Home > Our Blog > Today’s kickoff of the campaign for immigration reform

Blog Post

Today’s kickoff of the campaign for immigration reform

Posted June 4, 2009 by Patrick Young, Esq.

Nearly 800 leaders of the immigrant rights community began assembling in Washington Wednesday to kick off the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform. Some of the heaviest hitters held a well-attended press conference in D.C..
Janet Murgia of the National Council of La Raza told reporters that “we need a system that restores dignity and the rule of law” to the immigration process. She urged the press to “take the hate out of the immigration debate”.
John Podesta from the Center for American Progress said that there is no excuse to delay reform. He said that “opponents claim that at a time when American workers are hurting, the best solution is deportation. This ignores the critical role that immigrants play in economic growth from the corner store to the corporation. What we cannot afford is to deport 12 million undocumented immigrants.” Such a policy of deportation, he warned, would cost the United States $206 billion over five years.
The press wanted to know if the Sotomayor appointment meant that Obama had paid his electoral debt to Latino voters. Murgia dismissed this notion saying that Obama had promided to work for reform and that “a promise is a promise”. Video here

Tags : immigration movement, immigration reform

Permalink Comments