My name is Maria. Today I received bad news about the case of my husband, Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, who was murdered by the border agents on May 28, 2010. Anastasio was beaten, electrocuted and killed in front of eyewitnesses, but the federal prosecutor told me he cannot bring criminal charges against the agents involved because there is not enough evidence. If the agents had worn cameras on their uniforms, my husband might still be alive, or there would be evidence to hold the agents who killed my husband accountable. But the agents walk free while my children suffer. They cry in their sleep and continue to ask me who is responsible for killing their father. I have no answer.

November is the one year anniversary of President Obama's executive action on immigration reform. Here in Texas, Greg Abbott as Attorney General led the lawsuit that halted DAPA and DACA and attacked Immigrant families. Now Greg Abbott is Governor of Texas, and your voice has the power to overcome his opposition: sign our petition today asking Abbott to meet with Immigrant families he has hurt, and to hear why he should drop his opposition to immigration relief. There are 1.8 million undocumented immigrants in Texas, and Gov. Abbott's opposition to reform is keeping 750,000 Texans and their families from getting the immigration relief they need. Let Governor Abbott know that you agree with the nearly 70% of Texans who support immigration reform and sign this petition today.

To get justice in the USA. Due to deportation, I am going to lose all my Social Security Benefits. Who knew I would be deported after 30 years and lose all benefits?

I am sick to death of hearing conservatives rail against "amnesty for illegal immigrants," when they are only too happy to give amnesty to the illegal employers who make it all possible. Every employer who avoids withholding payroll taxes raises MY taxes, and I'm sick of subsidizing them.

This is a violation of human rights! We want Igor back to his family! Our friend, Igor Kuznetsov, has been arrested and detained by immigration. Igor is a green card holder and his wife and children are US citizens. Igor applied for his citizenship and his criminal history as a teenager came up. He was young, he was stupid and it happened one time and he learned his lesson. He plead guilty, served a few months of his probation and was over and done with it. He didn't hurt anyone, this was not a violent crime at all. He paid his dues to society. It was 15 YEARS AGO!!! He is now a husband and a father of three kids, with a stable job as an MTA bus driver for the City of New York. His wife and he had recently bought a house and now he so suddenly has been torn away from them! This is not some career criminal, this is a family man who did something stupid as a kid. Why does he have to pay for it twice? Why does his family, his wife and his children have to pay? Why didn't they tell him 15 years ago : " By the way, don't start a family, don't live a normal life, cause we'll come back to get you!"? Or is it too difficult to chase after real criminals that need to be deported, and it's oh so easy when people like Igor come straight into your hands for a citizenship interview? Igor's next court hearing is scheduled for March, 2016! THAT'S 6 MONTHS!!! How is his family supposed to handle this? How can a father be so easily torn away from his children? How can a hard working man that provides for his family be just taken away and his family left struggling? It makes no sense!!! Igor has to be with his family, hearing his little girl say her first words, not away in jail! What is the purpose of keeping him there? He only wants to be with his family. Please sign our petition and help us to bring Igor's story out there. People need to know that the government can just do that, rip people away from their families. Their own American citizen families. Help us bring Igor home!

Tell Gov. McCrory to veto HB 318, which would limit acceptance of foreign IDs and make police jobs harder. The question of immigrants having acceptable identification documents is both a practical and safety concern, and an economic issue for police. The manpower used to arrest and process people who do not have identification takes away from other policing priorities. It has been estimated that a wider acceptance of foreign and community-issued IDs in Greensboro has saved the equivalent of two full-time police officers’ salaries in terms of avoiding unnecessary arrests solely for lack of ID. If enacted, HB 318 will make it more difficult for local police and sheriffs to establish the identity of people in our communities, particularly immigrant residents, which will make their jobs harder and more dangerous. Officers who are able to establish the identity of someone they encounter are better able to enforce the law, efficiently employ their limited resources, and keep themselves and others safe. People who have acceptable IDs are more willing to interact with the police as witnesses or victims of crime, which enhances public safety not only for immigrant residents, but for all of us.

