As Congress reconvenes today for the lame-duck session, a broad coalition of immigrant community and faith groups and elected officials announced the launch of the New York Immigration Coalition's (NYIC) "With the Stroke of a Pen" campaign. The campaign will send thousands of letters, along with pens, to the White House so the President can take executive action – with the stroke of a pen – to move our nation toward a fairer and smarter immigration system.

At the same time, groups are calling on Senator Reid to deliver on his campaign promise to pass the DREAM Act during the lame duck session. In September, when the DREAM Act came up for a vote and just missed, some 335,000 calls flooded Senate offices to urge passage – which represents significant, broad-based support for the measure. The lame duck session provides a critical window of opportunity to see DREAM become law.

Under the Obama administration, deportations have reached an all time high, surpassing the records set by the Bush administration: nearly 400,000 people thus far this year, and the continued expansion of enlisting local law enforcement officers as immigration agents. Despite the claims of the Department of Homeland Security, these broad-based enforcement tactics are as likely to target hardworking immigrants as those who pose a threat to public safety. A recent review of one such program, Secure Communities, found that 79 percent of those deported under the program either had no criminal record or only low-level offenses such as traffic violations.

The NYIC's Pen campaign builds upon a campaign organized by civil rights leaders in 1962 to pressure President Kennedy to deliver on his promise to end housing discrimination. Then, civil rights leaders organized the "Ink for Jack" campaign and flooded the White House with pens, leading the President to sign the anti-discrimination policy. Today, sponsors of the "With the Stroke of a Pen" campaign urge President Obama to take urgent administrative action to justly fix our broken immigration system.

"The looming change in the Congress should not stop President Obama from enacting critical reforms to our immigration system," said Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-District 8). "After years of failed attempts at passing comprehensive immigration reform, we need executive action immediately to place a moratorium on deportations and to end the enforcement of our broken immigration laws by local police departments. President Obama has a real opportunity to remind Latinos and immigrants why we came out to vote for him in record numbers in 2008 by taking these common sense steps on immigration enforcement."

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez (D-District 10) stated, "It is time to put a stop to the unjust deportations that are hurting our economy, our communities, and families. Every deported person leaves behind a broken family. New York State needs to be a champion in fighting for immigration reform and an end to deportations, and a leader in opposing such programs as Secure Communities."

S.J Jung, MinKwon Center for Community Action's board president, said, "The President and Congress should not miss out on the opportunity in this lame-duck session to pass the DREAM Act as one step towards just immigration reform. The future of thousands of students eager to contribute to the United States rests on the decision made by Congress. We are sending pens to the White Hose to make it clear to President Obama that our communities that are being unfairly targeted can no longer wait."

Immigrant and faith groups in upstate New York are also pressing for reform. Lory Ghertner of Migrant Support Services of Wayne County said, "The town of Sodus, N.Y. with population 3,000 is sending 1,000 pens to the White House. Our communities are being unjustly deported, families are being torn apart, and we are living in a climate of fear. President Obama must address our concerns now."

"We heard President Obama make several promises to address comprehensive immigration reform during his first year in office, but two years on, Congress is at a standstill, paralyzed by partisan politics," said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "We cannot continue down this same path. The President could provide some serious solutions to our immigration crisis through executive actions. All it takes is a stroke of a pen."