Indo-Caribbean group lobbies President Obama on Relief Programmes

TIMES INT'L
Rishi Singh and other activists from the South Asian Organizing Center and United We Dream Coalition in a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Rishi Singh and other activists from the South Asian Organizing Center and United We Dream Coalition in a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

On February 4, 2015, DRUM – South Asian Organizing Center organizer Rishi Singh and other activists from the United We Dream coalition met with President Obama to affirm the importance of relief programmes such as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents), their implementation, and also to push for relief for those who are currently excluded from the President’s Executive Action.

The programmes provide temporary relief from deportation (deferred action) and work authorization to unauthorized parents of U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), or to certain young people brought to the United States as children (DACA). The programmes benefit nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants.

DRUM, which organizes low-income South Asian and Indo-Caribbean immigrants, workers, and youth, was the lead organization in New York State for the campaign for Administrative Relief. DRUM began to organize for Administrative Relief in late 2013, and publicly launched the campaign in April of 2014, which included actions targeting the President and DHS locally and nationally.

Rishi Singh, originally from Trinidad, has been an organizer with DRUM for 12 years, where he has led DRUM’s campaign for Administrative Relief for undocumented immigrants over the last year and a half. In his meeting with President Obama, he told the President that “over 6 million undocumented immigrants are excluded from the program, including those from LGBTQ communities, and those with prior criminal records.”

Rishi said that this meeting with the President is part of a broader struggle, “This is a testament to the power of organizing and our ability to win real change that will benefit the lives of our community.”

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