02/28/13 As we’ve written, there is a broad coalition of advocates and leaders from a number of different sectors—faith, law enforcement, labor, business, civil and human rights organizations—joining together to call for immigration reform, and the strength of the movement grows every day. In addition, local activists from different states across the nation have in the [...]
Read More »

02/28/13 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is a longtime immigration reform supporter, and one of the Senate Gang of 8 currently considering immigration legislation.  He’s been such a leader on the issue that he’s now being targeted by anti-immigrant groups like NumbersUSA, who want to silence his advocacy. Last week, Graham spoke about immigration during a visit [...]
Read More »

02/28/13 The House Judiciary Committee held two hearings today, on two different topics (agriculture and E-Verify), yet the takeaway was the same: immigration reform must happen as soon as possible, and must include a path to citizenship. During Tuesday’s agriculture hearing, businesses and farmworkers found potential for an agreement on legalization, with several participants agreeing on the need [...]
Read More »

02/28/13 Voxxi: As immigration debate rolls on, where is Kris Kobach? By Griselda Nevarez New York Times: White House Says It Was Not Involved in Detainee Release By Kirk Semple CNN: White House was ‘unaware’ of immigration detainee release Huffington Post: Jay Carney: Immigration Agency Made Decision To Release Detainees By Elise Foley Christian Science Monitor: [...]
Read More »

02/28/13 Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on agricultural labor and a guest-worker program saw anti-immigrant Rep. Steve King (R-IA) getting a little bit of a smackdown when he tried to insist that immigration enforcement has been lax under President Obama–despite reams of evidence that, to the contrary, it’s been ever more draconian.  Here’s the quote: KING: We’ve seen the [...]
Read More »

02/27/13 As countless reports and briefings by now have noted, the US-Mexico border is more secure than ever.  Even though a 2007 immigration reform bill did not pass through Congress and become law, every border security benchmark from that bill has since been met or exceeded.  Yet many legislators who find it more convenient to sit [...]
Read More »

02/27/13 Further evidence of the nation’s dysfunctional immigration system was on display this week, when ICE–in anticipation of the upcoming sequester–released several hundred immigrants from their detention facilities.  It’s unclear where this policy came from, but immigrants–who have been the focus of decades of political battles–are now being used as a weapon in the debate over [...]
Read More »

02/27/13 Washington Post (Blog): Citing fiscal crunch, the government releases “several hundred” detained immigrants By Suzy Khimm Associated Press: McCain and Graham press Obama on border security, later praise president on immigration issue Reuters: Lindsey Graham Emerges As Strong Voice In Congress By John Whitesides USA Today: Ad hits Sen. Lindsey Graham on immigration work By [...]
Read More »

02/26/13 Labor unions, business leaders, faith denominations, law enforcement, and conservative pundits and lawmakers have all joined a coalition of voices pushing for immigration reform this year.  The tech industry–with its particular interest in more H-1B visas for high-skilled tech workers–is coming onboard too, this week announcing a “virtual march for immigration reform” designed to pressure lawmakers [...]
Read More »

02/26/13 Deseret News: New sources of support for immigration reform By Mercedes White Wall Street Journal: The GOP’s Immigration Dilemma By Laura Meckler CNN: Video: Sen. Graham on spending cuts and immigration February 26, 2013 Los Angeles Times: President to meet with John McCain, Lindsey Graham on immigration By Michael Memoli Washington Post: McCain, Graham to [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 In Chicago today, families torn apart by the US immigration system gathered to launch the Keeping Families Together Story Tour, which will highlight the voices of those who have been separated from loved ones due to deportation.  Over the next three weeks, more than 500 family members will join the tour and travel more than [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 Last Friday, the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition, the Border Network for Human Rights, and other partner organizations held a Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance march, in which 2,000 people came from all over Texas to march in favor of immigration reform. Watch video of their protest here. As an organization blog on the event noted: [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 Happening in the U.S. House of Representatives this week are not one, not two, but three subcommittee hearings on immigration-related topics, spanned across two different committees (Homeland Security and Judiciary). All House Committees are, of course, currently controlled by Republicans.  Unlike the hearings of the last few weeks, these next three will not be full committee [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 POLITICO reports that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) endorsed a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants on Friday saying: We just have a broken system.  And to me, if somebody wants to come in and live the American dream and work hard…we should have a system that works and let’s people in…The vast majority of [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 This weekend, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and one of the key players in the effort to pass immigration reform, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union. He expressed hope that a reform bill can be passed, noting “The time is now.”  Chairman Leahy is a longtime immigration reform champion [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 In big news from this weekend, Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker has joined other pro-immigration reform Republicans in supporting a path to citizenship.  Sen. John McCain appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” to talk about how Republicans shouldn’t fear getting primaried if they support immigration reform.  And Frank Sharry, Executive Director here at America’s Voice, [...]
Read More »

