This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending May 10
Week Ending May 10
This week in immigration reform: a Senate committee begins amending the immigration bill S744, offering and voting upon a number of amendments on the first of several markup sessions; NCLR encourages the Committee members to improve the bill in several areas but warns against misguided amendments that would prevent the bill from fixing our broken immigration system; and NCLR and Affiliates continue meeting with members of Congress, as the NCLR Action Fund generates nearly five thousand phone calls to Senate offices over the course of a few days.
Top Lines:
- Senate Judiciary Committee Begins Marking up Immigration Bill
- NCLR and Affiliates in Action
Senate Judiciary Committee Begins Marking up Immigration Bill, NCLR Weighs In: The Senate Judiciary Committee began marking up the Senate immigration bill S744 on Thursday, May 9, offering and voting on amendments to the bill’s section on border security and enforcement. The Committee will continue voting on amendments to the bill next week.
NCLR President & CEO Janet Murguía sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee before the Committee began amending S744. In the letter Murguía highlighted important areas in the bill that can be improved upon in the markup process, while also voicing her concern over potential pitfalls that would hinder reform – such as any amendments that effectively deter eligible applicants from coming forward or delay implementation, jeopardizing the successful realization of the bill’s central objectives.
NCLR And Affiliates in Action: NCLR and Affiliates Meeting with Members of Senate Judiciary Committee Before Markup Begins, as NCLR Action Fund Generates Thousands of Call s to Senate Offices.
CA: NCLR’s California staff and Affiliates AltaMed, ELACC, CAUSE, and Eastmont Community Center met with Senator Diane Feinstein’s Los Angeles office this Thursday May 9, encouraging the Senator, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, to resist any attempts to further restrict the process of and eligibility for legalization as the Committee began to mark up the Senate’s immigration bill. At the meeting, CAUSE delivered over 1,000 postcards from constituents urging the Senator to pass comprehensive immigration reform to her staff. These efforts were supplemented by the 514 calls to Sen. Feinstein’s office generated by the NCLR Action Fund a few days earlier.
TX: NCLR Affiliates and staff made three visits to Senator John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) Texas offices recently, urging the Senator – a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee – to support a bill that restores and preserves the rule of law and protects workers and families. NCLR Affiliate START Center and members of the Equal Voice Network met with Sen. Cornyn’s office in Rio Grande on May 2, NCLR staff and Affiliates Avenida Guadalupe Association and Mexican American Unity Council visited his office in San Antonio on May 3, and Affiliates Vecinos Unidos and Parents Step Ahead met with the Senator’s Dallas office on May 3.
Meanwhile, NCLR Affiliates SW Key and East Austin College Prep Academy met with the staff of Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) in Austin on May 2, urging the Representative to work for reform with a roadmap to citizenship in the House.
CO: NCLR’s Denver office followed up on its presentation to NCLR Affiliate GOAL Academy of Denver last week with another presentation on the immigration reform bill at GOAL Academy of Aurora, CO. NCLR Regional Field Coordinator Jesus Altamirano explained to students and faculty the process by which the immigration bill would become law, and also offered students an opportunity to voice their support for immigration reform.
FL: The NCLR Action Fund and partners SF Jobs with Justice and ROC met with Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) last Friday May 3, thanking the Congressman for his leadership on immigration reform so far and asking him for his continued support of the roadmap to citizenship as the House draws nearer to considering immigration legislation.
***NCLR Affiliates: to share with NCLR’s Immigration team how your meeting on immigration with your member of Congress went, please fill out the report-back form on our website.***
DC: The NCLR Action Fund generated a total of 4,709 calls to Senate Judiciary Committee members and other Senators last week, with the offices of Sens. Feinstein, Rubio, Cornyn, Hagan, Burr, Hatch, McCaskill, and others receiving phone calls from constituents either applauding their leadership and work on immigration reform or urging them to step up and lead their party on reform that includes a roadmap to citizenship.
NCLR’s Communications team expanded its “Truth in Immigration” series of infographics this week, with a graphic highlighting the huge economic benefits immigration reform will bring to the country (see graphic below). Check the “Truth in Immigration” webpage frequently for additional infographics that set the record straight on immigration.