PoliticsPhoenixPoliticsImmigration Reform

Dreamers Back Independent In Arizona Race For U.S. Congress

Dreamer Group Gets Involved In Congressional Race
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By 

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WASHINGTON -- An immigration attorney with backing from a group representing young undocumented Dreamers is expected to announce his bid for Congress on Tuesday as an independent.

Jose Peñalosa will join what looks to be a crowded field to fill the Phoenix-area seat of Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.), who announced last week that he plans to retire after his current term. Three Democrats have already entered the race, but Peñalosa plans to run as an independent to push both parties on immigration reform.

He won early support from the Dream Action Coalition, an advocacy group for young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

"There's an opportunity for them to have a voice and not be utilized and ignored by the Republican Party or be served as basically tokens for the Democratic Party," Peñalosa said in a phone interview. "Right now, they're in that particular dilemma. As an independent, I can represent what's best for the district, and our district is ground zero with regard to immigration law."

Peñalosa ran for Congress twice before: as a Republican in 2010 and an independent in 2012.

Although he will run again as an independent, Peñalosa said he would likely align himself more with Democrats if he were in Congress, and that he left the Republican Party because he was disillusioned with the party establishment, particularly on Arizona's harsh 2010 immigration law, SB 1070.

Peñalosa said he stands apart from the rest of the field on immigration because of his extensive work with community members and advocacy groups, including serving as a volunteer lawyer for activists doing civil disobedience.

He also is calling for President Barack Obama to immediately halt deportations in order to allow undocumented immigrants to gain legal status if they would be granted a chance to stay under reform proposals that are currently stalled in Congress. He said he stands apart from the Democrats in the race because of that stance.

"Not one [Democrat] has called out the president to take this form of action to help out our community," he said. "I'm the person to do that, and that's why the Dreamers know my sincerity. That's why they're backing me."

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Before You Go

11 Ways Immigration Reform Helps The Economy
Reform Would Help Curb The Deficit(01 of11)
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Immigration reform would reduce the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to an April analysis by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. (credit:Getty Images)
Expelling Immigrants Is Expensive(02 of11)
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Expelling the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States would cost $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, according to CNBC. That's because it costs the government more than $8,000 to deport each person. (credit:Getty Images)
Reform Would Help Fix The Social Security Problem(03 of11)
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Immigration reform would help bolster Social Security because more legal workers would mean more people contributing payroll taxes to its trust fund, according to an analysis from the Social Security administration. Undocumented workers already contribute $15 billion per year to Social Security. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Start Successful Businesses(04 of11)
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More than a quarter of technology and engineering firms started between 1995 and 2005 had a foreign-born owner, according to the Washington Post. One of the founders of Yahoo!, Jerry Yang, is an immigrant from Taiwan. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Save $410 Billion Over The Next 10 Years(05 of11)
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The immigration reform bill proposed by the "gang of eight" senators would save $410 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis from Gordon Gray, the director of fiscal policy at the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank. The savings would come largely from a boost in GDP resulting from undocumented immigrants gaining citizenship and in turn likely making more money. (credit:AP)
High-Tech Companies Say Reform Would Boost Their Bottom Line(06 of11)
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Companies like Microsoft and Google have said that immigration reform would help them by allowing for more H1B visas, a special kind of visa geared toward highly-skilled immigrants. The tech giants say they can't find enough qualified people in the U.S. to fill their staffing needs. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Boost The Wages Of Native-Born Workers(07 of11)
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U.S.-born workers see between a 0.1 and 0.6 percent boost in wages on average with an increase in immigration, according to a January report from the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative of the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. That's because immigrant workers bring skills with them that complement those of native-born workers, leading to new jobs. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Are Entrepreneurial (08 of11)
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Immigrants are more than twice as likely than native-born Americans to start new businesses, according to a White House report on immigration reform. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Boost GDP By More Than $1 Trillion Over 10 Years(09 of11)
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Immigration reform would boost GDP by $1.5 trillion -- or about 1 percent -- over 10 years, according to an estimate from UCLA professor Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda cited by CNBC. (credit:AP)
Immigrants Create Jobs(10 of11)
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Businesses owned by immigrants created 4.7 million jobs in the U.S. in 2007, according to a White House report on immigration reform. (credit:AP)
Reform Would Bring In More Money Than It Costs In Benefits(11 of11)
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Though many critics of immigration reform argue against the cost of providing increased public benefits, analysts say higher spending is not a likely consequence. A Congressional Budget Analysis of George W. Bush's 2007 immigration reform proposal found that it would cost the government $23 billion in more public services, but bring in $48 billion in revenue, according to the Washington Post. (credit:Getty Images)
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