I want to call your attention to the importance of a concerted
media strategy in order to counter the pernicious effects of H.R 3012/
S. 1857 for ROW

THE MESSAGE

Our message has to target at least the following three fundamental
elements in the IV strategy to push H.R 3012 / S. 1857 past the US
Congress without due debate and scrutiny.

1) Proponents and supporters of H.R 3012 / S. 1857 are betting on a
lack of scrutiny by the media and the American public of the true scope
and potential negative impact that these bills will have on the ROW
applicants. We must demand a full debate of all the implications and a
sensible approach to handle current applicant cases that would be
negatively impacted by the passage of these bills.

2) H.R 3012/ S. 1857 are being sold as ”Minor Admistrative Fixes” ,
when in reality they are a MAJOR IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL. Our mission is
to call attention to the fundamental changes they introduce to the
immigration system, without offering adequate relief and proper
handling procedures of the existing applications.

3) Proponents of H.R 3012 / S. 1857 have hijacked the
representation of the Skilled-Immigrant community, when in fact they
only represent a portion of it. We must demand that these bills are
amended as necessary taking into consideration the opinion and interests
of other groups not affiliated with IV and their lobbyist muscle.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

At this point if you are a ROW applicant you should have sent
letters, faxes, email and made a few calls to your representatives. If
not, your time to act is now as the window of opportunity is very
narrow. Use the multiple resources and model letters that are been
offered by the ROW community. Join the advocacy ROW groups and spread
the word among you friends, relatives, co-workers, etc.

Our next step is to call attention from media outlets. Following some tips, that you might want to consider:

• Please take the time to comment on blogs on any immigration and
labor topics/posts …even if off-topic is always a good idea to let the
public know that something fishy is going on with the immigration laws
and that interest groups are working to sneak fundamental changes
without due scrutiny.

• Email journalists that have covered H.R 3012 / S. 1857 news to
clarify concepts and present your version of the situation and how it
affects ROW applicants.

• Email non traditional investigative reporting outlets, such as
Huffington Post, Daily show, etc. Anyone who can bring a different view
on the issues and sensitize public opinion about ROWs pledge.

• Make abundant use in IN ALL your posts and comments of SPECIFIC
KEYWORDS related to your strong and clearly identifiable opposition
to H.R 3012/ S. 1857 e.g. ”oppose HR 3012/ S1857 Bills”, ”Senators
Opposing HR 3012/ S1857” , ”Negative Impact of HR 3012/ S1857 on US
economy”, ”Immigration Fraud Rewarded”, etc. this way there is an
increased chance of search engines picking up the comment and broader
scrutiny.

• Media loves drama. Frame the discussion as a looming immigration
crisis caused by unilateral amendments introduced by one immigrant
group in detriment of another.

• Now is the time to make some sensible use of your Facebook
account. Share links and short snippets describing your pledge and the
reality behind these bills. Again the idea, is to create awareness and
increase the likelihood of our side of the story being pick up by
mainstream media.

• Offer letters and contributions to the existing ROW community
blogs. Very important that these blogs are frequently updated with new
stories, so as to keep them coming out in search engine results.

• We need to define a fix set of twitter hashtags, such as
#oppose3012, etc. and make consistent use of it in all communications.

* Include punchlines in your posts and communications, for example:

H.R 3012/ S. 1857 are not ”minor technical fixes”, they are MAJOR IMMIGRATION

OVERHAUL.

IV is NOT the voice of Skilled Immigrants. It is the voice of” body
shops”’ and shaddy consultancies that have abused the immigration
system for the last decade.

H.R 3012/ S. 1857 ”Fairness” is a FRAUD. It’s bad for
competitiveness, for a considerable portion lawful applicants and for
the US economy.

Demand media scrutiny and open debate of H.R 3012/ S. 1857

Some more tips after the pause