This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending May 24

Week Ending May 24

This week in immigration reform:  the Senate Judiciary Committee passes S. 744 out of committee on a strong bipartisan 13-5 vote, sending the bill to the Senate floor in early June; NCLR staff and Affiliates continue pushing for reform throughout the country, with Affiliates in Tennessee hosting a roundtable attended by staff of both the state’s senators and one representative, a North Carolina Affiliate holding a community forum attended by the staff of Sen. Hagan, and Affiliates in Texas and California generating grasstops and grassroots phone calls to key senators.

• Senate Judiciary Committee passes S. 744 out of committee, bill to go before full Senate in June.  After weeks of review and voting on amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013,” out of committee late Tuesday evening by a bipartisan 13-5 vote (Senators Grassley, Sessions, Cornyn, Cruz, and Lee voting no).  NCLR congratulated the Committee and Chairman Leahy (D-VT) for conducting a transparent and constructive process that made significant progress on reform.  NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía remarked, “Committee members sent a strong message to the whole Senate about moving forward in a way that delivers solutions to fix our broken immigration system, and finally addresses the high economic and human costs of inaction.”  The bill now moves to the Senate floor, where it is expected to be considered in June.

• NCLR and Affiliates in action.

Tennessee:  NCLR Affiliates Latino Memphis and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) hosted a roundtable on comprehensive immigration reform on Monday, May 20.  On the panel were staff from the offices of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, and Steve McKellips from the University of Memphis.  Staff from Representative Fincher’s office were present in the audience.  The panelists spoke for an hour and then heard several touching stories from audience members affected by the current immigration system.

Caption (photo: Shawn Roberson, Latino Memphis)

Texas:  NCLR’s Texas Regional Office and Affiliates Southwest Key Programs, YWCA El Paso, and START Center generated a number of grasstops calls to the office of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) this week in support of the Senate’s immigration bill.  NCLR, Southwest Key Programs, and YWCA El Paso also organized a number of law enforcement leaders to call the senator in support of immigration reform.  NCLR joined with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) on a May 18 citizenship event, during which immigration reform was discussed and a number of additional calls to Senator Cornyn were made.

North Carolina:  NCLR Affiliate and Emerging Latino Communities Initiative grantee El Pueblo, Inc. held a forum on immigration reform on Friday, May 24, with the staff of Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) in attendance.  El Pueblo invited members of the community to get engaged in the fight for reform by calling Senators Hagan and Burr (R-NC) and by participating in a social-media action that night.

California:  NCLR Affiliates kept in close contact with Sen. Feinstein’s (D-CA) office this week leading up to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Tuesday, May 21.  Affiliates TODEC Legal Center and El Concilio conducted phone banks that generated over 600 calls to Sen. Feinstein’s office, encouraging the senator to protect the pathway to citizenship and family unification provisions during the amendment process.  NCLR’s California Regional Office and Affiliates also organized 30 grasstops calls to Sen. Feinstein in the days leading up to the Committee vote.

Washington, DC:  On the Hill, NCLR staff met with the staff of various congressional offices and committees on immigration reform, among them the staff of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), as well as the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee.

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

• NCLR’s Digital Communications team wrapped up its coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee markup this week, finishing several days of live tweeting that generated 7.6 million impressions and reached over 300,000 Twitter accounts using the hashtag #UniteUSA.  The Digital team also marshaled 485 phone calls to senators on the committee through action alerts sent out to constituents at key moments during the markup process.

NCLR released a new “Truth in Immigration” infographic this week, noting how the vast majority (87%) of undocumented immigrants want to learn English, but most English language learning programs report waiting lists—some as long as three years.  Share the infographic on Facebook, so your friends can know the truth, and check the “Truth in Immigration” web page frequently for additional infographics that set the record straight on immigration.

Week Ending May 24

This week in immigration reform:  the Senate Judiciary Committee passes S. 744 out of committee on a strong bipartisan 13-5 vote, sending the bill to the Senate floor in early June; NCLR staff and Affiliates continue pushing for reform throughout the country, with Affiliates in Tennessee hosting a roundtable attended by staff of both the state’s senators and one representative, a North Carolina Affiliate holding a community forum attended by the staff of Sen. Hagan, and Affiliates in Texas and California generating grasstops and grassroots phone calls to key senators.

 

·         Senate Judiciary Committee passes S. 744 out of committee, bill to go before full Senate in June.  After weeks of review and voting on amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013,” out of committee late Tuesday evening by a bipartisan 13-5 vote (Senators Grassley, Sessions, Cornyn, Cruz, and Lee voting no).  NCLR congratulated the Committee and Chairman Leahy (D-VT) for conducting a transparent and constructive process that made significant progress on reform.  NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía remarked, “Committee members sent a strong message to the whole Senate about moving forward in a way that delivers solutions to fix our broken immigration system, and finally addresses the high economic and human costs of inaction.”  The bill now moves to the Senate floor, where it is expected to be considered in June.

 

·         NCLR and Affiliates in action.

 

Tennessee:  NCLR Affiliates Latino Memphis and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) hosted a roundtable on comprehensive immigration reform on Monday, May 20.  On the panel were staff from the offices of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, and Steve McKellips from the University of Memphis.  Staff from Representative Fincher’s office were present in the audience.  The panelists spoke for an hour and then heard several touching stories from audience members affected by the current immigration system.

 

Caption (photo: Shawn Roberson, Latino Memphis)

 

Texas:  NCLR’s Texas Regional Office and Affiliates Southwest Key Programs, YWCA El Paso, and START Center generated a number of grasstops calls to the office of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) this week in support of the Senate’s immigration bill.  NCLR, Southwest Key Programs, and YWCA El Paso also organized a number of law enforcement leaders to call the senator in support of immigration reform.  NCLR joined with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) on a May 18 citizenship event, during which immigration reform was discussed and a number of additional calls to Senator Cornyn were made.

 

North Carolina:  NCLR Affiliate and Emerging Latino Communities Initiative grantee El Pueblo, Inc. held a forum on immigration reform on Friday, May 24, with the staff of Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) in attendance.  El Pueblo invited members of the community to get engaged in the fight for reform by calling Senators Hagan and Burr (R-NC) and by participating in a social-media action that night.

 

California:  NCLR Affiliates kept in close contact with Sen. Feinstein’s (D-CA) office this week leading up to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Tuesday, May 21.  Affiliates TODEC Legal Center and El Concilio conducted phone banks that generated over 600 calls to Sen. Feinstein’s office, encouraging the senator to protect the pathway to citizenship and family unification provisions during the amendment process.  NCLR’s California Regional Office and Affiliates also organized 30 grasstops calls to Sen. Feinstein in the days leading up to the Committee vote.

 

 

Washington, DC:  On the Hill, NCLR staff met with the staff of various congressional offices and committees on immigration reform, among them the staff of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), as well as the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee.

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

·         NCLR’s Digital Communications team wrapped up its coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee markup this week, finishing several days of live tweeting that generated 7.6 million impressions and reached over 300,000 Twitter accounts using the hashtag #UniteUSA.  The Digital team also marshaled 485 phone calls to senators on the committee through action alerts sent out to constituents at key moments during the markup process.

 

NCLR released a new “Truth in Immigration” infographic this week, noting how the vast majority (87%) of undocumented immigrants want to learn English, but most English language learning programs report waiting lists—some as long as three years.  Share the infographic on Facebook, so your friends can know the truth, and check the “Truth in Immigration” web page frequently for additional infographics that set the record straight on immigration.