01/25/13 Breaking news on immigration today—President Obama plans to give a speech in Nevada next week laying out the components of a plan for immigration reform that includes a roadmap to citizenship.  From the Hill: President Obama will debut his plans for comprehensive immigration reform at an event Tuesday in Las Vegas, the White House said [...]
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01/23/13 A range of new polls offer fresh evidence that Americans want immigration reform with citizenship, while providing another reminder of the momentum behind immigration reform in 2013: Bipartisan Poll from Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies – Overwhelming Support for Citizenship and Likely Legislative Framework: As Eliseo Medina of SEIU writes in Huffington Post of the bipartisan polling, “A [...]
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01/22/13 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has just identified immigration as the top legislative priority for the Senate in 2013—and that’s just the latest sign that immigration reform will happen this year.  Here are more signs–bipartisan signs–from the last few days: President Obama highlighted immigration as an issue to tackle yesterday during his second inaugural address, [...]
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01/22/13 The U.S. Senate reconvened today and issued a list of their 2013 legislative priorities.  Immigration reform is listed as S.1, signifying its importance to Senate leadership. According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund: Majority Leader Reid has made it clear – in his public statements and in his role as Senate [...]
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01/18/13 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has established himself as a champion of immigration reform–and he reaffirmed his commitment to real reform this week while talking to reporters in his home state of Nevada: “There will be nothing done in my Senate (on immigration reform) without a pathway to citizenship,” he said. The Majority Leader also [...]
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01/18/13 A solid majority of U.S. voters favor common sense immigration reform that includes a path to earned citizenship for current undocumented immigrants, and strong accountability measures, according to a groundbreaking, bipartisan poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm, and Hart Research Associates, a Democratic firm. The national survey of 1,003 registered voters, sponsored by [...]
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01/17/13 From one end of Washington to another today, business and faith leaders spent time joining the growing chorus of groups calling on Congress to quickly pass immigration reform.  PICO National Network, with its Campaign for Citizenship, today brought faith representatives, community leaders, and DREAMers from across the nation together in DC  for the “Separated Families [...]
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01/17/13 Earlier this month, the US Chamber of Commerce announced that it was making immigration reform—with a roadmap to citizenship—a top priority this year, and today, Chamber president Tom Donohue joined faith, law enforcement, immigrant rights, and other business leaders to call on Congress to speedily pass immigration legislation. Donohue opened the press conference today by [...]
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01/17/13 During a speech at Georgetown University Law Center yesterday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced plans to make immigration reform a top priority for his Committee in 2013.  As the starting gate for consideration of immigration reform in Congress, Leahy’s Judiciary Committee will play a crucial role in passing immigration legislation that includes a [...]
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01/16/13 At a speech this morning to the Georgetown University Law Center, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) discussed committee priorities this term such as immigration.  From the Legal Times blog today: The Senate Judiciary Committee will dedicate most of its time this spring to comprehensive immigration reform, including changes for technology companies and agricultural [...]
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01/15/13 From Laura Misjak at the Lansing State Journal today: This is the year for immigration reform and Lansing-area activists are joining forces with others throughout the nation to demand paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and ways to reunite families torn apart by deportation. Taking a stand in freezing temperatures on the front steps of [...]
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01/15/13 Cross-posted at Huffington Post. After the president’s resounding reelection over his Massachusetts-based challenger, many pointed to the president’s performance among Latino voters as critical. The president had won close to a record percentage of Latino voters for a candidate from his party, a crucial fact in an election featuring the greatest-ever number of Latino voters. [...]
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01/14/13 New developments in the immigration debate offer fresh evidence that immigration reform that creates a roadmap to citizenship for 11 million immigrants is going to be a top priority in 2013. Among the key developments: White House Gears Up:  A front-page piece from Julia Preston in the Sunday New York Times states that, “President Obama [...]
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01/14/13 The religious and evangelical community have been longtime supporters of immigration reform and today, members of the Evangelical Immigration Table launched a renewed effort to push Congress to pass legislation. According to Jaweed Kaleem at the Huffington Post today: The Evangelical Immigration Table, which includes members of World Relief, Bread for the World, Christian Community [...]
