This Week in Immigration Reform — Week Ending Nov. 28
Week Ending November 28
This week in immigration reform: NCLR provides additional resources to Affiliates and partners; numerous NCLR Affiliates celebrate the announcement of administrative relief; and President Obama continues to make the case for executive action on immigration. NCLR kept the community informed in a number of news pieces this week, with staff quoted in Politico, the Associated Press, and appearing on Enfoque.
NCLR updates resources following the announcement of executive action: NCLR has been disseminating information on administrative relief to Affiliates and allies. NCLR will continue to update these resources on our administrative relief resource webpage. The resources include a summary of administrative relief, flyers for community members in English and Spanish, slides for a community education presentation in English and Spanish, a recording of a webinar on what we know so far about administrative relief, and links on preventing fraud.
NCLR Affiliates celebrate the announcement of administrative relief: Numerous organizations across the country welcomed President Obama’s announcement of deferred action for millions of undocumented immigrants. Among the events held by NCLR Affiliates are the following:
The Center for Latino Progress held a rally with Senator Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to celebrate.
At a rally w/ @CenterLatino on #immigrationAction—action that will help reform a broken, inhumane immigration system. pic.twitter.com/LvFBoS1pla
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) November 21, 2014
The Latin American Coalition held a watch party to listen to the president’s announcement. In an article on the event, Armando Bellmas with the Latin American Coalition said, “One of the things that struck me about the speech is that this is a human issue, it’s not so much about politics. It’s not about money, it’s about people, and we are talking about millions of people here.”
Casa de Maryland organized community members for watch parties in Maryland and in front of the White House.
El Pueblo, Inc. Youth Council volunteer Karla Salgado, who was featured in a previous installment of NCLR’s ‘Hanging in the Balance’ blog series, was interviewed by a local news station. She is now eligible for relief under the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
El Concilio in California also hosted a viewing event on the eve of the president’s announcement. El Concilo President and CEO Jose Rodriguez said, “The use of executive action is what generally starts the dialogue,” he said. “Once the president takes action, then Congress tinkers with whatever action he’s taken to try to form some type of legislation, so maybe this will lead to that. Hopefully this will lead to legislation that will enact some real reform.”
El Concilo President and CEO Jose R. Rodriguez watches President Barack Obama’s speech on immigration via a live feed at El Concilo’s office in downtown Stockton. CLIFFORD OTO/THE RECORD
Centro Hispano Daniel Torres produced a special broadcast in Spanish to share information about the president’s announcement.
The Resurrection Project handed out flyers with information about administrative relief during masses in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood to ensure that community members are informed and have accurate information.
If you have activities and events you are coordinating related to administrative relief, please share the information with Laura Vazquez at [email protected]
President Obama continued to make the case for executive action and calling on Congress to pass a comprehensive reform bill: President Obama spoke at a community center in Chicago on Tuesday to explain why he was taking action on immigration. In his remarks, he highlighted the economic contributions of immigrants and referred to a new report by the White House Council of Economic Advisors. According to the report, the president’s actions will boost the gross domestic product between $90 billion and $210 billion over the next decade and reduce the deficit by about $25 billion during that time. The report also estimates that the president’s actions will lead to a .3 percent average wage increase for native-born workers by 2024.