(Mira este video para escuchar la historia de Rafael y firma la petición http://youtu.be/gR0lS_JS5d8) Rafael Gaytan, a loving father and a caring husband, is seeking to reunite with his family in the United States after leaving to Mexico in order to take care of his ailing sister and parents. His sister first left the convent to care for her parents and later was diagnosed with cancer, she unfortunately died once Rafael was there. Due to Rafael's undocumented status, he is now unable to return to his community, his U.S. citizen children, or his wife here in the United States. If DAPA wasn't stopped, Rafael could have traveled with a permit due to the emergency and come back to his family. As a family man, Rafael is the sole provider for his family in Florida. That is why we are asking that Rafael Gaytan is allowed to reunite with his wife and children and granted parole. We need your support in order to keep the Gaytan family together. Please sign this petition supporting Rafael, and asking that the Department of Homeland and Security allows him to reunite with his family.

Take action today: Write and call your state Representatives and ask them to REJECT House Bill 318. The question of immigrants having acceptable identification documents is both a practical and safety concern, and an economic issue for police. The manpower used to arrest and process people who do not have identification takes away from other policing priorities. It has been estimated that a wider acceptance of foreign and community-issued IDs in Greensboro has saved the equivalent of two full-time police officers’ salaries in terms of avoiding unnecessary arrests solely for lack of ID. If enacted, HB 318 will make it more difficult for local police and sheriffs to establish the identity of people in our communities, particularly immigrant residents, which will make their jobs harder and more dangerous. Officers who are able to establish the identity of someone they encounter are better able to enforce the law, efficiently employ their limited resources, and keep themselves and others safe. People who have acceptable IDs are more willing to interact with the police as witnesses or victims of crime, which enhances public safety not only for immigrant residents, but for all of us.

A prime reason for the wave of refugees washing into Europe is the deterioration of the conditions Syrians face in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, a worsening largely caused by sharp falls in international funding, the New York Times reports. [1] The UN Syria Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan had by the end of August received just 37% of the $4.5 billion appeal for needed funds this year. It would cost less than a billion dollars to close the U.S. share of this shortfall, and increased U.S. contributions would encourage other countries to step up. A billion dollars might seem like a lot of money, but compared to U.S. military spending and tax breaks for the super-rich, it’s small change. The Treasury Department says closing the “carried interest loophole” that allows super-rich hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate would alone save $18 billion over 10 years [2]; one expert says the number is far higher [3]. In June, the Washington Post reported that the CIA was spending $1 billion this year in military aid to Syrian rebels that both Democrats and Republicans said wasn’t working [4]. That’s different from the Pentagon’s program to aid Syrian rebels, which Democrats and Republicans said this week is also not working. Congress appropriated half a billion for the Pentagon program in 2015 and the Pentagon is asking for even more money next year. [5] Urge the Administration and Congress to fully fund UN efforts to aid Syrian refugees in the Middle East by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/world/un-funding-shortfalls-and-cuts-in-refugee-aid-fuel-exodus-to-europe.html 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/business/with-trump-as-foe-carried-interest-tax-loophole-is-vulnerable.html 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/business/dealbook/how-a-carried-interest-tax-could-raise-180-billion.html 4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/lawmakers-move-to-curb-1-billion-cia-program-to-train-syrian-rebels/2015/06/12/b0f45a9e-1114-11e5-adec-e82f8395c032_story.html 5. http://thehill.com/policy/defense/253816-general-only-four-of-five-us-trained-rebels-in-syria

Like most of us in the U.S., I am a descendant of immigrants. My ancestors fled the famine in Ireland and oppression in Germany. I feel that I have a responsibility to help others desperate to live in our country and make it better.

Nashville, like many others across the nation, is a welcoming city with many programs already in place to assist immigrants and refugees who contribute to our vibrant community. In the largest refugee crisis in decades, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan officially host more than 3.75 million Syrian refugees. Germany has pledged to accept 800,000. The United States can and must take more than 10,000. Pledge to accept at least 65,000. This is how we win the war on ISIS; by showing compassion to thousands, changing hearts and minds about Americans, and living up to the words on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free".

The news in recent weeks has been awash with tragic images of drowned children and desperate parents fleeing violence and the chaos of war. The one heartening thing in this global crisis is the phenomenon of people lining the road with food and water or filling train platforms to warmly greet arriving refugees. Germany has set an example by opening its program and refusing limits, in sharp contrast to the terrifying scenes we've seen of Hungarian police chasing families through fields. The United States, too, should be be a leader to say #refugeeswelcome and raise the limit on refugees it accepts each year. President Obama has said the Administration is reconsidering the current cap on the refugee program. Sign to tell the White House to raise it immediately.