01/30/10 Yesterday Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator from South Carolina, stood up for a comprehensive fix to our badly damaged immigration system. Graham has been crafting bipartisan legislation with Senator Schumer for some time now, and details of the bill are expected soon.
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01/29/10 Obama didn't say the three words, but words, like promises, are cheap. We're left waiting for concrete action from the White House and Congress on the immigration front—actions that would speak louder than a thousand words.
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01/29/10 For the second day, today's top story is Hispanic discontent with President Obama's cursory mention of immigration during his State of the Union address; many outlets also quote Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to the president, assuring Hispanics that Obama remains committed to immigration reform..."We're not willing to give up,"stated Jarrett. "This was true last year and it's still truer after the elections in Massachusetts."
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01/28/10 Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reiterated their commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform. After the President's low-fidelity mention of immigration reform in the State of the Union address last night, the Senators' clearly articulated commitment and bipartisan framework to get reform done was a welcome message. It will be their job, after all, to bring immigration reform to a vote in the Senate, as Representative Gutierrez outlined today.
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01/28/10 A large number of Spanish-language news outlets today ran State of the Union headlines expressing disappointment among Hispanics and immigrants over what they described as the lack of detailed discussion, or any sort of vigorous defense, of comprehensive immigration reform in President Barack Obama's address last night. BBC Mundo headlined its article: "Hispanic disappointment over Obama's speech" ("Decepción Hispana ante discurso de Obama")
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01/28/10 January has seen Catholic nuns, Methodist bishops and Islamic Shura Council directors -- to name a few -- speak out for immigration reform. That's alongside a pair of clergy summits attended by over a hundred faith leaders apiece, and the beginnings of an avalanche of postcards from people of faith that will arrive in Congressional offices over the next few weeks. Here are some of the biggest headlines from a month filled with faith communities putting family values in action.
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01/28/10 This morning, Rep. Luis Gutierrez posted this response to the President's State of the Union address last night: "Last night, President Obama spoke for seventy minutes on the State of our Union. About two of those minutes focused on one of the greatest challenges facing it. The President talked of health care and jobs and our economy. That was the right thing to do. But the President must acknowledge that fixing our economy, providing health care, putting people back to work and moving America forward cannot be separated from fixing our broken immigration system."
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01/27/10 America's Voice is starting a new series to bring Spanish-language coverage of immigration and politics to a wider audience. Look for daily roundups (in English), of some of the best Spanish-language news. "The EFE and AFP news agencies report that President Obama's State of the Union address will focus on the economy. At a demonstration held in front of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. yesterday, activists protested President Obama's neglect of his campaign promise to the Hispanic community to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality, as reported by Notimex and La Opinión."
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01/27/10 Earlier this month, President Obama and a bipartisan group of members of Congress did the right thing by granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to the approximately 30,000 Haitian immigrants already in the United States. Granting TPS was a welcome and timely move that reinforced American values at a time of great international turmoil. It was a move that we, and many other organizations, applauded with the advertisement to the right, which appeared in Roll Call last Thursday, January 21st.
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01/26/10 According to the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, immigration is a topic likely to be mentioned during tomorrow's State of the Union address, the first of Obama's presidency. Via USA Today: "White House press secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed a few more subjects that may surface in the State of the Union tomorrow night, including immigration and gays in the military -- but he provided few details and noted that the address is still being edited."
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01/25/10 "On Saturday, nearly 1,000 advocates gathered in Van Nuys, CA to march for immigration reform! The marchers left the Van Nuys City Hall and marched 1.2 miles to the Church on the Way, where they attended a panel discussion of experts and advocates." Saturday's event follows several weeks of major grassroots momentum (including rallies, protests, faith vigils, and more) to push for real immigration reform in the year ahead, despite the cynical political forecasts. Via the Reform Immigration FOR America Blog: "Reports are still coming in from all across the country about the amazing events held last week. From Alaska to Florida, from California to New Jersey, from Virginia to Colorado, people everywhere are uniting to show the world that immigration reform can't wait. Here are some of the highlights."
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01/25/10 The folks over at DreamActSeries just uploaded this video yesterday, of Jessica Alba making comments on immigration that seem just as relevant today... "There's no denying that it's something that needs to be solved. There needs to be a mutual, beneficial agreement." Watch it.
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01/22/10 For months, pundits in Washington have been dying to write the obituary for comprehensive immigration reform. Predictably, they're using Tuesday night's special election in Massachusetts as a chance to do just that. But what they overlook is that immigration may well be one of the few issues where a bipartisan breakthrough is possible. Yes, Democrats have lost their 60-seat supermajority in the Senate. But, unlike many issues, the coalition to enact comprehensive immigration reform has always been bipartisan in nature, and the bill was always going to require support from both Democrats and Republicans to move forward.
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01/22/10 You might remember Krikorian from when he was named Worst Person in the World by Keith Olberman for trying to push some of that "Anglo-conformity" on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for pronouncing her name too ethnically: "Deferring to people's own pronunciation of their names should obviously be our first inclination, but there ought to be limits. Putting the emphasis on the final syllable of Sotomayor is unnatural in English..." But Krikorian isn't the only leader of the anti-immigrant movement who's felt the need to weigh in on the Haitian tragedy. After President Obama and a bipartisan group of Members of Congress granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitian immigrants living in the United States, Congressman Steve King (R-IA) argued that Haitian immigrants in the U.S. should be deported (in order to "help with the relief effort").
