From our friends over at Reform Immigration For America, written by Rachel LaBruyere.

UPDATE from Reform Immigration For America: So many people are registered, that we have removed the signup link, which is locked. But you can still find a party in your area!

Today, November 18th, Representative Luis Gutierrez will hold a national telephonic town hall to lay out how we are going to win this fight. Thousands of people will be joining the call to hear what Rep. Gutierrez has to say and to ask their questions and voice their concerns.

Oh, and we should probably mention there are nearly 900 house parties happening across the country that night. Attendees will be joining the call alongisde other immigration reform supporters in order to energize and build the movement for reform.

Oddly enough, this past Saturday, some of the most vocal immigration reform opponents hosted parties of their own. A whopping 50 parties were reported, with a few where counter-protestors actually out-numbered the party goers.

What does this mean?

We have the momentum on our side. We have people across the country who are ready to take action. We have what it takes to make immigration reform in 2010 a reality.

And YOU are going to be the deciding factor. Will you join us on Wednesday night to party for immigration reform?

Here’s three ways to plug in:

1. Attend a party in your area. Click here to search for a party near you.
2. Join the call. Sign up here.
3. Tell your friends – Tweet it, Post to Facebook, Email your contacts.

Recently, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano talked about why the fight for immigration reform is different and stronger this time around. On Wednesday, let’s show her just how much stronger we are!

Today America’s Voice released a report entitled, “The New Constituents… How Latinos Will Shape Congressional Apportionment After the 2010 Census” at a live-streamed event at NDN in Washington, DC.

The report examines the role Latinos will play in shaping the next Congress, after the 2010 Census. According to bipartisan projections, nineteen states are poised to see changes in their Congressional representation. Eight states will gain at least one House seat, while eleven states will lose at least one seat in Congress.

These states, as outlined in the report: 

States gaining House seats: Texas (+4), Arizona (+2), Florida (+1), Georgia (+1), Nevada (+1), Oregon (+1), South Carolina (+1), and Utah (+1).

States losing House seats: Ohio (-2), Illinois (-1), Iowa (-1), Louisiana (-1), Massachusetts (-1), Michigan (-1), Minnesota (-1), Missouri (-1), New Jersey (-1), New York (-1), and Pennsylvania (-1).

This was a good week for the immigration reform movement.  

First, CNN paid off Lou Dobbs to take his ranting and raving about immigrants and immigration reform elsewhere.  Then, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano made it clear in a major address at the Center for American Progress that the Obama Administration is committed to moving immigration reform in early 2010; a commitment reiterated Sunday by David Axelrod.  Finally, over the weekend, the best efforts of the anti-immigrant movement to utilize the conservative “Tea Party” movement as a vehicle for their extremist views turned out to be a bust. 

As Arian Campo-Flores wrote in Newsweek:

It’s been a week to savor for immigration advocates.

Among the positive developments last week for immigration reform:

• Dobbs dropped.  Last Wednesday, the news broke that CNN anchor Lou Dobbs was leaving the network.  The departure of Dobbs, who was television’s leading spokesperson for the anti-immigrant movement, is an important step towards clearing the way for an honest immigration debate in our country that is based on facts, instead of falsehoods and demagoguery.  As Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote of Dobbs last August, “For years, he has crusaded against illegal immigration by citing facts and figures that often turn out to be wrong.  Television can confer a kind of pseudo-reality on any manner of nonsense.”  

• Game on.  Last Friday and over the weekend, the Obama Administration reiterated its support for moving forward on comprehensive immigration reform legislation in 2010.  First, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano demonstrated her support for comprehensive reform legislation in a compelling speech at the Center for American Progress, saying, “When it comes to immigration, I took an oath as Secretary of Homeland Security to secure the nation by enforcing the law and managing legal flows across the border. Let me be clear: to do this job as effectively as possible, DHS needs immigration reform,” and, “The first part of 2010, we will see legislation beginning to move.”  Then, over the weekend, White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod backed up Secretary Napolitano’s comments and told CNN’s John King that “good work is being done on both sides of the aisle” to advance immigration reform legislation in 2010.

• Weak tea.  An extremist organization called ALIPAC decided that piggybacking on the attention garnered by the over-hyped tea party movement would intimidate policy makers in both parties.  But their events Saturday drew few supporters, with many events attracting 10-15 people and none attracting crowds of any significance.  This shows what smart political operatives in both parties have known for some time: the anti-immigrant movement is running out of gas, and never had as much fuel as they made believe.  As the Washington Examiner noted of a Northern Virginia anti-immigrant event, “If Alexandria’s event was an indication of how popular anti-immigration tea parties are, ALIPAC has much work to do between now and next spring when the organization plans to combat the Democrats comprehensive immigration reform drive.”

