles candidatos locales”, dijo Luis Aguilar. “Imaginemos en lo que finalmente se convertirá el Condado de Prince William después de Corey Stewart. ¡Nuestras comunidades de color trabajando juntas, han construido una transformación en Virginia!”.
La Junta Directiva de CASA in Action está compuesta por líderes electos que representan a nuestros consejos regionales en los tres estados de CASA in Action. Las decisiones de la Junta están respaldadas por nuestro Consejo de Liderazgo, compuesto por dos líderes elegidos en cada uno de nuestros comités organizadores.
Estos miembros de la comunidad entrevistan a los candidatos, revisan sus registros y finalizan las recomendaciones y decisiones a favor de los candidatos, que apoyan una agenda progresista y pro inmigrante.
“Ahora más que nunca estas próximas elecciones son importantes para nuestra comunidad inmigrante. Este año lucharemos para elegir candidatos que brinden oportunidades sociales y económicas para ayudar a todos los residentes de Virginia”, dijo Delia Escobar, miembro de la Junta Directiva de CASA in Action que representa al condado de Prince William. “Los candidatos que respaldamos tienen una larga historia de activismo y son líderes valientes en la lucha por la equidad y la justicia”.
Estos son los candidatos respaldados por CASA in Action, junto con quienes ya habían recibido previamente el apoyo durante las elecciones primarias:
Por el condado de Fairfax
Steve Descano para Fiscal de la Mancomunidad del Condado de Fairfax
Jeffrey McKay para Presidente de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax
James Walkinshaw para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito de Braddock
John Foust para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito de Dranesville
Walter Alcorn para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito Hunter Mill
Rodney Lusk para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito de Lee
Penny Gross para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito de Mason
Dalia Palchik para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito de Providence
Linda Sperling para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax, Distrito de Springfield
Karen Keys Gamarra para la Junta Escolar del Condado de Fairfax
Abrar Omeish para la Junta Escolar del Condado de Fairfax
Rachna Sizemore para la Junta Escolar del Condado de Fairfax
Karl Frisch para la Junta Escolar del Distrito de Providence
Laura Jane Cohen para la Junta Escolar del Distrito de Springfield
Melanie Meren para la Junta Escolar del Distrito Hunter Mill
Ricardy Anderson para la Junta Escolar del Distrito Mason
Para el condado de Prince William
Amy Ashworth para Fiscal de la Mancomunidad del Condado de Prince William y la Ciudad de Manassas
Josh King para Alguacil del Condado de Prince William
Ann Wheeler para Presidenta de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William
Maggie Hansford para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito de Brentsville
Raheel Sheikh para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito de Coles
Danny Dudenfrank para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito de Gainesville
Victor Angry para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito de Neabsco
Kenny Boddye para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito Occoquan
Andrea Bailey para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito de Potomac
Margaret Franklin para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Prince William, Distrito de Woodbridge
Lisa Zargarpur para la Junta Escolar del Condado de Prince William
Para el condado de Loudoun
Buta Biberaj para Fiscal de la Mancomunidad del Condado de Loudoun
Justin Hannah para Alguacil del Condado de Loudoun
Phyllis Randall para Presidenta de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Loudoun
Juli Briskman para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Loudoun, Distrito Algonkian
Koran Saines para la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Loudoun, Distrito Sterling
Para Arlington & Falls Church
Parisa Dehghani-Tafti para Fiscal de la Mancomunidad de Arlington & Falls Church
Cámara de Delegados y Senado Estatal
Ghazala Hashmi para Delegada del Senado, Distrito 10
John Bell para Delegado del Senado, Distrito 13
Qasim Rashid para Delegado del Senado, Distrito 28
Jennifer Foy Carroll para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 2
Danica Roem para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 13
Josh Cole para Delegado de la Cámara, Distrito 28
Elizabeth Guzman para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 31
Dan Helmer para Delegado de la Cámara, Distrito 40
Kathy Tran para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 42
Lee Carter para Delegado de la Cámara, Distrito 50
Hala Ayala para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 51
Luke Torian para el Delegado de la Cámara, Distrito 52
Neri Canahui para el Delegado de la Cámara, Distrito 54
Karrie Delaney para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 67
Suhas Subramanyam para el Delegado de la Cámara, Distrito 87
Jess Foster para Delegada de la Cámara, Distrito 88
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Con más 100.000 miembros en los Estados de Maryland, Virginia y Pennsylvania, CASA es la organización latina e inmigrante de afiliados más grande en la región del Atlántico medio. CASA trabaja y litiga en nombre de los inmigrantes de bajos ingresos. Visítanos en nuestra página web www.wearecasa.org.
