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Preaching Citizenship, DAI Engages 1,200 New Citizen Recruits

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In a major push to sign up new (and potential) voters, Dallas Area Interfaith leaders recruited over 1,200 US legal permanent residents, green card holders, to apply for US citizenship this year. Catholic priests and lay leaders took to the pulpit to spread the word that a key element of the Catholic faith is participation in public life, which includes voting.

The Dallas Morning News had this to say:

We’re impressed by the Dallas Area Interfaith’s proactive effort to help green card holders become U.S. citizens. The coalition of church-based groups exceeded its goal of getting 1,000 people in a year on the road to becoming citizens by prepping them for the citizenship test and helping them fill out forms. In this volatile environment for conversation about immigration, it helps to have a safe place for folks to go to get through this complicated process. With that final step, legal tax-paying residents gain the full rights of citizenship, including the right to vote. That’s true democracy at work.

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TMO Demands DACA Solution, Sends 20,000 Cards to Congress

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Bearing 20,000 postcards to the US Senators and Congress members representing them, TMO clergy and leaders took to the podium to demand that they craft a solution to the crisis which has jeopardized the status of thousands of DREAMers who have relied on DACA to build their lives in Texas.

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COPS/Metro Educates San Antonio Residents About $9M Home Rehab Program Leaders Expanded

Less than one year after more than 750 COPS / Metro leaders secured candidate pledges for increased municipal investments in home rehabilitation, leaders are now training hundreds of residents about the new program and how to apply. $9 Million has been set aside for qualifying residents — $6.5 Million from federal funds and the rest through the City of San Antonio.

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Bishop, Valley Interfaith Celebrate Opening of Las Milpas Library

In the largest celebration of multiple events, Bishop Daniel E. Flores blessed the opening of a new library in Las Milpas, surrounded by Valley Interfaith leaders, children from Carmen Anaya Elementary School and other community supporters. An assembly chronicled the community-driven effort that went into changing the political culture of South Texas, reflected in the construction of the new library that leaders had fought for and won.

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Together Louisiana Builds Power and Demands Transparency of State Economic Development

Baton Rouge, LA - From its earliest days, starting shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the network of religious congregations and citizen organizations that make up Together Louisiana asked:

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Marin Organizing Committee Wins Significant Step for Renter Protection

Less than a year after kicking off an organizing effort to address eviction threats in Marin County, the Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) won a significant victory.

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Valley Interfaith Credited with Transforming Las Milpas


San Antonio Express-News Notes that as the San Antonio Archdiocese Grew, So Did COPS/Metro

In many ways, the history of the Archdiocese of San Antonio is a series of immigration stories that reflect the state's political shifts, its segregation, its social changes and the succeeding waves of religious leaders and workers who came to Texas to convert the population and lead the faithful....

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400 Tulsa ACTION Leaders Fight for DACA & Immigration Reform

Hundreds of leaders assembled at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, arguing that the White House's rescission of DACA will harm 7 thousand recipients of DACA in Oklahoma, and 2 thousand in Tulsa, alone. Allied Communities of Tulsa Inspiring Our Neighbors (ACTION) leaders are demanding reforms that would allow current DACA holders to stay.

Argued Pastor Chris Moore, "All people are employed or are in school….and have to walk a tight line."

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Food Fight! Together Baton Rouge Calls for Fresh Food Funding

Pointing out that nearly 100,000 Baton Rouge residents live in food deserts, and that during fall elections mayoral and city council candidates publicly committed to investing $1.5 Million to attract grocery stores in the region, leaders of Together Baton Rouge are calling foul on the council's failure to invest any money in the effort for four straight years.

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