Thread: Elgin id targeted in voter sigh-up

07/29/06
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Elgin is targeted in voter sign-up
• Immigrant coalition: Working to have an effect on outcome of upcoming elections

By Tom Polansek
STAFF WRITER

At immigration rights rallies in Elgin and Chicago this spring, protesters carried signs with a warning to politicians.

"Today we march. Tomorrow we vote," they declared.

Now, organizers are working to make good on that message.

Building on the momentum of the rallies, immigration advocates this month kicked off a campaign to register new citizens to vote and help immigrants become citizens. The movement is related to a national effort, known as "We Are America," that aims to empower immigrants, particularly Hispanics, to affect the outcome of upcoming elections.

Kristin Kumpf, suburban policy organizer for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said volunteers in the movement already had hit the pavement in Elgin and other area cities, including Hanover Park and Aurora.

"We do a lot of door knocking," Kumpf said, describing the day-to-day details of the effort. "We know there are some particular immigrant communities."

Tracy Ibarra, 18, is one of the volunteers who goes door-to-door in Elgin. A recent graduate of Elgin High School, she asks Hispanics what they would like to see changed in the community as she encourages them to become voters or citizens.

"They would like to see their families unified," said Ibarra, who plans to begin classes at Elgin Community College in December.

Kumpf said coalition representatives also would visit churches and festivals and stand outside supermarkets to find people who are eligible to become citizens or to register to vote. Statewide, Kumpf said the coalition had registered 2,000 new voters since the second week of July.

"It's a lot of work in a lot of different places, but it's exciting," Kumpf said. "People are really energized."

The Pew Hispanic Center's 2006 National Survey of Latinos supports the idea that Hispanics have been motivated to make a difference in elections this November.

Of 2,000 Hispanics surveyed, 75 percent agreed that the recent immigration debate would prompt many more Latinos to vote. The survey further found that 63 percent thought the pro-immigrant marches this year signaled the beginning of a new and lasting social movement.

Of those surveyed, 58 percent also said they now believe Hispanics are working together to achieve common goals. That is an increase from 2002 when just 43 percent expressed confidence in Latino unity.

"Millions of immigrants have come out of the shadows to make our voices heard in the national immigration reform debate. A movement has been born," the We Are America Web site states. "In addition to keeping the pressure on policy-makers to enact real, comprehensive immigration reform, the next step is to ensure that eligible immigrants and their allies hold elected officials accountable at the ballot box."

Sandro Rodriguez of Organizacion Civica Cultural Mexicana de Elgin, or the Mexican Civic Cultural Organization of Elgin, said the local group was working independently to help register Hispanics to vote and planned to hold a citizenship workshop in the near future. He said group members likely would encourage voters to get involved with political races from the Elgin City Council on up.

"We encourage people to register to vote," Rodriguez said.

07/29/06

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/top/3_1_EL29_A1VOTE_S10729.htm

All Illegals please sign up!

Got a question here..........the illegals feel they HAVE A RIGHT to vote in OUR elections........right?
WHY DID WE NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN THEIR ELECTION??

"Millions of immigrants have come out of the shadows to make our voices heard in the national immigration reform debate. A movement has been born," the We Are America Web site states. "In addition to keeping the pressure on policy-makers to enact real, comprehensive immigration reform, the next step is to ensure that eligible immigrants and their allies hold elected officials accountable at the ballot box."

THERE IT IS! Now the federal government can stop telling us illegal aliens are living in the shadows, because per the comment above, "Millions of immigrants have come out of the shadows to make our voices heard in the national immigration reform debate."

I submit to you, illegal in this country do not live in the shadows! They should be, but they're not.

That's why I sarcastically said then why not have an Internet Poll and let the whole damn world have a say!