CAUSA Applauds Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill introduced in U.S. Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2010

Contact:
Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694
Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263

CAUSA Applauds Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill introduced in U.S. Senate

Oregon Senators Should Work To Improve, Pass Reform Legislation

Salem, Ore. -- Last night, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced comprehensive immigration reform legislation in the United States Senate.

CAUSA commends Senators Menendez and Leahy for their strong leadership and we look forward to working with them and others to pass this legislation. The proposal contains many common sense solutions to our nation's broken immigration system including the DREAM Act and AgJOBS--two provisions critical to true comprehensive reform.

Senators Menendez's and Leahy's legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 (S. 3932), is a tough, fair, and practical solution that will:

+ Create millions of new taxpayers by requiring undocumented immigrants to register, go through background checks, pay taxes, and study English on their way to becoming full U.S. citizens. This pathway to earned legalization would honor the hard work of immigrants and our tradition as a nation of laws.
+ Enhance our national security by focusing our enforcement and security measures on the most dangerous threats to America.
+ Protect and respect workers and helps with economic recovery.
+ Promote and respect families by keeping spouses together and children with their parents.
+ Protects the due process rights of all.

CAUSA, and our partners and allies in Oregon are ready to work with Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to improve and pass this legislation. Without comprehensive reform, we continue with a system that abuses American and immigrant workers, needlessly tears families apart, wastes billions of tax dollars so that politicians can sound tough, stifles economic growth, and contributes to the loss of American brain and economic power to foreign competitors.

We are engaged and ready to work to do what it takes to see this legislation through. We have been holding many events and trainings around Oregon to get communities involved for the work ahead. On October 9th at 12:00noon, CAUSA will hold a Children's March and Rally for Immigration Reform at the Oregon State Capitol (900 Court St. NE, Salem, Oregon 97301). This will be a kick-off event to our statewide mobilization to get this crucial reform legislation passed.

Latino voters are paying close attention to how politicians engage on this issue. For too long, the Republican Party has tried to have it both ways on immigration reform. They have complained that the problem needs a comprehensive federal solution, while simultaneously refusing to allow federal legislation to move forward. Instead of playing politics with immigration reform as they have for the past two years, they should engage in good faith negotiations with Democratic leadership to improve this bill and finally solve this problem for the American people. This is a national priority and CAUSA will be working with Senators from both sides of the aisle who are serious about fixing this problem and who will help us engineer the coalition that gets us to 60 votes on any of these measures.

We can't wait any longer to fix our broken immigration system. Americans want their leaders to find realistic solutions that restore the rule of law and uphold our best values: liberty, opportunity, and fairness for all.

To read more about the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 (S. 3932), please link here to see a summary of the legislation: http://www.causaoregon.org/pdfs/comprehensive-immigration-reform-act-of-2010

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CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition, is a member of the Reform Immigration FOR America coalition and is the largest Latino and Latina civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest. We work to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies. For more information, visit www.causaoregon.org

Posted in: Comprehensive Immigration Reform,Legislation,Press Release,Senator Leahy,Senator Menendez,U.S. Senate