Yesterday, many of North Carolina's working families breathed a huge sigh of relief. The North Carolina House Select Committee on the State's Role in Immigration Policy (HSC) published its report with recommendations for the 2013 legislative session. According to the report, they have decided not to propose as a committee any anti-immigrant legislation for 2013.

Instead, the recommendations proposed:

• Called for the federal government to take a more active role in solving the undocumented immigration issue
• Recommended that the North Carolina General Assembly review past proposed legislation and solicit input form interested stakeholders
• Called on North Carolina legislators pass resolutions encouraging our congressional delegates to take a leadership role in introducing legislation that would revise our immigration laws.
• Solicit more input from "entities with economic interests in the issue" (agriculture, agribusiness, construction, hospitality, information technology)
• A renewed focus on economic development potential and opportunities to increase North Carolina's regional competitiveness through pragmatic approaches to immigration in this State

But, they also left the door open for individual legislators. During the reading of the report, it was stated that it is now up to individual legislators to propose legislation in 2013.

According to an article that came out this morning on the conservative John Locke Foundation's "flagship media program" the Carolina Journal:

Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow. . . said he hopes that the General Assembly will revisit a couple of bills he’s supported in the past. Those include one that would prohibit North Carolina police or other government officials from accepting the matricula consular card for identification purposes. Mexican consulates generally issue such cards for Mexican nationals living in the United States.

Another bill Cleveland hopes would gain traction next year is one requiring contractors and subcontractors with municipalities to use the federal E-Verify system when hiring employees.

For millions of homeowners across the country, and thousands of housing counselors trying to help them, there is a "holy grail," an almost mythical solution that everyone is searching for and almost no one ever finds.  It's called "principal reduction" and it cures underwater home-ownership, arrearages and makes modifications a snap. 

The Sanchez family, however, has done what others have only dreamed about: drank the sweet elixir of modification from the mythical chalice of principal reduction.  Action NC members, community activists and church friends gathered Thursday, December 6th to celebrate the Sanchez's victory over Bank of America, and their ability to stay in their home.  There's a light at the end of the tunnel.  Here's a little of how it happened...

We had a HUGE victory today! Isaide Serrano -a mother of 6- was granted Cancellation of Removal in immigration court today! This means that she will be getting a green card and will be able to stay with her children in the USA.

Several months ago, Action NC and the Latin American Coalition decided to join forces and created a new project in Charlotte called Familias Unidas. The purpose of the group was to empower immigrants to take up the fight to stop the separation of families caused by misguided programs like 287(g) and Secure Communities.

We came to know Isaide when she attended the 3rd meeting. Since then, as a member of Familias Unidas, she has been a vocal advocate for keeping families together. Isaide has been featured in several articles and has been on several radio shows talking about the need to stop the separation of families in our community.

This morning she went in for her final immigration court hearing, where she was told that she would be allowed to stay in the country and will be receiving a green card in the next few months.

But, the more astounding news is that she gave birth to a healthy 12 pound baby at 5am this morning and still made it to court by 10am. This is an example of a strong woman who wanted to see this process through to the very end. The judge already wanted to allow her to stay in the country. We believe that Isaide taking her responsibility this seriously really put her case over the top.

CONGRATULATIONS ISAIDE SERRANO! We at Action NC love you and are happy that your hard work paid off!

Now, let us work together to fix this broken immigration system and help more families stay together! FAMILIAS UNIDAS JAMAS SERAN VENCIDAS!

When you think of “grass roots” activism, corporate CEO’s don’t usually come to mind, do they?

There’s a good reason for that.

A group of Fortune 500 CEOS, each of whom has massive retirement assets averaging more than $9.1 million, is leading a campaign to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as a way of responding to the federal deficit. In a new report, the Institute for Policy Studies outlines how these CEOs have bloated their personal golden parachutes with millions of dollars while underfunding their employees’ retirement plans – all while taking aim at programs that benefit the sick and elderly.

Operating under the name “Fix the Debt,” this group of more than 90 CEOs is pushing an austerity agenda aimed at middle class programs while shielding millionaires, billionaires and big corporations from necessary tax increases. Of the more than 90 CEOs involved in Fix the Debt, 41 lead companies with pension programs, but only two of those plans are fully funded, IPS said.

For a man who is generally known for his deliberate and restrained speech, it was surprising (and quite frankly frightening) to hear Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speak of the “a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases”  in testimony to Congress back in February. Of course, it now quite possibly the most famous two words he has ever uttered.

I bet he is regretting those words right about now.

Many commentators have pointed out that a cliff is not the most accurate analogy to this particular situation, with many in favor of “fiscal slope” or “fiscal hill”. I prefer to call it the “Giant Money Knoll of Death”, but maybe that’s just me. Whatever you call the combination of fiscal mismanagement and political intransigence, it looks pretty bad. And that, my friends is no accident. The folks on the far right seized upon the “fiscal cliff” comment as soon as it was made, and haven’t let it go since. It seems calling this problem “reasonable difference in fiscal policy between two rational actors” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.