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01/21/10 Professional pundits and Democratic politicians are in a frenzy over what Martha Coakley's senate seat loss to Republican Scott Brown might mean for American politics. Immigration reform in jeopardy As Harold Meyerson of the American Prospect reports, the loss of one seat probably won't derail heath care reform, but it does make the chances of passing immigration reform slimmer. Meyerson writes that immigration reform is "necessary to restore our economic vitality and political equality," and actually passing reform would benefit the Democratic faction. Unfortunately, that means that immigration reform will require 60 votes in order to pass the senate.
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01/21/10 Update: Check out video from the event here. Today, the Center for American Progress, in collaboration with Netroots Nation and America’s Voice, will host a roundtable discussion about the policy and politics of immigration reform entitled, “Next Up, Comprehensive Immigration Reform: How We Will Make It Happen.” Panelists include Nico Pitney, National Editor of Huffington [...]
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01/20/10 Anees Sous, the father of six US citizen children, has been living in the United States for over 27 years – that's over 27 years of paying taxes, putting his children through school, setting up his own business, and essentially doing what most immigrants come here to do: search for the American dream. But thanks to the thousands of emails and calls and extraordinary work of grassroots groups like DreamActivist.org, as well as the crucial support he received from Representative Conyers (D-MI), the Department of Homeland Security granted Anees an extra 30 days yesterday, so that they could review his case.
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01/20/10 Asked whether House leadership had the political will to move comprehensive immigration reform legislation once the Senate passes a bill, which members of both houses have indicated is the current strategy, Becerra said: "The answer is, of course." "This year, working with the Senate, we can accomplish reform of our immigration system. Of course it will be difficult, but with the bipartisan support of the Senate and the House, it is not only possible, but necessary, to finish it this year," the congressman declared.
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01/20/10 Here's another damning piece from the New York Times exposing the nation's shadowy immigration detention system, which exploded under the Bush administration. The editorial is called, "Secrets of Immigration Jails," and begins: "Americans have long known that the government has been running secretive immigration prisons into which detainees have frequently disappeared, their grave illnesses and injuries untreated, their fates undisclosed until well after early and unnecessary deaths."
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01/19/10 As we pause to commemorate the historic achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., protest the horrid abuses of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and come together to help Haiti rebuild in the wage of tragedy, one can't help but wonder exactly what sort of America members of Congress like Rep. Steve King wish to create.
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01/19/10 The Center for American Progress has a great snapshot of public opinion on immigration today. The piece begins: "There's no doubt the politics of immigration reform are very complicated and that getting a bill through Congress will not be easy. But it's important to be clear that the public is quite supportive of immigration reform, especially reform that is comprehensive and does not simply focus on punitive measures. This has been true of the public for some time and a new Benenson Strategy Group poll for America's Voice demonstrates that it is still true today."
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01/16/10 Today I'm proud to team up with Sarahi Uribe from NDLON, and Adam Luna from America's Voice, as well as our many blog-migos in the twitter-verse, to chronicle the massive anti-Arpaio march and rally happening right now in Phoenix, Arizona! Expect updates every 15 minutes or so (displayed in Phoenix time), and leave us some comment-love. Please consider giving generously to cover the costs of the event -- all funds go directly to provide water and support to protesters (via NDLON).
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01/15/10 Earlier today we urged you to Stand with Haiti by donating to the post-earthquake relief effort and calling for a crucial protection, called Temporary Protected Status (TPS), for Haitian men and women living in the U.S. Well, here's to a long-overdue victory! President Obama deserves praise for granting TPS, as do the bipartisan group of members of Congress and many, diverse advocacy organizations and bloggers who publicly urged him to do so.
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01/15/10 Pundits and unnamed politicos have long been arguing that Congress won't deal with reform in 2010. But, according to an article in today's Politico, not only is immigration reform in the mix, it's got a pretty fierce champion in the Senate: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is heading for a collision with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) over whose pet issue will get top billing in the Senate later this year. Schumer is taking a lead role in immigration — and is pushing Democrats to prioritize a potentially toxic issue leading up to the November elections. Kerry is a lead negotiator on climate change and is demanding that a climate bill get pushed to the front of the line.
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01/15/10 We couldn't agree more with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) when he says President Obama: "...Must lead on immigration by offering specific proposals to secure our borders, upholding the rule of law and treating illegal immigrants with justice and compassion." But saying the right thing is not the same as doing the right thing. Though Sen. Cornyn has consistently said we need comprehensive immigration reform, he has also consistently voted against it – even when there was a bill strongly supported by a Republican administration. Cornyn's actions don't match his words and that's the kind of "consistency" real supporters of immigration reform can do without.
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01/15/10 Yesterday we blogged about the catastrophic devastation in Haiti as a result of this week's magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Here are three ways to help right now: 1. Donate to the relief efforts. Give to organizations working in Haiti like Partners in Health. You can also contribute online to the Red Cross, or donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." 2. Sign a petition by Credo (a progressive mobile and online advocacy network) or Catholics United to President Obama. Both are also arguing for Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants already living in the United States.
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01/15/10 USA Today reports that Arizona has become 'ground zero' of our nation's immigration fight, largely on account of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial tactics and several anti-immigrant measures that have made their way into law: "When activists from around the country rally for immigrants' rights Saturday, it's no coincidence that they'll converge here."
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