If you haven’t seen it, check out video of a local ALIPAC protest getting “punked” by progressive Minnesota bloggers.

Update from Amanda Terkel at Think Progress, in “CNN paid Lou Dobbs $8 million to quit:”

Although Lou Dobbs has been saying that his departure from CNN was an “amicable parting on the best of terms,” the New York Post reports that CNN wanted him gone so badly that it gave him an $8 million severance package. Dobbs “had a year and a half to go on his $12 million contract.” He’ll be appearing on Fox News tonight to talk with Bill O’Reilly, who has called the former CNN host a “stand-up guy.”

Only $8 million?

Via Huffington Post (This last line is priceless– a must watch):

“Saturday Night Live” went after Lou Dobbs this week, claiming he retired from CNN because he thinks the “C” stands for the Spanish word “si.” Dobbs, played by Darrell Hammond, went on to refer to his replacement, John King, as “Juan” King–a man he says may have paid for his dapper appearance with drug money.

Today, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano stressed the need to fix our nation’s badly broken immigration system. Her remarks, from an event this morning at the Center for American Progress, are now available here (English) and here (Spanish), with the video of her speech here.

Napolitano argued today for a comprehensive immigration reform plan that emphasizes both strong national security provisions and a pathway to earned citizenship for the undocumented:

Let me emphasize this: we will never have fully effective law enforcement or national security as long as so many millions remain in the shadows. Making sure these people become full taxpayers and pay their fair share will both benefit our economy and make it easier to enforce the laws against unscrupulous or exploitive employers. A tough and fair pathway to earned legal status will mandate that illegal immigrants meet a number of requirements – including registering, paying a fine, passing a criminal background check, fully paying all taxes and learning English. These are substantial requirements that will make sure this population gets right with the law. It will help fix our broken system.

The Secretary stressed the President’s commitment to immigration reform, trying to, according to the New York Times, “…dispel any notion that the administration … might postpone the most contentious piece of an immigration overhaul until after midterm elections next November.”

She also pointed out this morning that the majority of Americans want comprehensive immigration reform, mentioning that the debate is different from years past.

Erin Rosa quotes Secretary Napolitano in a post at Campus Progress today, saying:

“The businesses, community leaders, labor leaders, faith groups and law enforcement we’ve met with all have different stories, but they all reach the same conclusion: we need reform,” Napolitano said.

This morning, we’ll be live-tweeting this event at the Center for American Progress.

UPDATE 10:00 AM EST: We’ll have a recap of the event up soon. For now, here are a couple of (cleaned up) tweets from the event:

• Napolitano: we can fix this, immigration is a fixable problem, we look forward to honestly dealing with it 

• Napolitano: need new laws 2 go after smugglers, be sure employers aren’t creating constant demand 4 workers 2 cross dangerously thru desert

• Napolitano gets Q on US jobs vs. H1b visas – A: need better US edu. programs 4math&science, get past notion that it’s 1 or other; it’s both

• Napolitano: immigration has been debated since 1912 (crowd at CAP laughs)

• Napolitano: hopes for immigration reform legislation in 2010, says Congress sees need to get it done 

• Napolitano: US companies need legal workers so they don’t have to move oversees

• Napolitano: best way to uphold our laws is to make sure they’re rational and enforceable; we need immigration reform

• Napolitano: b/c of economy and enforcement illegal flow of workers cut in half

• Napolitano: landcape has changed since 07- reform is far more attainable.

• Napolitano talks about mtgs with faith, business, law enforcement- same conclusion; need CIR

• Napolitano: illegal immigration is wrong, status quo is unacceptable

• Napolitano takes stage, after intro from John Podesta detailing our broken immigration system

Here are the event details, from CAP:

A Discussion on Immigration Policy with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano

November 13, 2009, 9:00am – 10:00am

Streaming Video

Click here to watch the event live.

About This Event

As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano brings to her job a deep understanding of immigration and border issues from her experience as Governor, Attorney General, and U.S. Attorney in the State of Arizona.

President Barack Obama has asked Secretary Napolitano to play a lead role on immigration reform. As the United States looks to fix its broken immigration system, Secretary Napolitano has been speaking with congressional leaders, law enforcement officials, business, labor, and faith leaders, and advocates from across the country—and across the political spectrum. At CAP, Secretary Napolitano will make a case why immigration reform is more needed—and more realistic—than ever before.

Join us to hear Secretary Napolitano discuss the work her department has been doing to prepare for broader immigration reform, and her unique perspective on this matter of vital importance to America’s future. A Q & A session will follow her remarks.

Introduction by:

John Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for American Progress

Featured speaker:

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

Moderated by:

Angela M. Kelley, Vice President for Immigration Policy and Advocacy, Center for American Progress