Sign on to Letter to Stop the Deportation of the Cuevas family

June 14, 2004

To Whom It May Concern:

As a member of the Support Committee for the Cuevas Family, which includes both local and national Filipino American and multi-racial organizations, elected officials, labor, advocates for immigrant and civil rights, scholars, professors and teachers, clergy, youth and students, and many others, I am writing to ask for your support in our campaign.

The Cuevas family, an American family, is facing immanent deportation from the United States.

Enclosed please find media articles with a background on their situation. In general, the Cuevas family immigrated to the United States from the Philippines and has built their lives here over the course of nearly twenty years. We believe they are victims of unfair immigration laws and are trying to prevent their deportation.

We feel very strongly about this issue, and we are asking for your support of our campaign by pledging your organization’s ENDORSEMENT. By endorsing this campaign, you will be part of a growing network of support for the Cuevas family specifically and for immigrant rights broadly. As part of this network, we will join together in urging Senator Barbara Boxer to take action on a private bill which would allow the Cuevas family to adjust their status by encouraging the members of our respective organizations to call, e-mail, fax or write Senator Boxer at both her district and Washington D.C., to let her know her constituents want her to take final action by June 15, 2004.

Our message to Hon. Boxer is:

“We urge you, Senator Boxer, to respond to the Committee to Support the Cuevas Family’s request that you begin the process of introducing personal legislation on the behalf of the Cuevas family by Friday, May 28, 2004. We urge you to include the following key provisions in that legislation:

1) Enable the Cuevas family from Fremont, California to remain in the United States, a country they have called home for nearly 20 years (therefore issuing orders to the appropriate BCIS officials to refrain from disrupting the Cuevas Family’s life);
2) Allow them the opportunity to legalize their status as permanent residents of the United States.

Moreover, we request that you inform the Support Committee for the Cuevas Family of your FINAL decision on the personal legislation on June 1, 2004. Their lives have been hanging in the balance for the last few months-you have the power to help them to continue living the lives they have built in America.”

Members of the Committee to Support the Cuevas Family and/or persons who have made public comments in support of the family include:



Akbayan, SJSU, CA
Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), CA
Alpha Kappa Omega, SJSU, CA
APICAW, CA
Asian Pacific American Students for Leadership, De Anza College, CA
Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO), CA
Asian Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership (AYPAL), CA
Associated Students of SJSU, CA
Bagong Bayan, CA
Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, CA
Bayan-USA, CA
Californians for Justice (San Jose), CA
Chin Jurn Wor Ping (CJWP), CA
Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, CA
Critical Filipina/o Studies Collective (National)
Crocker Masonic Lodge No. 212, Free and Accepted Masons in Daly City, CA
De-Bug, CA
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, CA
Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC), CA
Filipino Youth Coalition (San Jose), CA
Filipinos for Affirmative Action (FAA), CA
Filipinos for Global Justice Not War Coalition, CA
FOCUS (Filipino Community Support), CA
Foothill-De Anza Colleges Multicultural Staff Association, CA
Former New Haven Unified School District School Board Member, Pat Gacoscos
Fr. Arturo Balagat, United States Catholic Filipino Ministries Council, Chairperson,
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 2850, CA
Indigenous Pacific Islander Alliance, UC Berkeley. CA
Jay Gonzalez, Department of Politics, University of San Francisco
Jay Mendoza, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns
Korean Community Center of the East Bay (KCCEB), CA
La Raza Centro Legal, CA
Lakas Diwa, NJ
Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights, CA
League of Filipino Students, San Francisco, CA
Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns, Post-Doctoral Fellow, UC Santa Cruz
Maganda Magazine, UC Berkeley, CA
Manilatown Heritage Foundation, CA
MECHA, San Jose State University
MIGRANTE Sectoral Party - USA
Mission Masonic Lodge #169 of San Francisco, CA
National Filipino Presbyterian Council
New Covenant Presbyterian Church, CA
Northern California Citizenship Project
Northern California Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition
Pacific Islander Kie Association, CA
PAWIS (People’s Association of Workers and Immigrants), CA
Peter Chua, Department of Sociology, San Jose State University
Philippine Forum, NY
Pilipino American Alliance, UC Berkeley, CA
Pilipino American Alliance, UC Berkeley, CA
Pilipinos for Pre-Professional Partnerships (P4), UC Berkeley, CA
Regional Filipino Presbyterian Council of the Mid-West
Regional Filipino Presbyterian Council of the West
Rick Baldoz, Dept. of Sociology, University of Hawaii, Manoa
Robyn Rodriguez, Department of Sociology, University of San Francisco
Rowena Tomaneng, Chair of the Dept. of English, De Anza Community College
Rudy Guevarra, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of History, UCSB
San Francisco Human Rights Commission
San Jose State University Associated Students resolution
SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network), San Jose, CA
Square and Compass Club of the Bay Area, CA
Stanford Asian American Activism Committee, CA
Students for Justice, De Anza College, CA
Vice Mayor of Union City, CA, Manny Fernandez
Victor Uno and Josie Camacho, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
Villasinian Association of East Coast USA Inc., NY & NJ
Virg Cristobal, President, Pilipino American Alumni Chapter, UC Berkeley, CA
Yisa, NY
Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), CA



The list is growing everyday. There is also an online petition with thousands of signatures.

In addition to endorsing our campaign to garner Senator Boxer’s support for the Cuevas Family, you can contribute to the Support Committee’s efforts by participating in an action in front of Senator Boxer’s Office on June 16th at 10:30AM at 1700 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. We want her to see that we will fight to support the family until she takes decisive action.

Please let us know if you will be able to support this urgent issue. You may contact me at your earliest convenience, 510-209-9428 (cell), or robynmrodriguez [at] sbcglobal.net

Sincerely,


Robyn M. Rodriguez