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Home > Press Room > 2007 > Press Release
Press Release
Defeat of Unworkable Bill Gives
Senate Second Chance To Get Immigration Reform Right .
Immigration proponents will continue to push for
fair and just legislation that creates an
orderly and legal process for immigration into
the United States.
June 8, 2007
Contact:
Lizette Jenness Olmos 202-833-6130 ext.16
Washington, DC – LULAC
National President Rosa Rosales made the
following statement today after the vote to end
debate on the Senate immigration bill failed by
a 45-50 margin:
“The Senate’s failure to
achieve cloture on a punitive and unworkable
immigration bill, provides our Congressional
leadership an opportunity to take a fresh
approach to solving our broken immigration
system and to get a much needed reform bill done
right. Because the bill was brokered behind
closed doors and failed to provide a legal
opportunity for future workers to enter the
United States, the bill failed to please the
majority of immigrant advocates as well as those
who are concerned with preventing undocumented
immigration in the future.
The American public continues
to demand action by Congress and the White
House. The vast majority of Americans support
comprehensive reform that keeps families united
and allows hard working immigrants an
opportunity to earn their way to legal status,
while securing our borders and deterring future
undocumented immigration. Our country has become
strong because each successive generation of
immigrants has brought their energy, talent and
work ethic to our nation, strengthened our
economy and enriched our culture. Congress must
find a way to provide this generation of
immigrants with the same opportunities their
ancestors had when they came here. Everyone
agrees our immigration system is badly broken.
It’s up to Congress and the White House to step
up and to fix it, and to do so now.
We encourage Congress and the
White House to renegotiate a workable bill that
unites families, protects human rights, creates
an avenue for undocumented immigrants to
legalize their status and allows future workers
to come here legally with a pathway to permanent
residency.
We also want to thank those
policymakers who have worked hard to develop a
just bill that responds to the needs of our
economy, our citizens, and our future
immigrants. However, we are disappointed that a
few Congressman appear more interested in
currying favor with a small but vocal group of
anti-immigrant obstructionists than in solving
our nation’s immigration problems. It is time
for Congress to stop listening to the
anti-immigrant few and to start responding to
vast majority of Americans who want a workable
and legal immigration system that meets the
needs of our country.
LULAC encourages our members
and allies to continuing contacting our elected
leaders to stress the importance of passing fair
and just comprehensive immigration reform. Our
members and allies can have a letter sent to
their Congressman by signing our fair and just
immigration petition at
www.onemillionvoicesunited.org.”
The League of United Latin
American Citizens, the oldest and largest
Hispanic membership organization in the country,
advances the economic conditions, educational
attainment, political influence, health and
civil rights of Hispanic Americans through
community-based programs operating at more than
700 LULAC councils nationwide.
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