Herta’s extension granted until November 9th!!! Ice got 9 plus inches of faxes! But that is not enough. We must get Herta deferred action. We have time, stay tuned for next steps.

UPDATED WITH ACTIONS TO TAKE

Actions:

In order of priority:

1. Give DHS and ICE 5,000 faxes as a birthday present on behalf of Herta who will be turning 20 this Friday:  www.seiu.org/herta Sent a fax already?  Good, now get 5 friends to do the same thing. **DO THIS ASAP and do it often**

After you have sent a fax and contacted 5 friends to send a fax do this:

1. Call Janet Napolitano, Director of Department of Homeland Security, and leave comments of support for Herta and also ask that DHS stop her deportation:  202-282-8495 **note this is an answering machine, once it is full it is out of commission for day.  Fill it up now with Herta calls.
2. Call Assistant Secretary to ICE, John Morton and leave a message urging him to take action and defer Herta’s deportation: 202.732.3000 **Note this is a live comment line, i.e. a human being will pick up and take your message.** Be very polite “I am calling to leave a message of support for Herta Llusho who is being deported tomorrow, <insert talking point>.  I ask that Director Morton contact the Michigan field Director and defer Herta’s deportation, she is an asset to this country.”
3. Call LaSal Austin, director of the local DHS in Michigan, at 313-259-8562. Urge him to take legislators’ (Senator Carl Levin and congresswoman Kilpatrick) leads and take immediate action to defer the deportation of Herta Llusho.
4. Join the facebook group for immediate updates: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111108019510
5. Sign petition which will be hand-delivered to targets: http://www.change.org/actions/view/stop_deportation_of_dream_student_herta_llusho
6. Use SEIU Click to Call Action Tool to call DHS:  http://call.seiu.org/9/hertadhs

For the next calls you need to be very specific about your ask, these members have already voiced their support however now we need them to directly call assistant secretary to ICE John Morton and ask that he defer deportation.  If the members call it will make an impact, much more than if their staff or if they call.

So the ASK:   “Hi, I know that the member is in support of Herta Llusho’s struggle to stop her deportation, I am now calling to ask that the member DIRECTLY call the assistant secretary to ICE, John Morton, to ask that he stop Herta’s deportation.  I know that his staff may have called someone at ICE but I am asking that the member themselves call John Morton’s office directly.  Thanks.”

1. Call Senator Carl Levin at both his DC office - (202) 224-6221 – and his Detroit office - (313) 226-6020.
2. Call Senator Stabenow at both her DC office – (202) 224-4822 – and her Detroit office – (313) 961-4330.  **Stabenow herself will be in detroit office today, hit em up!
   
3. Call Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick at both her DC office – (202) 225-2261 - and her Detroit office - (313) 965-9004.

Call in Script:

I am calling on behalf of Herta Llusho (A#96-139-441), an undocumented student who is facing deportation back to Albania on August 19th.  Herta has lived in Detroit since she was 11, she went to Pierce Middle School and Grosse Pointe South High School.  Herta excelled in everything during high school, graduating with a 4.05 gpa and she has continued to excel after high school.  She has been very active in our community volunteering at homeless shelters, summer day camps, and tutoring programs, in addition to a lot of other things with her church.

Talking points to use (don’t need to use all, pick and choose):

• I’m writing to ask Michigan ICE Field Officer, Vincent Clausen to defer action on Herta Llusho’s deportation and review her case.

• Herta’s case number is A-96-139-441.

• Herta is scheduled to be deported to Albania on August 19th.

• Herta submitted a deferred action in February 2009 and it has yet to be adjudicated.

• Herta’s parents brought her to the U.S. at the age of eleven with a dream of giving her a better life.

• They worked hard to provide for Herta and raised her to believe in the American Dream. She graduated from high school with a 4.05 GPA and is a high achieving freshman at the University of Detroit Mercy school of electrical engineering.

• Herta’s story illustrates the need for Congress passing the DREAM Act. This bill would provide kids, like Herta, with a way to stay in the greatest country on earth. And Herta is exactly the kind of person the DREAM Act is intended to help.

• Kids like Herta were brought here at an age where they had no say in the matter.

• They have overcome language barriers and, in many cases poverty, to succeed.

