Last month the U.S. Senate passed a historic immigration bill with a large bipartisan majority. Since then, immigration reform efforts have landed in the House of Representatives. Despite some reports that comprehensive reform is dead-on-arrival in the Republican-controlled House, it’s clear that Speaker John Boehner needs to act.
As Frank Sherry of America’s Voice said:
Only in today’s Washington would legislation that grows the economy, reduces the debt, curtails illegal immigration, helps the GOP politically and enjoys public approval in the 80% range be seen as a problem for the House Republican caucus. With every flimsy excuse crumbling, it comes down to John Boehner. Actually his choice is pretty simple: a bipartisan majority for reform with a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in America exists right now; he should find a way to have that majority express its will.
As Christians we believe that immigration reform is the right thing to do for our churches, our communities, and our state. We need humane reform that offers a reasonable roadmap to citizenship, reunites families, protects workers across the board, reduces unauthorized immigration, and offers more due process and the rule of law.
We’ve waited years for this moment, and now we need your help to push immigration reform across the finish line. Our families are being separated, our communities are hurting, and every day that politicians in Washington play games is another day that some children go without their parents.
Immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship solves a problem that has haunted us for too long, and enjoys the support of the vast majority of the American people, of all faiths and political stripes. Every facet of mainstream America is represented in the forces pushing for a solution: agriculture, high tech, business, labor, religious groups, law enforcement, conservatives and progressives. It is time to set excuses aside. Recent polling demonstrates that only one in five Americans say they want the GOP-controlled House to not act on immigration reform, and 13% say they want the House to strip the eventual pathway to citizenship measure from the bill that passed the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Are you interested in being a part of the solution? Over the next several weeks, we’ll be working with our partners across the state to help you get involved and make a difference in the outcome of this historic legislation.
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The Senate bill has a lot of pork included that makes it unacceptable. The House approach to piecemeal immigration reform is more desirable. One major consideration for us as a nation is the cost of immigration reform due to Obamacare and other social programs and fixing the border before anyone is granted amnesty. If we don’t, the illegal immigration will continue unabated.
The Senate bill does indeed have a lot of pork – mostly to defense contractors to “secure the border.” All serious, nonpartisan economists agree that immigration reform is good for the economy. The Senate bill will reduce illegal immigration. The House is getting it wrong – we have to fix the whole system at once.