LP on the news and in your community

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Latinos Progresando on the News
and in your Community

Buy your tickets to the upcoming Teatro Americano benefit TODAY, plus catch up on LP's activities last week!

Reserve Your Tickets TODAY: Teatro Americano Benefit Performance
Teatro Americano Presents The Migrant Farmworker's Son!

Premiere Benefit Performance
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 7:00p.m.
Meztli Gallery and Theater, 556 W. 18th St.
Tickets: $35

Wine and hors d'oeuvres to precede perfomance
For tickets, e-mail teatroamericano@latinospro.org
or call Sarah at (312) 850-9376

Regular Performance Schedule:
October 10, 17, and 24 (Wednesdays) at 7:00p.m.
October 14 and 21 (Sundays) at 5:00 p.m.

Mark your calendar today, and don't miss this important drama about the stressful dynamics of acculturation, intergenerational conflict, and family survival, as seen through the lens of a Latino immigrant family. Ticket prices benefit Teatro Americano's community theater productions addressing the immigrant experience.

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LP in the News: SSA No-Match Letters and Green Card Renewal
9/26 Community Forum a Success!

Approximately 200 audience members packed the Toman Branch Public Library last Wednesday for Latinos Progresando's community forum entitled Know Your Rights: No-Match Letters and Green Card Renewal. Community members had the opportunity to ask pressing questions about the impact of these critical laws on their lives. The successful event led Telemundo's evening news, building on the previous evening's interview with Legal Services Program Director Marselina Gonzalez. The high turnout is evidence of the pressing need for accurate information and advocacy on issues shaping our communities' futures. LP sincerely thanks all volunteers, co-sponsoring organizations, and panelists for their critical role in this event.

Attendees learned about important policy proposals from legal experts James Hallagan of Minksy, McCormick and Hallagan, PC, Karolyn Eilers of the National Immigrant Justice Center, and Ricardo Meza of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

For more information, contact Sarah at (312) 850-9376 or sarah@latinospro.org.

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Advocacy Update

More Roadblocks in the Path of the SSA's Flawed No-Match Plan!

A federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California decided yesterday to extend the temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) for another ten days. This action temporarily prohibits the SSA from implementing its plan to send an unprecedented batch of No-Match letters, affecting approximately eight million workers, and turning Social Security records into immigration enforcement tools.

The restraining order is the direct result of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, AFL-CIO, NILC, and labor organizations, charging that the No-Match rule would lead to unwarranted firings of legally-authorized workers, due to widespread flaws in the SSA database. For more information on the lawsuit, and the civil rights implications of the government's No-Match rule, click here. Stay tuned for updates from LP on the fate of the No-Match proposal!

The threat of the onslaught of No-Match letters remains particularly concerning to our community, as evidenced by the high turnout at last week's community forum on No-Match letters and new rules regarding Permanent Resident Cards (see above). Audience members signed over 160 letters to the SSA, asking the agency not to implement the No-Match, plan which would have devastating effects on workers in Chicago and nationwide.

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Advocacy Update: Keep supporting the DREAM Act
DREAM Act To be Reintroduced Later This Fall

In mid-September we urgently asked you to call your Senators to support the DREAM Act, which had been introduced as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. But anti-immigrant activists flooded Senate offices with calls opposing the amendment. Facing this pressure, some Republicans withdrew their support, while others increased their DREAM Act opposition. The Democratic leadership concluded that the DREAM Act could not win the 60 votes, and withdrew it from the defense bill.

Stay tuned

for more announcements in the next few weeks. Latinos Progresando will continue working with Senator Durbin's office to push for the DREAM Act in this urgen time for awareness and action.

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Program Update
LP Announces New Partnership with Radio Arte and the
National Museum of Mexican Art

LP is happy to announce that a partnership between RadioArte and the National Museum of Mexican Art received a two and a half year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The collaborative will begin meeting this month to discuss strategies for achieving the project's stated goal of increasing health literacy amongst Mexican-American youth. Stay tuned for updates as we prepare to launch this exciting new program!

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Community Partner Events

First Anual Latin@ LGBTQQA Conference
Fuertes Palabras: Unity and Inclusion

Tuesday, October 11, 2007
National Coming Out Day
9:00am to 7:00pm

The Center on Halsted
3656 N. Halsted
Chicago, IL 60613
$25/person, $10/student or youth

The goal of this conference is to promote social justice and quality culturally competent and affirming services in the Latino/a LGBTQQA community. Workshops on youth empowerment and data from Proyecto Latina, the first survey of women who love women in Chicago, will be presented. The conference registration fee includes continental breakfast, lunch, and admission to the reception.

For further information, contact:
Karen Rothstein-Pineda, MA, LPC
Latino Services Coordinator
773-472-6469 x. 261
krothstein@centeronhalsted.org
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Come Celebrate Chicago Artist Month!

Friday, October 5, 2007
Opening Reception
6pm to 10pm

Eastbank Artist Group Exhibit
DeLaTorre Fine Art Studio
1200 W 35th Street - 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60609
773-927-7030
http://www.DeLaTorreArts.com

You can come and mingle with art lovers, meet the artists and learn about the INCREDIBLE work being produced in the Bridgeport neighborhood. There will be a variety of incredible work hanging on walls and easils. EXCITING NEW works featured by DeLaTorre, Cleeland, Gama, Noyes, Brasch, Ingold and Wyzensagel. DeLaTorre's Oil paintings on richly prepared wood panels and watercolor portraits will have you spell bound. Runs thru Oct. 31 by appointment.

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Important Legal Immigration Services Update
Replace your green card now!

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a proposal last week which will likely require all legal permanent residents carrying "green cards" (permanent resident cards) without an expiration date to replace their current cards.

Green Cards issued between 1979 and 1989 do not have an expiration date. These cards will become invalid 120 days after the new rule takes effect!

For more information or to apply for a new green card, contact the Legal Services Department at Latinos Progresando at (312) 850-0572.

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About Latinos Progresando

Latinos Progresando, a nonprofit organization based in Pilsen and Little Village, serves immigrants through the highest-quality, low-cost legal immigration services, community education and engagement, and advocacy/organizing around just immigration policy.

Visit Latinos Progresando online to learn more

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