This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending October 25

Week Ending October 25

This week in immigration reform: President Obama, joined by NCLR’s own Janet Murguía, calls on the House to get to work on passing immigration reform legislation; a bipartisan group of House lawmakers and immigration reform advocates discusses how reform would strengthen the U.S. military; reports indicate that Republican lawmakers plan to introduce immigration reform legislation; and the NCLR Action Fund announces that the Easton, Pennsylvania City Council is passing a resolution endorsing immigration reform.  NCLR staff kept the community informed as always this week, with staff quoted in stories in Univision and NBC Latino.

• Pres. Obama, joined by Janet Murguía, calls for action on reform.  Joined by NCLR’s own Janet Murguía and other leaders in the broad coalition for immigration reform, President Obama took to the podium on Thursday, Oct. 24^th and called on the House of Representatives to get back to work on immigration reform.

Murguía applauded the President’s call for reform and concurred with his remarks, saying that it continues to remain the House’s responsibility to work on passing immigration reform legislation – a commonsense policy initiative that will boost our economy, cut deficits, and that the majority of the public strongly supports.

• Bipartisan House group calls for reform on military-readiness grounds.  A bipartisan group of House lawmakers and immigration advocates called on Congress to pass immigration reform on Oct. 23^rd, arguing that our broken immigration system undermines military readiness, needlessly bars talented individuals from joining the armed forces, and harms military families that include undocumented individuals.

 Discussing how immigration reform would strengthen the U.S. military were Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ-9), Rep. David Valadao (R-CA-21), Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO-6), and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL-4).  The lawmakers were joined by Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Educational Fund, and Jorge Tellez, a Colorado DREAMer and aspiring service member.

• House Republicans planning to introduce immigration reform legislation.  Politico reports that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49) plans to introduce immigration reform legislation as early as next week.  Issa described the legislation as a “come from the shadows bill” that would grant six years of legal status to undocumented individuals currently in the United States.  Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25) is working with fellow members of Congress on immigration reform legislation that will include border security and legalization provisions.

• NCLR and Affiliates in action. 

Pennsylvania:  The NCLR Action Fund partnered with OFA (Organizing for America) and the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) this Tuesday, October 22^nd to announce that the City Council of Easton, PA is adopting a resolution calling on Congress to pass immigration reform legislation.

Rafael Collazo with the NCLR Action Fund introducing the Easton City Council’s 10/22/13 resolution calling on Congress to pass immigration reform.

NCLR Affiliates:  To share your recent meetings on immigration with your members of Congress, please fill out the report-back form on our website.