This Week in Immigration Reform – Week Ending December 6

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Week Ending December 6, 2013

This week in immigration reform: the Fast for Families continues in front of the Capitol, drawing new fasters, media attention, and a visit from the President; Speaker Boehner signals his intentions to work on reform in 2014 by hiring an immigration expert; a new survey shows once again that the American public supports immigration reform that includes a road to citizenship; and NCLR, its Affiliates, and partner organizations hold roundtables, conduct phonebanks, and march and rally for reform.  NCLR kept the community informed this week in a number of media appearances, among them All In with Chris Hayes, NBC Latino, Univision, California News Service, New America Media, Cronkite News Service, and VivirLatino.

—Fast for Families continues as new fasters, including Rep. Joe Kennedy, join:  The Fast for Families entered its twenty-first day this Tuesday, Dec. 3rd, bringing to a close the fasts of those advocates who began the campaign on Nov. 12 while passing the baton on to new long-and-short-term fasters –among them Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), Rep. Juan Vargas (R-Calif.), Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.), and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) all of whom fasted for a day in support of the effort.

President Obama and the First Lady visited the fasters on Friday, Nov. 29th, offering words of encouragement and promising their support of immigration reform efforts.

—Speaker Boehner hires immigration expert, signaling plans for 2014.  Speaker of the House John Boehner signaled his intention this week to work on immigration reform legislation in 2014 by hiring immigration policy expert Becky Tallent, a former staffer of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who played a lead role in his efforts to pass immigration reform legislation in 2006and 2007.

—Another poll shows the public wants immigration reform.  A new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) confirms what poll after poll has demonstrated: the American public overwhelmingly backs immigration reform that allows undocumented immigrants to earn the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.  By party affiliation, PRRI found that 73 percent of registered Democrats and 60 percent of registered Republicans support reform that includes a road to citizenship.

NCLR and Affiliates in action 

  • California:  NCLR Affiliate TODEC Legal Center continued organizing registered voters to call Speaker of the House John Boehner, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), and Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) in support of immigration reform this week, drawing coverage from Enlace, a Spanish-language publication of The San Diego Tribune.

    TODEC also joined with the local Catholic Diocese, Day Laborer Unity, and DREAMers to march in favor of immigration reform at a detention center located in Rep. Paul Cook’s (R-CA-8) district on Monday, Nov. 25.

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In California’s 23rd district, Emerging Latino Communities ELC grantee Líderes Campesinas rallied in front of Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) office and called on the Congressman to get to work on passing immigration reform.

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Teresa Arredondo of ELC grantee Líderes Campesinas calling on Majority Whip McCarthy to get to work on passing reform.

Illinois: NCLR Affiliate Erie House hosted Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) at an event on Monday Nov. 25 highlighting the devastation suffered by millions of families who have been separated by deportations. NCLR Affiliate Mujeres Latinas en Accion also participated in the event.

  • New York: NCLR Affiliate Make the Road NY continued to make the case for action on reform with its representatives in Congress, calling on Reps. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) to sign on to HR 15.
  • North Carolina:  NCLR Affiliate Latin American Coalition spoke at the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C. this Wednesday Dec. 4th, presenting on North Carolina’s increasing Latino population and the future of the immigrant rights’ movement in the South.
  • Tennessee:  NCLR Affiliate Latino Memphis teamed up with faith partners and the offices of Reps. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) to hold a roundtable on Monday, Nov. 25 highlighting the economic benefits that immigration reform would bring to the Memphis region.   The event drew coverage from Memphis’ Channel 3 News.

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