From the start, members of Peaceful Tomorrows have shared their voices on issues affecting immigrants as a result of 9/11, rejecting the stereotyping and scapegoating that sometimes accompanied otherwise positive and meaningful reform efforts.
In 2004, we lobbied in favor of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act which would allow certain non-citizen students permanent residency and access to education and employment opportunities, even though their parents might be undocumented or in immigration “limbo,” and joined calls to stop H.R. 10, which added anti-immigrant legislation to the “9/11 Commission Recommendations Implementation Act.”
When many of those same anti-immigrant provisions returned in the form of H.R. 418, the “REAL ID” Act, Peaceful Tomorrows issued a press release stating our opposition to the bill, and our statement was circulated as a “Dear Colleague” letter in Congress.
In 2005, Peaceful Tomorrows wrote a letter to Congress expressing our concerns about, and supporting reforms to, the Patriot Act. We joined the coalition, “Patriots for Checks and Balances,” in a press conference highlighting the erosion of personal freedoms and civil liberties under the Patriot Act and calling for sensible and effective reforms. Members of Peaceful Tomorrows also appeared in the ACLU video, “Blank Check, No Balance,” which called attention to the Act’s more egregious features.
Also in 2005, Peaceful Tomorrows joined the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Arab American Institute (AAI) and more than 100 other organizations in successfully advocating for the removal of racist images from the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License Billboard campaign.
Most recently, members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows have expressed their support for the creation of an Islamic Cultural Center in Lower Manhattan, referred to as the “Ground Zero Mosque.” Here are some of their stories.
