Cathi Tactaquin and Yosimar Reyes: Undocujoy, Immigration and Undocumented Migration

CATHI TACTAQUIN IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-founder of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights(NNIRR). Since 1986, NNIRR — an alliance of diverse community-based groups, coalitions, labor, faith and other sectors — has worked tirelessly to defend and expand the rights of immigrants and refugees, regardless of IMMIGRATIONAL STATUS.Before joining NNIRR, TACTAQUIN WAS INVOLVED FOR MANY YEARS IN GRASSROOTS ORGANZING AND ADVOCACY IN THE FILIPINO COMMUNITY ON ISSUES OF DISCRIMINATION AND FOREIGN POLICY. She helped found Filipino Civil Rights Advocates, the first national Filipino civil rights organization. In 1994, she helped form the Geneva-based Migrant Rights International(MRI), an international alliance of migrant associations and human rights advocacy groups. Currently a  member of MRI's Steering Committee, she also sits the Board of Directors of the Poverty, Race and Research Action Council in Washington, DC, and the Advisory Board of the Alston-Bannerman Fellowship Program, an annual award recognizing outstanding activists of color. TACTAQUIN FREQUENTLY WRITES AND SPEAKS ON THE ISSUE OF IMMIGRATION AND MIGRATION IN THE GLOBAL ERA, including the issues of borders, the internationalization of labor, and UNDOCUMENTED MIGRATION. She works closely with environmental organizations and has helped to expose the “greening of hate” - the movement of conservative population and environmental forces against IMMIGRATION. Most recently, she has been writing and speaking on the immigrant rights agenda within the context of the racial politics and the presidency of Barack Obama.