05/16/13 Update: According to the DRM Action Coalition, Sen. Heller is liking the Gang of 8 immigration bill so far: @americasvoice @senatorreid @sendeanheller said tday he is supportive & likes #Gangof8 proposal so far. @astrid_nv twitter.com/DRMAction/stat… — DRM Action Coalition (@DRMAction) May 16, 2013 Today on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke about [...]
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05/14/13 The anti-immigrant ProEnglish, founded by white nationalist John Tanton, is now running ads against the immigration reform bill. And, this time, the extreme opponents of immigration reform are being seen for what they are. Buzzfeed’s headline reads: Controversial “Pro-English” Group Launches Ad Campaign To Take Down Immigration Reform. The subtitle is even more on point: “Group tied to [...]
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05/13/13 Last week, Jason Richwine, who co-authored the deeply flawed report on the costs of immigration reform the Heritage Foundation, made big news when we learned that his 2009 dissertation was on IQ and immigration and included this: No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants [...]
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05/09/13 Senator Jeff Sessions has established himself as one of the leading opponents of immigration reform. We expect him to put on quite a show against immigration reform as markup continues over the next few weeks. Today, Sessions began challenging Chuck Schumer over aspects of the “Gang of Eight” bill. But Schumer was having none of [...]
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05/09/13 The mark up of the Senate immigration reform bill is underway. At the start of their meeting today, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and the Ranking Republican, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), gave opening statements that set the tone for what’s to come. Leahy, who is a champion for immigration reform, made [...]
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05/08/13 As the mark-up of the Senate immigration begins in the Judiciary Committee tomorrow, advocates for reform got some very significant news today on the economic benefits of the bill. Via the WSJ’s Washington Wire: The Senate immigration bill will help improve Social Security’s long-term solvency and reduce the number of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, [...]
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05/02/13 Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appeared at an immigration reform rally in Las Vegas. He has for years been an outspoken advocate for immigration reform – and made that clear again yesterday: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised Wednesday to use the power of his office to get immigration overhaul legislation through Congress. “I pledge [...]
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04/23/13 Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds its third hearing on “The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S.744.” The only witness today is Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. We’ll be livetweeting from @americasvoice, as will many of our colleagues and allies, using the hashtag #SJC.  You can watch the hearing [...]
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04/22/13 Today, former Congressman Jim Kolbe gave powerful testimony at the Senate Judiciary Committee about the need to make sure the immigration reform legislation includes all families, including his own. The “Gang of Eight” bill did not include the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which has the support of America’s Voice and many of our allies. From [...]
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04/22/13 Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the immigration reform legislation drafted by the “Gang of Eight.” As we noted in the post below, the anti-immigrant Senators, led by Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and leader of the “Gang of Hate” Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R-AL) on the panel invited several witnesses from the Tanton [...]
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04/17/13 Some people never learn. After the 2012 elections, in which Republicans lost Hispanic voters by more than a 3-1 margin, many Republicans started coming around on immigration reform and accepting the need to move forward on legislation.  The Republican National Committee admitted the party needed to rebrand itself with Latinos and released a whole “autopsy” [...]
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04/11/13 Colorado DREAMer Fabian Dominguez wrote a great op-ed in the Denver Post about what the Colorado ASSET bill means to him: Last month, when I sat in the gallery of the state Capitol to see the Colorado ASSET bill finally pass after 10 years of trying, it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. [...]
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04/08/13 This next few days will be pivotal in the effort to reform immigration. There’s a major rally in front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, April 10. And we’re expecting to see actual legislation soon–with language from both the House and Senate that includes a path to citizenship. But Ted Hesson at ABC News/Univision notes, “the path [...]
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03/18/13 You can’t make this stuff up. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has been living in his anti-immigrant bubble for so long, he has no idea how much the world has changed. Further proof was provided today. On the very day that the Republican National Committee tried to distance itself from its anti-immigrant record, Senator Jefferson Beauregard [...]
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03/15/13 As we’ve mentioned many, many times, there’s growing momentum for real immigration reform. Over the past couple days, we’ve added some new allies from the environmental community. Yesterday, writing in the Los Angeles Times, Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org and one of the leading voices in the environmental movement, issued a powerful call for [...]
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03/11/13 Editor’s note: Maribel Hasting’s analysis of the key players in the immigration debate was originally published in Spanish at Univision. Below is an excerpt. Washington, DC – As Congress gets ready to debate immigration reform bills, the players that are part of the discussion are as diverse as their interests. In past debates this diversity [...]
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03/10/13 The past seven days have been quite a ride for Jeb Bush. He began the week by recanting his earlier support for immigration reform with  a path to citizenship.  That’s because Jeb wrote a book last year when it didn’t seem like a path to citizenship would be the mainstream Republican position. But, the 2012 [...]
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03/06/13 Editor’s note: This column by Maribel Hastings was originally published in Spanish at La Opinion and Huffington Post Voces. The Spanish language version can be viewed here. WASHINGTON, DC – In an interview on NBC’s Today Show Monday, former Florida governor Jeb Bush said it’s premature to declare whether he’ll aspire to the Republican presidential nomination [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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02/13/13 Today was another milestone in the fight for immigration reform with a clear path to citizenship. The U.S. Senate held its first hearing. And, the pro-reform side showed its political muscle with a massive petition drive whose names were inserted into the record at the hearing. Nearly 300,000 Americans made their voices heard, calling on [...]
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02/05/13 As the House Judiciary Committee holds its first hearing on immigration reform, the two top Republicans in the House are talking about the issue. In a widely publicized event, House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor is giving a policy speech today at the American Enterprise Institute, following an interview today with CBS’ “This Morning” where the Congressman previewed his [...]
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02/05/13 If you can’t watch today’s hearing on immigration in the House Judiciary Committee, follow along on twitter. Tweets by @americasvoice
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02/05/13 Immigration articles from Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Plum Line, Huffington Post, CNN, USA Today, Politico, New York Times, the Hill, Wall Street Journal, and NPR.
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02/03/13 Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was on ABC’s “This Week” where he talked about the prospects for immigration reform in Congress this year. When host George Stephanopoulos asked if immigration reform will pass the Senate and pass the House, Reid said, “Well, it’s certainly going to pass the Senate. And it would be a [...]
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02/01/13 In Washington, many of the usual suspects want to have the same old debate about border security. Today, we get further proof that the border is more secure than ever. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) released a new report, “Border Security: Moving Beyond Past Benchmarks”: The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) released a report this [...]
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