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Immigration, Lights For Liberty

Benicia Lights for Liberty – Friday, July 12, 7pm, City Park Gazebo

Benicia Lights for Liberty – Friday, July 12, 7pm, City Park Gazebo

Lights for Liberty poster – download and distribute!

Lights for Liberty events will take place in Benicia and around the world on the evening of Friday, July 12.

Progressive Democrats of Benicia is a co-sponsor the event.  Please come THIS Friday evening!

Lights for Liberty is a vigil to end human detention camps.  We will gather at the Gazebo in Benicia City Park (First & Military Streets), at 7pm on Friday, July 12: facebook.com/events/350536272520879

What to Expect:

  • Gather with others who care deeply about conditions at our southern border
  • Hear from nearby organizations that are working with immigrant families; be moved by the stories and efforts being made to welcome young and old who seek freedom and safety in the U.S.
  • Learn what you can do to help
  • View a display of Nikki Basch-Davis’ art, “My Voice” – faces of the human tragedy at our southern border
  • Opportunity to sign a Benicia Lights for Liberty petition
  • Take part in a closing silent candlelight vigil – taking our lights into all the world

What to Bring:

  • Your energy, commitment, hope, solidarity…
  • Your cell phone, flashlight or LED candle (LED candles will be available for the first 120 participants.  Lit candles not allowed.)
  • A folding chair
  • Signs of support for immigrants and asylum seekers

More Information:

Immigration, Lights For Liberty

Lights for Liberty – Benicia joins over 340 cities with candlelight vigil on July 12 to End Human Detention Camps

Candlelight Vigil, Friday, July 12, 7-9pm, City Park

Lights for Liberty poster – download and distribute!

Lights for Liberty – Benicia (L4L Benicia) and co-sponsor Progressive Democrats of Benicia invite the public to a Candlelight Vigil from 7-9 PM on Friday July 12th, 2019 at the Benicia City Park Gazebo on 1st Street, as part of a nationwide mobilization against the Trump administration’s human detention camps.

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/350536272520879/.

On Friday July 12th, 2019, L4L Benicia will join Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps, which will bring thousands of Americans to detention camps across the country, into the streets and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by refugees.

As of today, Lights for Liberty vigils are scheduled in over 340 locations around the United States and the world, with new locations being added daily.

Beginning at 7 p.m. on July 12th, advocates, activists and impacted persons will speak on the issue of human detention camps in the United States. At 9 p.m., around the country and around the world, participants will light candles in a silent vigil for all those held in US detention camps to bring light to the darkness of the Trump administration’s horrific policies.

“We shine a light on the inhumane treatment of migrants and refugees by the current administration. To be silent is to be complicit. To sit this out is to be complacent. Now is a time to stand for what is best in all of us, to stop the worst of us. We must stand for one another. At New Sanctuary Coalition, we hold in our hearts a vision of a world worth fighting for,” said Ravi Ragbir, Executive Director of New Sanctuary Coalition.

“People of color are targets of this administration’s deliberately cruel immigration enforcement policies,” said Nicole Lee, co-founder of the Black Movement Law Project. “We stand vigil with Lights for Liberty and in solidarity with all those in detention camps, and against this administration’s profound racism and xenophobia.”

“I’ve been inside these camps, and the conditions are beyond description. Twenty-four adults and six children that we know of have already died as a result,” said Toby Gialluca, lawyer, activist and member of the organizing team of Lights for Liberty. “The world must take a stand against this administration and stop these camps before more lives are lost.”

About Lights for Liberty: Lights for Liberty is a loose coalition of grassroots activists, with support from long-standing immigrants’ rights organizations and other organizers. Five main events will be held on July 12th in El Paso, San Diego, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Homestead/Miami, FL. More information can be found at http://www.lightsforliberty.org.

For more information, press only
L4L Benicia
Sherry Vinson
L4LBenicia at gmail.com

Progressive Democrats of Benicia
Roger Straw – L4L Lead
rogrmail at gmail.com
Ralph Dennis, Chair
redennis5156 at att.net

Impeach Trump

PDB survey results – Call for Impeachment Inquiry – adopted by Solano County Dems

June 27, 2019

The Steering Committee of the Progressive Democrats of Benicia voted unanimously to bring a Resolution (see below) to members to call for an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump.  At its June 11 meeting, the PDB Membership voted in favor of the resolution, 72% for and 28% against.

Resolution endorsed by the Solano County Democratic Central Committee

PDB brought the resolution to the June 26 meeting of the Solano Democratic Central Committee (SDCC).  The SDCC endorsed the impeachment inquiry resolution on a voice vote with a few objections.  Changes were made in the resolution to include John Garamendi and Nancy Pelosi in addition to Mike Thompson and Senators Harris and Feinstein.

A RESOLUTION OF THE PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS OF BENICIA CALLING FOR AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP AND AUTHORIZING THE CHAIR TO BRING THE RESOLUTION TO THE SOLANO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

WHEREAS, there is no doubt that Russia engaged in multiple systematic efforts to interfere in our 2016 election, in support of Donald Trump’s campaign for President of the United States.

WHEREAS, there is no doubt that Donald Trump engaged in multiple and systematic efforts to obstruct justice in opposition to Special Prosecutor Robert S. Mueller’s Russia investigation. In his address on Wednesday, May 30, 2019, Mueller said, “If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.” Volume 2 of his final report laid out explicitly at least 10 instances of provable obstruction of justice. Mueller clearly left it in the hands of Congress to take action. He clarified, “The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.”

WHEREAS, it is no longer a reasonable position to fail to take action just because we believe the Republican Senate would not convict.

WHEREAS, the case has been made that our nation came under attack, and that our President did everything he could to undercut and prevent a thorough investigation. Ethically, morally, and as a matter of upholding congressional responsibilities, the time has come to move more directly in the direction of opening a formal impeachment inquiry.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the membership of the Progressive Democrats of Benicia is formally calling for an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump and will bring this resolution to the Solano County Democratic Central Committee.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Progressive Democrats of Benicia call upon our party leadership and our elected Democrats in congress, including Rep. Mike Thompson and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, to step forward to meet the greatest threat and challenge of our time. We need to build a consensus for beginning the process of impeachment. The time has come.

For more on the difference between “impeachment inquiry” and “impeachment hearings” see…