Immigration Equality

            Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force/LA
   c/o L.A Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center/Legal Services Department
             1625 North Schrader Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028-9998
   (new vox) 213-526-2915 (fax) 213-993-7699 (email) LGIRTF@abacus.oxy.edu
     http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration/lgirtfla.html

April 1996 Newsletter


APRIL MEETING SET FOR TUESDAY APRIL 9 7PM in NEW ROOM

The next regularly-scheduled monthly meeting of Immigration Equality will be Tuesday, April 9 at 7pm at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center (1625 North Schrader Boulevard in Hollywood, two blocks west of Cahuenga Boulevard and one-half block south of Holywood Boulevard.) We will be meeting in a new room. The Immigration Law Project has made Room 204 (on the second floor) in the library of the legal services department available for our monthly meetings.

GOOD NEWS ABOUT ANTI-IMMIGRANT BILLS IN CONGRESS

There are two anti-immigrant ``immigration reform'' bills moving through Congress, one in the House and one in the Senate. Recently, legislative action has resulted in a slightly more positive attitude t owards immigration issues. On March 21 the House voted (by a wide margin) to REMOVE provisions from Lamar Smith's HR 2202 which would have drastically reduced legal immigration levels. Unfortunately, the measures which would allow schools to deny education to undocumented immigrant children as well as a 60-day deadline on asylum applications are still in the House bill.

In the Senate, a bill sponsored by Alan Simpson of Wyoming would reduce the total number of immigrants by up to one-third. However, recently an amendment to maintain relatively current levels of legal immigration, sponsored by Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Spencer Abraham of Michigan, was APRROVED in a Senate subcommittee. Thanks to grassroots lobbying, California's U.S. Senator DIANNE FEINSTEIN reversed her previous anti-immigrant position and voted for the Kennedy-Abraham amendment. The full Senate is scheduled to debate the full Immigration Bill in the third week of April. Read your newspaper for details and contact your senators to make your opinions on immigration reform known.

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
11111 Santa Monica Blvd, #915
Los Angeles, CA 90025
phone: 310-914-7300, fax: 202-228-3954
email: senator@feinstein.senate.gov

The Honorable Barbara Boxer
2250 East Imperial Highway, Suite 545
El Segundo, CA 90245
phone: 310-414-5700, fax: 310-414-0988
email: senator@boxer.senate.gov

IMMIGRATION EQUALITY TO ADDRESS Laguna Outreach Wednesday April 10

On Wednesday April 10 from 7pm to 9pm LGIRTF members Ron Buckmire and Lionel Cantu will be speaking to Laguna Outreach, a popular gay and lesbian social organization based in Orange County. There will be a screening of ``Love Knows No Borders'' and a question and answer session on the connection between immigration and marriage and gays and lesbians. The event will occur at the Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach.

LGIRTF MEMBER MEETS INS COMMISSIONER DORIS MEISSNER

On Tuesday, April 3 LGIRTF member Jeff Kim was among a group of people meeting with the head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Doris Meissner. Jeff was able to get a verbal commitment from the Commissioner that health facilities are not targets of INS raids. This whole issue came up in response to a January 31 INS raid of a Los Angeles County-run mobile HIV/STD clinic at which dozens of undocumented immigrants were arrested. If you experience or know of any who has experienced problems in this area contact Jeff Kim at the Immigration Law Project, at 213-993-7677.

IMMIGRATION EQUALITY TO APPEAR AT UCLA Wednesday April 24

On Wednesday April 24 from 6pm to 8pm LGIRTF members Ron Buckmire and Jeff Kim will be speaking to MAHU, an Asian-Pacific Islander queer student group at UCLA. The title of the presentation is ``Aliens: Close Encounters of the Queer Kind -- Immigration policy and gays and lesbians.'' There will be a screening of the film ``Love Knows No Borders'' and a discussion/reception afterwards, in Room 1102 of Perloff Hall.

IMMIGRATION INTERNET ORGANIZING CONTINUES

Immigration Equality continues to use the Internet to further its organizing efforts. Immigration Equality has its own web page which is part of a larger site devoted to Queer Immigration, featuring information from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and other LGIRTF chapters in the USA. The site is at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration
In addition, a mailing list devoted to discussion of issues of immigration and sexual orientation exists, called QI (Queer Immigration). To subscribe to the list, email qi-request@abacus.oxy.edu with the one-line message SUBSCRIBE QI You can also contact Immigration Equality at LGIRTF@abacus.oxy.edu.

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Immigration Equality

seeks to end discrimination in immigration against lesbians and gay men through education, outreach, advocacy, and a nationwide resource and support network.

OUR MISSION