As President Obama shifts into campaign mode in preparation for the 2012 presidential election, one element of his base, Latino voters, are increasingly voicing their disappointment with the President. Today in six cities around the country members of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) and Presente.org organized a series of protests to expressing their opposition to the so called “Secure Communities” (S-COMM) program which encourages local law enforcement to act as extensions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). In Chicago members of both organizations presented a letter to staff at Obama’s national campaign headquarters calling on the President to end the program. Immigrant rights activists argue that the poorly named Secure Communities program actually creates insecurity in immigrant communities as undocumented immigrants are afraid to report crimes to the police out of fear that they will be reported to immigration age...

The National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), is calling on President Obama to ended the so called "Secure Communities" program which actually leads to insecurity and fear in immigrant communities. They further call on Obama to end his massive program of deportations. Please see below for more and sign on to the online petition. And please join us for a protest here in Chicago next Tuesday, August 16th at 11:00 AM at the Chicago Cultural Center, 79 E. Washington to march to Obama's campaign HQ... Secure Communities Brings Insecurity: Latino Immigrant Communities Reject President Obama’s Deportation Scheme The ill-conceived program known as “Secure Communities” has been harmful to community & police relations and it should end once and for all Chicago, IL – On Friday, August 5, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, announced its decision to unilaterally move forward wi...

On Tuesday, a slim majority of the members of Steelworkers Local 7-669 in Metropolis Illinois voted to ratify a new contract laden with major concessions. The union did win on some key issues including retiree health care, current workers pensions and overtime pay. But the hosts of concessions they agreed to will certainly be painful for the membership. It has been a great pleasure to get to know the members of Local 7-669 over the past year. Working with the Local to tell their story has been a highlight of my many years of labor activism. In particular I have been inspired by Local 7-669 militants like Stephen Lech, John Paul Smith, Luckie Atkinson, Christian Musselman and others who where transformed by this experience over the past year. None were seasoned union activists when this fight started, but in the course of this experience they have become some of the most spirited and creative union militants I know. And I expect this is not the end to the fight in Metropolis. ...