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01/14/13 Cross-posted at MomsRising: Immigration reform will be a top legislative priority this year, and it won’t be some vague policy or philosophical change that we’re asking for.  The coming battle to change our immigration policy is personal, and we fight it every day to protect our mothers, fathers, children, and family members. Last week was [...]
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01/14/13 At Crooks and Liars, Dave Neiwert has an excellent post titled “The Coming Fight on Immigration Reform: What Progressives Want.”  He lays out a very clear agenda, setting the stage for the upcoming immigration debate from a position of strength. Given the results of the 2012 election, the fact that the American people want reform, Democrats [...]
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01/04/13 Vice President Joe Biden appeared at a ceremonial swearing-in for Latino lawmakers sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute yesterday, and used the opportunity to express his confidence that immigration reform could and would pass through Congress. “It’s your time,” he told the audience of Latino elected officials, according to ABC News. In Biden’s other [...]
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01/04/13 Today, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) announced that he will join the House Judiciary Committee, stepping away from a plum post as the third ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, so that he can fight for immigration reform.  As Rep. Gutierrez stated, “passing comprehensive immigration reform is my passion and my commitment to [...]
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01/04/13 Immigration reform is next on the national agenda in 2013. In the video below, Comcast NewsMakers with Robert Traynham speaks with Rep. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) about the prospects for real immigration reform in the 2013 Congress.  Watch: As Diaz-Balart says, there is both a “window of opportunity—in the first year of the next Congress” and “enough [...]
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01/03/13 The Huffington Post reports that President Obama is planning to move “full steam ahead” on immigration reform this January, with the White House planning “to push forward quickly.”  Meanwhile, both movement conservatives and Republican leaders are calling for Republicans to engage in a new way on immigration.  As a new America’s Voice report makes clear, this political breakthrough could lead to a [...]
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12/28/12 As 2012 comes to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what a remarkable year it has been for immigration reform.  While 2012 started out with a vow to veto the DREAM Act and talk of self-deportation, it ended with a triumphant election season that underscored the power of the [...]
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12/17/12 As the Tampa Bay Times reports, two Florida Republicans, Senator Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, are engaging in the upcoming debate over immigration reform. They have different approaches–Rubio’s for an incremental strategy while Diaz-Balart wants a comprehensive approach.  From the Tampa Bay Times: Immigration — one of the most complex and divisive issues facing [...]
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12/17/12 At NPR this morning is the first report in a series analyzing the need for US immigration reform following last month’s election. “Republicans and Democrats are pushing to make overhauling immigration a priority in 2013. Senator-elect Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, is expected to play a big part in any overhaul of immigration laws,” [...]
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12/14/12 Continuing in the news today is the drumbeat of how 2013 will be the year for immigration reform.  After all, Americans want it, Democrats have promised it, and Republicans need it.  Politico’s piece today, entitled “Immigration waits in the wings,” gives an update for the plans being made to advance immigration reform: President Barack Obama [...]
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12/14/12 Today, we’re bringing back “Qué Pasa in Immigration,” a weekly roundup of  news, opinion, and links from Spanish-Language online news publications: This week in Qué Pasa in Immigration, Spanish-language press lifts up a variety of voices calling for action on immigration reform. From children to Latino and civil rights leaders, a clear message was sent to Congress [...]
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12/14/12 If our latest video doesn’t have you amped up enough about next year, check out this short (but fabulous) interview that United We Dream’s Cristina Jimenez did on Al Punto last Sunday, in which she explains to Jorge Ramos how and why UWD has resolved to push for citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants [...]
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12/14/12 A new video from America’s Voice Education Fund, “From the Latino Vote in 2012 to Immigration Reform in 2013,” captures the Republican Party’s challenge with respect to Latino voters and the GOP’s need to push for immigration reform. The video starts with Ronald Reagan arguing for “amnesty,” followed by Mitt Romney announcing hardline immigration positions [...]
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