San Juan Citizens Alliance


	SJCA strives to create social, economic, and environmental justice for all residents of the San Juan Basin. The Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, formally a program of SJCA, campaigns to promote acceptance of diverse cultures throughout the San Juan Basin and to resist and abolish anti-immigrant legislation that often targets Latinos and other ethnic minorities. Learn more about our mission, history and goals. The Catholic hierarchy--CCHD--has told us that we must choose between our coalition and their funding. We have sent a clear message to CCHD that no amount of money is worth dividing our community. Compañeros provides critical resources to all immigrants in southwest Colorado. When the Catholic hierarchy found out that One Colorado, a Denver-based organization which supports gay and transgender immigrants, joined the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition, CIRC, they threatened to rescind all funding to Compañeros simply because of our membership in the coalition. In other words, Compañeros found themselves guilty by affiliation. Our continued membership in CIRC is crucial to our efforts to fulfill our mission. We cannot be an effective immigrant advocacy organization if we are disconnected from the greater statewide organization for immigrant rights. Therefore, in response to the request from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, our Board of Directors voted to stand with all Coloradans, and to remain a member of CIRC. Compañeros stands to lose more than half of our annual operating budget. Now we need your help. Please donate today through PayPal, below (you do not have to be a PayPal member and you may use your credit card). Thank you! You can donate online at any of the following links or mail a check to 1022 1/2 Main Ave, Durango, CO 81301 http://www.companeros.info/ http://bit.ly/circdonate http://www.withcharityforall.org/home Read the New York Times article, 4/6/12, or pdf. Read more about who we are. Donate Today


	We are working in support of the Durango City Council to implement a forgotten 1998 resolution that would have created a Community Relations Commission to address issues of discrimination and to promote ways in which our community can value and safeguard equal opportunity for all. We organize with groups representing diverse community perspectives that include the Adult Education Center, the Women's Resource Center, Sexual Assault Services Organization, the Family and Senior Centers, as well as educational institutions like Fort Lewis College and the 9R School District, all in support of the commission. We believe a formal Community Relations Commission will provide a venue in which the City and commission members may officially encourage and bring about mutual understanding and respect for all persons. The formation of such a commission is a positive and preventative step towards a more friendly and inclusive community.


	Over the years, FCIRC has focused on economic empowerment and encouraged immigrant community members to establish their own businesses. Though we continue to promote this idea, the economic climate has led us to get back to the basics. We are happy to act as a point of contact between employers and employees or to connect either party with the appropriate referral for their case. We believe that Latinos and immigrants perform a necessary role in the success of our local economy and therefore should have support and access to resources, otherwise unavailable, that allow them continue working and living in the Four Corners area.

Reform of America’s immigration laws has been one of the most contentious national debates and likely to be an important factor in the 2012 election. Compañeros supports reform and worker programs that protect the rights and dignity of workers and that insist on the respect for human and civil rights. We support the strengthening of our nation and believe that reform must include educational opportunity beyond high school for foreign-born youth who have spent a significant part of their lives as "American kids".

If these students have no serious criminal record and can show academic achievement through graduation at a public high school, why should they be denied the opportunity to further their education? If these students grew up side by side with U.S. citizen children, sharing hopes and dreams of becoming a positive contributor to our economy and nation, should educational institutions charge them double, sometimes triple tuition, and should our government deny them financial aid opportunities? A comprehensive and just immigration reform bill will include not only opportunities for workers and their employers, but also for the next generation of professionals and educators.

For more information about our state proposal, Colorado ASSET (Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow) go to www.heaa.org For info about the national Dream ACT, go to www.dreamact.info

Compañeros has created several outlets for providing information to a wider public audience through partnerships with local radio and newspapers.

We have created a two-hour, weekly Radio Latina program on local station KDUR that provides a forum for disseminating news and commentary to the community. The show’s hosts are Latino immigrants. Listen online www.kdur.org.

We provide quarterly articles on political change and immigrant rights in the San Juan Citizens Alliance newsletter.


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SAN JUAN CITIZENS ALLIANCE - DEDICATED TO SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN
Durango PO Box 2461, 1022 ½ Main Ave, Durango, CO 81302 • Ph: 970-259-3583 • Fax: 970-259-8303
Cortez P.O. Box 1513, 10 West Main Street, Cortez, CO 81321 • Ph: (970) 565-7191
Farmington 108 North Behrend, Suite I, Farmington, NM 87401 • Ph: (505) 325-6724