05/21/13 Below is a press statement from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, about President Obama’s meeting with DREAMers and their families today: Families part of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement Share Personal Stories of Broken Immigration System and the Impact on Their Lives (WASHINGTON) – This morning, President Obama and Vice President Biden met with seven [...]
Read More »

04/11/13 You’ve heard us say many times that when it comes to immigration reform with a path to citizenship: the American people want it, Democrats promised it and Republicans need it. Today, we get conclusive proof from the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that the American people — including Republicans — do want citizenship for the [...]
Read More »

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 [...]
Read More »

03/25/13 President Obama will host a naturalization ceremony at the White House today, where he will witness 28 immigrants, including 13 service members, become American citizens.  The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund: Today’s White House naturalization ceremony is a reminder of what we, as a nation, do best [...]
Read More »

03/18/13 President Obama nominated Thomas E. Perez, the nation’s top civil rights enforcer, as the new secretary of Labor today, another sign of immigration reform’s current significance on the national stage. Perez is the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and has led the Administration’s efforts against state anti-immigrant laws like Arizona’s SB [...]
Read More »

03/14/13 As the Associated Press reported yesterday, “President Barack Obama told House Republicans Wednesday that they would benefit politically more than Democrats would from supporting a comprehensive immigration overhaul, lawmakers present said … The assertion prompted some ‘light chuckles’ from certain Republican members, while others reacted more like Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who said, ‘There’s something to it.’” As  Lynn Tramonte, [...]
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 »

02/22/13 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 »

02/19/13 This weekend, USA Today published details of a White House draft immigration bill, setting off a furious round of Washington hand-wringing, analysis, and recriminations.  In light of the leaked plan and related speculation, America’s Voice Education Fund adds the following: Relax.  Breathe deeply.  Things remain on track for real immigration reform in 2013. “The leak [...]
Read More »

02/15/13 A disturbing new article in USA Today, based on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the ACLU of North Carolina, highlights how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been focused on meeting deportation quotas by targeting, arresting and deporting low-priority immigrants.   Despite a stated policy [...]
Read More »

01/31/13 You’ve heard it from us over and over: there’s a new politics of immigration reform, shaped by the 2012 elections. That new politics means immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for the 11 million, is under serious consideration in Congress. The Democrats promised it. And the Republicans need it. E.J. Dionne, one of the [...]
Read More »

01/29/13 The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund, reacting to today’s immigration speech from President Obama: President Obama today provided another reminder why we are optimistic about immigration reform in 2013.  During the President’s speech, he laid down a clear and important marker for the impending debate by [...]
Read More »

01/29/13 Courtesy of Washington Post:  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Thank you. It is good to be back in Las Vegas. (APPLAUSE) And it is good to be among so many good friends. Let — let me start off by thanking everybody at Del Sol High School [...]
Read More »

01/27/13 This morning, Senators John McCain and Robert Menendez appeared on ABC’s “This Week.” Both are part of the so-called “Gang of Six” working on immigration legislation, so what they say really matters as the debate unfolds. McCain and Menendez both emphasized that path to citizenship for the 11 million is a key part of their [...]
Read More »

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 [...]
Read More »

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. [...]
Read More »

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 [...]
Read More »

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 [...]
Read More »

01/04/13 Today, the above-the-fold headline in the Washington Post reads: ”Obama prioritizing immigrant issues” (which matters because many people here still get the Post delivered).  The headline of the online version of the article is: “White House pushes forward on immigration ahead of bigger reform fight.” There is a new conventional wisdom for immigration reform, and the Obama [...]
Read More »

01/03/13 Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano this week announced the culmination of a years-long effort to reform the family unity waiver process for new Americans, who up until recently had to travel back to their country of origin to obtain a visa without any guarantee of being able to return. It’s been a full [...]
Read More »

12/28/12 Late last Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that they had deported another record number of immigrants in the last fiscal year, but that they were enacting reforms that could lead to fewer unnecessary deportations in the future.  As a New York Times Christmas editorial noted, the policy change “if it works — should [...]
Read More »

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 [...]
Read More »

12/11/12 At The Fix, the Washington Post’s political blogger Chris Cillizza, took a close look at the new Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll (which we wrote about yesterday.) Cillizza came up with a number of “takeaways,” including this one on immigration: People are ready for immigration reform. While it’s not a top-of-mind issue (see point No. [...]
Read More »

12/10/12 The ramp-up to the upcoming immigration reform legislative battle has started and will continue to play out in public over the coming months.  As America’s Voice Education Fund’s Executive Director Frank Sharry told USA Today, the legislative “measures that pass are those are litigated in public, in a loud debate.”  However, despite the impending noise, [...]
Read More »

12/10/12 When it comes to immigration reform, Americans want it, Democrats promised it, and Republicans need it.  And as a much-discussed Los Angeles Times article reveals, steps are being taken to deliver it: As soon as the confrontation over fiscal policy winds down, the Obama administration will begin an all-out drive for comprehensive immigration reform, including seeking a path to citizenship [...]
Read More »

12/10/12 As politicians begin discussing immigration reform legislation for next year, one thing is crystal clear: citizenship is the solution. And according to a new national poll, a majority of the American people support it: A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll finds that 62 percent of those surveyed support an immigration reform proposal that would allow illegal or [...]
Read More »

11/26/12 When Rahm Emanuel served in Congress, he was also the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He was not particularly helpful when it came to immigration reform–in fact, he was often hostile. Here’s what then-Congressman Emanuel said about the issue back in October of 2007: For the American people, and therefore all of us, [...]
Read More »