• They include valedictorians, class presidents and other honor students. These
excellent role models should be given the chance to succeed.

• As President Obama has said in support of the DREAM Act, “these students are now children of the United States.” Herta is the kind of person that the DREAM Act is intended to help.

• Defer Herta’s deportation until Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

• Sen. Levin and Congresswoman Kilpatrick have already written a letter to Assistant Secretary, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John T. Morton requesting prosecutorial discretion in Herta’s case.

On July 1st DHS deferred Walter Lara‘s deportation, on July 24th DHS deferred Taha‘s deportation and now, on August 19th, Herta is set to be deported to Albania.   Herta has lived in Michigan for most of her teen years, this is the country that she calls home and has done everything in to make sure she succeeds, lets do our part to make sure her dream (and ours) becomes a reality!

If we are going to stop this we need everyone’s support, read Herta’s story and then call each of the targets and demand that they do something about her deportation.  Then forward this on to your family and friends to do the same.

My name is Herta Llusho, I am 19 years old, and I writing this because I am about to be deported.  I was born in Albania and was brought to the United States when I was 11 years old.   With the help and support of my family, I have struggled through more than seven years of legal proceedings to find a way to stay in this country legally.  Despite our best efforts, on August 19, I will be removed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the only place I know as my home.  I will be sent back to a country that has become a foreign place to me.  I don’t even speak Albanian well anymore.  My only hope of staying here is for as many people as possible to ask DHS to delay my deportation until the DREAM Act is passed.

My parents brought me to the United States because they believed in the promises this country had to offer. To them it was the land of opportunities, values, and ideals. They were faithful believers of the American Dream, meaning that through hard work, education, and good character their children could accomplish anything they wanted. In fact, they believed in it so strongly that they sacrificed their own lives, as well as their relationship to make it happen. My dad stayed in Albania with the hope of relocating to the US, while my mom left everything behind in pursuit of a better life for her children. To this day, even after many years of struggle and sacrifice, they still believe that it is all worth it, and so do I. I have been truly blessed in the many opportunities I have received. The United States has made me the person I am today. I would like nothing more than to contribute to the country that has given me so much.

When my parents first brought me to the United State, I attended Pierce Middle School, just outside of Detroit, MI. I couldn’t speak English, at first, but within a year I was able to learn it due to the extremely supportive and patient teachers and friends I made. Some of the friends I made in middle school are still some of my closest friends today. After I finished middle school, I attended Grosse Pointe South High School. Throughout my high school years, I was a 4.05 GPA student and was committed to a lot of extracurricular activities such as the Looking Glass which was a magazine publication of short stories and poems, the Spanish club, and National Honor Society.  I ran cross country, track and played a little bit of soccer. Also through my church and other organizations, I volunteered at homeless shelters, summer day camps, and tutoring programs. Last year, I was accepted into the school of electrical engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM), where I was still able to maintain my GPA. I chose to become an electrical engineer because I really enjoy math and science and I have a lot of family members that are engineers.

I might not be able to continue my studies at UDM though because I have been ordered to leave the USA. I have been to many immigration lawyers, all of whom tell me that I have run out of options. My brother scoured the Internet to look for something, anything, to help me stay in the U.S. My brother came across a story on dreamactivist.org announcing that Taha’s deportation was just averted.  DHS just gave Taha and his mother a stay of deportation until Taha graduates from college.

I would like nothing better than for DHS to do the same for my family. That is why my brother contacted dreamactivist.org for help, and that is why you are reading my story, today.

I know I am not the only one that is struggling with this broken immigration system.  Going from lawyer to lawyer has taught me how inhuman this bureaucracy has become.  If you don’t fit within a certain box it’s as if you don’t matter.  I know there are thousands of others like me, or in worse situations than I am in.

Still, like my parents, I continue to believe in the promises of this country; even if those promises don’t come easy. We have to continually struggle to renew those promises so that they apply to everyone.  That promise should apply to a boy, like Taha, who against all odds is brought over from Bangladesh and is able to graduate and get accepted into college, as much as they should apply to a girl like me.

That is why I am asking you to contact the Department of Homeland Security to ask them to delay my deportation until I finish college, or until the DREAM Act is passed.  Help renew the promise of the American Dream for me, so that together we can work renew the promise of the American Dream for everyone.