Let's go!! Let the Times know

[chinadave2001]

Hi all,

Two things. First I have sent my letter to the NYT.

Next, what if we adopt a "media target of the weeK?"

This week the NYT. Next week, USA Today. The next week, CNN. Maybe somebody will bite!

Dave

[Ana]

good idea! let us know who you are contacting, when, and what addresses you used, and maybe others will follow suit.

[Ana]

just sent my email to nytimes.

sent another one to the president.

[AZwolfman]

The Wolfman has locked himself in his room and is writing a letter to the NY Times. . .

I know I promised to post this letter when finished, but the more I got into writing it, the more individual it sounded and the more I began to think that each of us should write a unique letter. Mr. Broder can write article(s) using excerpts from each of our letters. If we sent him a few form letters, he would have less material from which to draw for writing his story in the Times.

 

There are several of us who are writing their own stories, and I know many were hoping to use parts of our letters, but I think that this time it might be more effective to write your own letters.

 

I will, however, post a summary when my letter is finished, so those of you who are unsure how to start can get an idea. Basically you just want to tell your story. You are frustrated, you have been lied to, you have been delayed, you have been given false hope, you feel helpless, you are angry - whatever you are feeling, just write it down along with the facts of your own situation. Once you type your first sentence, the rest will flow. Remember, it does not have to be perfect either is spelling, syntax, or grammer. That is Mr. Broder's job.

 

. . . well, it's back to my room now to finish my letter. . . as you might guess, I am having trouble cutting it down to a page.

[Guest woaipw]

Well finally they take notice. I began campaigning them last fall and never received even an auto-reply.

[rfsun]

I will be sending them a letter today as well. I had no luck with Senator Feinstein, CA.

[chinadave2001]

Here is the letter that I sent....

 

Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to your recent articles regarding the INS. As you well know, this agency has been rocked recently by scandals of bribery and use of falsified documents in Mexico as well as the shredding of petitions in California.

But there is much greater human drama being played out. Thousands of potential legal immigrants to this country are being delayed needlessly while the INS, the Department of State and the FBI/CIA get their act together and determine how to do background checks on all six million potential visas.

People from all walks of life are being punished by this process. Students are still waiting to return to schools in the US. International Businesses are losing contracts because their overseas partners cannot come to the US in a timely fashion. European and other companies are all to eager to pick up the slack.

Additionally, families are being kept apart by this process for unreasonable periods of time. The INS web pages suggest that the additional security procedures may add up to 6-8 weeks of time. If only that were true. In China and in Russia, some fiance and spousal visas have taken over 18 months to process. That is wrong. There is a backlog in these two countries of thousands of cases. Some estimate that there may be as many as 10,000 waiting for their loved ones from China to gain permission to enter the United States. This backlog has been further complicated by the need to do a security clearance on adopted babies. Even those not caught up in the backlog can expect to wait up to a year.

While it is clear that the INS needs to be more thorough than in earlier times, these delays seem unnecessary and unfair. Of course we don't have to mention that none of the 9-11 terrorists came from China or Russia, nor is there a history of either country being associated with such activities. It is the opinion of this writer that six months ought to be enough for them to determine if my 26 year old fiance from China is a terrorist or not.

We have corresponded with INS at all levels. Many are sympathetic, but argue that the problem is not theirs but at the DOS and the folks who are doing the security checks. They continuously ask for two more weeks. Meanwhile, thousands of students, businesses and families remain at the mercy of this incredible bureaucracy.

 

Respectfully,

David XXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

[AZwolfman]

Next, what if we adopt a "media target of the weeK?"

This week the NYT. Next week, USA Today. The next week, CNN. Maybe somebody will bite!

Dave

Good idea, Target of the Week! Now we are becoming more than a discussion group; we are an organization, a movement, perhaps even a lobbyist group?

 

Here is the letter I sent to the Times