Communities are stronger when everyone feels welcome.
Welcoming Missouri builds bridges between immigrant and and recieving communities. Creating spaces for conversation, learning, and new perspectives, we work to make Missouri a more welcoming and respectful place for everyone who lives here.
Last Wednesday, the Missouri House Committee on Elections passed HB2109, a bill that would make it more difficult for naturalized citizens to register to vote. Currently, when a citizen registers to vote, there is a place to indicate citizenship on the registration form. If a non-citizen falsely claims citizenship, there are steep penalties in place. HB2109 would require anyone registering to vote to present proof of their citizenship, including passports, birth certificates, and naturalization documents. For naturalized citizens who have lost their citizenship documents, this means having to pay hundreds of dollars and wait months for replacement papers before being able to register to vote!
This is unacceptable. Every U.S. citizen has the right to vote, and it shouldn’t be harder because a citizen is naturalized.
Click HERE to tell your representative to VOTE NO on HB 2109. Protect every citizen’s right to vote!
Exciting news! Welcoming Missouri, MIRA’s community education program aimed at helping make Missouri a more welcoming place for everyone, is in the running for up to $35,000 in funding from Starbucks Vote.Give.Grow. program. Starbucks is giving away $4 million in grants to non-profits like ours around the country, working to improve our communities. Welcoming Missouri’s reputation for working to make our state a more welcoming and respectful place got us nominated, but we need your help to succeed!
The more votes you cast, the more funding we can receive!
Communities are stronger when EVERYONE feels welcome, and Welcoming Missouri – a project of MIRA – works hard to help that happen. We work with individuals and organizations across the state to foster respect, understanding, and tolerance among immigrant and non-immigrant communities. And YOU can help! For every dollar you donate to Welcoming Missouri, Welcoming America will match your contribution, doubling your support for MIRA and our work to make Missouri a more welcoming and respectful place!
Click here to make your tax-deductible, matched contribution.
March 6 is fast approaching! Don’t forget to reserve your spot today!
MIRA will be at the State Capitol Building in Jefferson City to advocate for the rights of immigrants and refugees across the state. There will be opportunities for you to speak with your law makers about specific legislation such as SB590 and other anti-immigrant bills, and to show your support for your communities across Missouri.
Click here to register for this day-long event.
Please be sure to indicate if you can car pool.
See you on the 6th!
Friends –
Last fall, the Alabama government created a humanitarian crisis by enacting the most anti-immigrant law in the country — HB 56. Right now in Alabama, families are being torn apart, parents are afraid to let their children play outside, and the state’s economy is eroding.
Chris Weitz, an Oscar-nominated Hollywood director, created a series of short videos showing what’s happening in Alabama. Please take a look.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 7, 2012
The passage of Question 1 is a loss for everyone in Springfield. In a community that values diversity and the contributions of all its members, it has been clear from the beginning that Question 1 was an appeal to fear by an avowed nativist activist group. As Springfield works to grapple with the problems of this unenforceable, unfunded mandate, it is inevitable that the constitutionality of Question 1 will be tested. The taxpayers will ultimately end up footing the bill for the Minutemen’s extreme anti-immigrant agenda.
The fact that the final vote was so close is a testament to the stellar efforts and hard work of the community opposed to this effort at division. By coming within just a few hundred votes, the local coalition surpassed the expectations of many, and created an organization that will move forward in an effort to make Springfield a more welcoming and respectful place for all its residents.
Should immigrants have the same right to drive as everyone else? If anti-immigrant legislators get their way, they won’t. House Bill 1186 would force the state to only offer driver exams in English without an interpreter, undermining years of precedent of offering the exam in a dozen languages. By denying non-English speakers the ability to take the test in a language they understand, the state would remove thousands of Missourians’ only transportation to work and school. It also endangers public safety by creating a situation in which people may drive anyway, without ever being tested on traffic laws or being able to by auto insurance.
CLICK HERE to tell your represenative to VOTE NO on legislation that discriminates against non-English speakers.
Missouri’s immigrant community defeated this bill last year, and it’s time to do it again.
Your representative will vote on this bill this week! Tell him or here to stop the anti-immigrant attacks! CLICK HERE to tell them to Vote NO on HB 1186.
On Tuesday, March 6th, MIRA will be at the State Capitol Building in Jefferson City to advocate for the rights of immigrants and refugees across the state. There will be opportunities for you to speak with your law makers about specific legislation such as SB590 and other anti-immigrant bills, and to show your support for your communities across Missouri.
Click here to register for this day-long event.
Please be sure to indicate if you can car pool.
Thanks and hope to see you there!