Decisive Victories Across Commonwealth
Virginians Voted for Immigrants and Working Families
CASA in Action Heralds the Legacy of Speaker Busch
As Maryland adapts to news of the passing of the man who oversaw the Maryland House for the longest period in history, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the legacy of Speaker Busch.
Mike Busch took over the helm of the Maryland House just two short years after 9-11, an era when the mourning of a country was hijacked by xenophobes capitalizing on the public’s grief by passing laws across the country to villainize immigrant communities. In the first decade of Speaker Busch’s leadership, the House of Delegates rejected dozens and dozens of proposals that would have banished immigrant neighbors from our lives. Rather than embracing the worst of our American heritage, the House of Delegates, under Speaker Busch’s leadership, passed remarkable reforms from immigrant access to drivers licenses to ensuring that immigrant youth had a fighting chance to attend college to many other reforms in between. Just this Session, the House of Delegates once again passed remarkable reforms to protect immigrants from state/ICE collaboration despite its predictable demise in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
We are an institution dedicated to the election of leaders of color and other progressives who will fight for our members; almost 100,000 primarily low-income Latino and West African immigrants. We particularly appreciate that Speaker Busch met the challenge of a diversifying House by providing mentorship and opportunity to trailblazing Delegates and staff to rise up to positions of power. Speaker Busch was a leader who realized that his power was enhanced by widening the table.
We pause to celebrate Speaker Busch’s legacy and look forward to welcoming a progressive champion to fill the deep vacuum left by his death. Thank you, Speaker Busch, for all the changes that you led for our members and our community.
By end of Election Day, CASA in Action will Knock more than 156K doors in three states to elect Pro-Immigrant Warriors
November 05, 2018
Stretching from Chesterfield County, VA to Chester County, PA, one of the nation’s largest grassroots immigrant rights electoral organizations put hundreds of people on doors across three states – Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia – to elect pro-immigrant legislators from the county council to congress.
Relying largely on door-to-door contact, a talented and committed team of new immigrants from three continents, Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria, civil rights activists, and staunch progressives fanned across the deepest People of Color precincts in their communities to carry the vote for candidates who will fight for families when they take office.
In Virginia, CASA in Action focused in on three critical districts that help make the math work on the red to blue march to take the House. Virginia’s 10th congressional district has the second highest number of people with Temporary Protected Status of Republican-represented districts in the Country. With Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock refusing to meet with TPS holders, canvassers knocked doors to make sure she sees her final days in Congress. Similarly, in Virginia’s 7th congressional district, CASA in Action canvassers focused in on Chesterfield and Henrico Counties for an opportunity to both take out Dave Brat – one of Congress’ toughest hard-liners on immigration – and introduce themselves to voters who they will return to next year when the area may determine the balance of power in the Virginia Senate. While Latino voters are not yet the juggernaut they will grow to be in Virginia’s 5th district, each one was contacted multiple times in a race that is too close to call.
In Pennsylvania, CASA in Action activists held down the vote from agricultural Kennett Square to the state capitol in Harrisburg crisscrossing Lancaster, York and surrounding communities in between. Focusing once again on the congressional map, tens of thousands of doors were knocked in the districts of Chrissy Houlahan in Pennsylvania’s 6th congressional district and George Scott in Pennsylvania’s 10th district and Jess King in Pennsylvania’s 11th district, while making sure that voters remembered to return Tom Wolf and Bob Casey to office. This election was particularly critical for the thousands who have moved into South-Central PA from Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Boricuas, together with immigrants and native Pennsylvanians, have talked to neighbors since Labor Day to remind them not once or twice but multiple times that their lives depend on voting on Tuesday.
