This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending July 15

Week Ending July 19

This week in immigration reform: a House committee prepares to hold a hearing on DREAMers, while President Obama reaffirms his commitment to a road to citizenship in immigration reform legislation; NCLR Affiliates continued contacting their members of Congress this week, urging members to step up and lead on comprehensive reform that includes a road to citizenship. NCLR staff kept the community informed on the latest in immigration reform, with staff quoted in stories by The Washington Post and VOXXI.

–House Committees to hold hearings next week; President Obama reaffirms commitment to road to citizenship. Members of the House of Representatives continue to state that they will move forward with immigration reform and next week two House subcommittees will hold hearings. The Immigration Subcommittee will hold a July 23 hearing, “Addressing the Immigration Status of Illegal Immigrants Brought to the United States as Children” and the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security will hold a hearing on “House and Senate Approaches to Border Security.”

Speaking with Univision on July 16, President Obama repeated his firm position that a road to citizenship must be included in any immigration reform legislation. Discussing the prospects of reform in the House, the president said he remains “cautiously optimistic” but that a road to citizenship “needs to be part of the bill.”

–Notario Fraud Prevention Information. NCLR Affiliate, Ayuda, participated in a meeting with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and the Federal Trade Commission on protecting immigrant communities from scams. Ayuda presented on their program, Project END (Eradicating Notario Deceit) which provides counsel to immigrants who are victims of notario fraud in Washington, DC. For more information on preventing notario fraud, please see:

• USCIS Unauthorized Practice of Immigration Law Initiative
• American Immigration Lawyers Association Stop Notario Fraud Resources
• Federal Trade Commission Toolkit

–NCLR and Affiliates in action.

• Colorado: In a series of “graduation” ceremonies for DREAMers, NCLR Affiliates in Colorado this week celebrated the state’s recent passage of in-state tuition for undocumented youth and urged the House of Representatives to take up comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Ceremonies took place in Colorado Springs, Longmont, and Westminster, Colorado, with the event in Longmont drawing coverage from the local CBS station.

  
  NCLR Affiliate G.O.A.L. Academy hosts a graduation ceremony (photo: Jesus Altamirano).

• Illinois: NCLR’s Illinois Affiliate Network sent a letter to Sen. Mark Kirk this week, thanking the Senator for his “aye” vote on the Senate’s historic immigration reform legislation, S. 744, and letting Sen. Kirk know that they look forward to his continued efforts to make bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform a reality in the House of Representatives.

  To see whether your senator stood for progress or obstruction, check out NCLR’s infographic detailing how the Senate voted.

  
  

• Pennsylvania: NCLR Affiliate Centro Hispano Daniel Torres had a telephonic meeting with Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Penn.) on July 12 to discuss comprehensive immigration reform with a real road to citizenship.
• North Carolina: NCLR Affiliate the Latin American Coalition (LAC) hit the road in support of comprehensive immigration reform on Sunday July 14, kicking off “On the Road to Reform,” a week-long tour of North Carolina intended to educate North Carolinians about immigration reform, its benefits to the state, and why it needs to happen in 2013. At various stops throughout the state LAC held community information sessions on reform, in addition to rallies and press conferences outside the offices of several members of Congress.

  Latin American Coalition members rallying in support of reform outside Rep. Mark Meadows’ office on Monday July 15 (photo: LAC).

• Tennessee: NCLR Affiliate Latino Memphis met with the local office of Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) this Wednesday the 17th, discussing the need for the House to take up a comprehensive immigration reform bill and working to schedule an in-district meeting with the Congressman when he returns home during the August Recess.
• Utah: NCLR Affiliate Comunidades Unidas continued with their phonebank operation this week, driving in more calls to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in support of the House addressing comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
• Wisconsin: NCLR Affiliate Centro Hispano of Milwaukee had a Skype meeting with the DC office of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on immigration reform on July 18.
• Washington, DC: NCLR staff met this week with staff of Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).