Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka recently honored Monika Tietz, a member of the Polish Initiative of Chicago, with an award for being a “woman of distinction.”
Topinka selected Tietz and three other women from Illinois for the honor. Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon and Attorney General Lisa Madigan also picked four women apiece, recognizing their professional and community accomplishments, during a Women’s History Month celebration at the James R. Thompson Center. Read the rest of this entry »
The Family Support Hotline has helped over 1800 families in its first month of operation… This is your chance to be a part of something that provides the necessary information, support, and referral to families in need: Join our team of 67 volunteers! Help Families that currently face a deportation crisis! 1100 families are ripped apart every day. You can help them.
Janina Wasilewski, who was deported in May 2007, received a warm welcome at O’Hare airport Monday afternoon from her husband Tony and dozens of other friends and supporters. Janina left behind her husband, her house, her family business, and her friends after living in Chicago’s Polish community for 18 years. The family’s story was documented in the film Tony and Janina’s American Wedding by Chicago-area filmmaker Ruth Leitman, which premiered last fall. 
After four long years, Tony Wasilewski will be reunited with his wife Janina and their son Brian on U.S. soil. In June 2007, Janina was forced to leave the United States for Poland after receiving a final deportation order. Her departure outraged and saddened Tony’s family and friends, as well as the Chicago-area Polish community. However, Tony himself endured the greatest hardship, as he had built his life around Janina and Brian. Knowing he couldn’t live without them, he decided to do everything possible to reunite his family in the U.S.
Polish Initiative of Chicago held a Candidates’ Forum to allow voters the opportunity to meet the candidates vying to fill the State Senate seat previously held by retiring State Senator James DeLeo. Both candidates, John Mulroe and Brian Doherty, were invited. However, Mr. Brian Doherty refused the invitation. 
Polish Initiative of Chicago is proud to announce the world premiere of the movie Tony & Janina’s American Wedding. It is a feature-length documentary, directed by Ruth Leitman, that gets to the heart of the broken, red tape-ridden U.S. immigration system. Tony and Janina Wasilewski, who came to U.S. from Poland in the late 80’s, were model immigrants: hard-working, law-abiding, and beaming with patriotism for the U.S. In 2007, after 18 years in America, Tony and Janina Wasilewski’s family was torn apart when Janina was deported back to Poland, taking their six-year-old son Brian with her. Set against the backdrop of the Chicago political scene, and featuring Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez at the heart of the immigration reform movement, this film follows the Wasilewskis’ three-year struggle to be reunited as their Senator, Barack Obama, rises to the Presidency. 
On September 26th, 2010 in St. Ferdinand church we had our first presentation “Know Your Rights”. The goal of this presentation was to inform more people about laws that are guaranteed for every person living in the United States regardless of their legal status. Members of the Polish Initiative, through demonstrating various real-life scenarios to nearly a hundred people, explained the rights that every person has and when to exercise these rights. At the beginning of the presentation, there was a simulation of a real life immigration police raid at home, where people learned that the first right they have is to remain silent. 
When families make the decision to immigrate to the United States, they do it to secure a brighter future for their children, often bringing their young kids along. Many children born to immigrant parents are highly motivated and work hard at school to achieve their American Dream. However kids that were brought by their parents to the United States and happen to be undocumented cannot apply for college loans which more often than not stops them from pursuing higher education. What is even more outrageous is that those who decide to go into military to fight for our country -the country where they grew up and which they love – do not have a guaranteed path to citizenship although they risk their lives to protect it.
Leaders of Polish Initiative where among almost 20,000 demonstrators who gathered for the annual May Day March rally on May 1st. We marched from Union Park to Daley Plaza for a rally that started at 4 p.m.
“I didn’t have the pleasure of traveling by bus or van like the rest of the crew. I flew into the town of Sterling, Virginia on Friday night. On Saturday morning I was in downtown Washington. Because I wanted to get acquainted with the legislative process, I started my trip at the Capitol, where I was shown around. I also had the pleasure of witnessing a vote in the House of Representatives. All day Saturday I was following the path that we would be marching on the next day.