02/25/13 America’s Voice Executive Director Frank Sharry appeared on Al Punto with Jorge Ramos yesterday, along with Jorge Mario Cabrera of CHIRLA and Katherine Vargas of the National Immigration Forum, to talk about immigration reform with a path to citizenship, along with the challenges and politics that accompany the issue.  Univision is the top-rated Spanish-language channel [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 The Colorado ASSET legislation–a state tuition bill which would allow young immigrants living in Colorado to pay in-state tuition for college–has just passed an initial vote in the Senate with three Republican members supporting!  Democrats hold enough of a majority in the Colorado Senate to not have needed any Republican support–but three Republican state senators [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 Momentum is building each day for immigration reform, with a full-throated legislative debate set to start next month.  Today, America’s Voice Education Fund and fellow immigration experts held the first in a series of weekly press briefings, or Immigration Reform “Office Hours.”  Each week, a different and diverse group of speakers will share the latest information on [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 This afternoon the Washington Post published an article “Immigrants, advocates grow impatient with Obama on pace of changes to laws“, which explores the frustration immigration advocates have for the Administration’s record-breaking deportations.  From the article: The anger at President Obama’s deportation polices among some of his otherwise most ardent allies could pose a surprising complication [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 Whatever Republicans think they’re doing to start to win back that 75% of the Latino vote they lost in the last election, it’s not working.  While many in the GOP have moved toward more mainstream policies on immigration and have been willing to come to the table, others have opposed immigration reform that creates a path [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 Yesterday was a good day for immigration reform prospects, as the AFL/CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a set of shared principles that generated praise and optimism from observers ranging from White House press secretary Jay Carney to House Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA). However, House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) seems intent to step all over the [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 It’s been a busy week in immigration, with a key business and labor group releasing their shared principles for immigration reform, Senators holding town halls in their home states, the launch of the new Alliance for Citizenship, and the leak of the White House immigration bill.  To talk about all that–and more–America’s Voice Executive Director [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 With multiple Congressional hearings already conducted, legislation from the president leaked, and major speeches given, the immigration fight this year is fully underway–and there are quite a number of people, from lawmakers to advocates, who are driving the cause.  Ted Hesson at ABC-Univision News today has compiled a list of these power players (including some [...]
Read More »

02/22/13 A new Pew Research Center/USA Today poll finds that more Americans support President Obama’s approach to a number of issues–including immigration–over the approach of Congressional Republicans.  The poll also finds a clear majority of Hispanics approving of the President’s job performance overall, and his approach to immigration specifically.  Meanwhile, the same poll finds that only [...]
Read More »

02/21/13 A major development on immigration reform today between labor and business: Today, US Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released this joint statement of shared principles today.  Their joint statement reads: The United States will always be a nation of immigrants who have contributed greatly to the vitality, diversity, and creativity [...]
Read More »

02/21/13 As we’ve said before, pro-citizenship and common sense immigration reform stances are the mainstream in the immigration debate—an argument bolstered by a range of national polling, including two new polls out today. According to separate surveys by both Bloomberg and the Pew Research Center, public support for immigration that includes a pathway to citizenship remains vast and strong.  According to Bloomberg: Fifty-three percent [...]
Read More »