In Maryland, CASA in Action made major investments in the primary season to carry some great candidates in true-blue Maryland over the finish line. For the general election, we focused in on lifting up the most progressive gubernatorial candidate in our lifetime in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Howard Counties where we could also talk to voters about Calvin Ball, Steuart Pittman, and Johnny Olszewski, Jr. for County Executive.
Looking at the numbers, conservatively, CASA in Action expects to hit 156,239 doors by the time polls close on Tuesday. That program has been augmented by a robust digital program that has resulted in over 5 million impressions with Spanish and English ads featuring regular voters inspired to cast their ballots as well as videos letting voters know that the incumbent in their district is bad for immigrants, bad for families, bad for communities. Although we focused most deeply on door-to-door contact, CASA in Action experimented with texting to immigrant voters in Virginia’s 10th district where we produced 15,677 texts to Latino and Asian American Pacific Islander voters in less than 2 hours with a mighty team of volunteers. Latino voters in Virginia’s 5th congressional district and Baltimore County will have received more than 3 reminder calls per household before the end of Monday evening. And from Harrisburg to Sterling, CASA in Action activists hammered Republican incumbents with nine direct actions designed to educate ordinary voters about their toxic voting records.
The men and women that led this effort are exemplar leaders who represent the very communities they are mobilizing to create a new American democracy.
Yaheiry Mora, CASA in Action’s Director, is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Her everyday work is about building electoral power for voters of color because she believes it is the key to achieving true systemic change that would create a better future for her son Diego. Luis Angel Aguilar, a DACA-mented Virginian originally from Mexico, supervised three state programs and William Renderos, son of Salvadoran immigrants, made sure that extraordinary canvass managers were provided the support they needed to be successful.
Jennifer Romero, a DREAMer from Mexico, grew up in Stafford County, VA. Her mom Hilda is a member of CASA in Action’s Leadership Council, our elected leadership that makes recommendations to our board on elections and campaigns. This is Jennifer’s 4th year working with CASAinAction and she has grown from volunteer to paid canvasser to lead to now a Canvass Manager. As the stakes tightened in Virginia-07, Jennifer headed south and built a team from scratch while still supervising a team in NoVA delivering victory for Jennifer Wexton.
Similarly, Jonathan Hernandez has now worked multiple election cycles for CASA in Action growing in responsibility from volunteer to Canvass Manager. An elected member of our board of directors, Jonathan took a leave of absence from his board membership to work to elect the first African-American County Executive in Howard County history.
Our work to elect the County Executive and Governor who will fight for immigrant justice is led in Anne Arundel by Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, an Afro-Latina immigrant from Panama who first came to CASA in Action as a student activist leading the DREAM committee at Morgan State University since 2010. A fulltime Regional Lead Organizer for CASA in Action, she recruited an entire team of young people – DREAMers, first generation citizen children of our undocumented members, and new citizens– who are proving that youth are paving the future.
Our Pennsylvania Dream Team is led by three extraordinary women who put their lives on hold to change Congress. Nayely Lopez, our York Canvass manager, is a DREAMer originally from Mexico who moved temporarily from Virginia to Pennsylvania to move South-Central PA to the polls. Nancy Lopez Sosa returned to her home town of Kennett Square to get out the vote in a red to blue priority district with a canvass team staffed by the children of farmworkers who, like her dad, moved to Pennsylvania to build the agricultural industry. Allison Pendrak, Pennsylvania born and raised, returned to Lancaster and Harrisburg to prove that the majority that voted in Trump in 2016 has been swept away by a PA Blue Wave. This trio of powerhouse women are mobilizing both immigrant voters and Puerto Ricans who fled the Island after the government’s mismanagement of the Hurricane Response.
With nearly 100,000+ lifetime members, CASA in Action is the largest electoral organization fighting for immigrant rights in the Mid-Atlantic region. For more information, please visit CASAinAction.org. Follow us @CASAinAction