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Immigration Reform: Latino Advocates Pressure Congress

Latino Advocates Exert Pressure For Immigration Reform
Voxxi
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WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 08: Latinos and immigrants participate in a rally on immigration reform in front of the White House on November 8, 2012 in Washington, DC. Immigrant rights organizations called on President Barack Obama to fulfill his promise of passing comprehensive immigration reform. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Comprehensive immigration reform advocates including top national Latino organizations will be exerting pressure on Congress through a scorecard in an effort to overwhelm the opposition.

The strategy is being likened to Latino vote mobilization efforts that were credited with unprecedented support throughout the election. Organizers are fairly confident they will garner bipartisan support including switching some hardliners in the Republican party.

“This comprehensive immigration reform for the Latino community is personal,” said Maria Teresa Kumar of Voto Latino. “The fact that we came out in record numbers in 2012 was personal and that’s a calculation that members of Congress do not understand.”

It also comes at a turning point. The Latino electorate is already projected to double by 2030, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. As of right now, Latinos are 53 million or 17 percent of the U.S. population.

Momentum is building inside of Congress for immigration

Eight national Latino organizations who played a pivotal role in mobilizing Latino turnout will be engaged in the effort, which includes the National Council of La Raza, LULAC, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Voto Latino, the Hispanic Federation, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Mi Familia Vota and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

NCLR president Janet Murguia said that they will keep track of Congress members in the coming weeks. That includes participating in various Hill visits to reach out to members in the Republican fold including key senators such as Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is often signaled as a “natural” to court the Latino vote for his party.

Murguia said that they have already “sat down” with him and are looking for more consensus.

“I’m not trying to take away anything from Senator Marco Rubio, who I believe has a goal of wanting to see reform, but we may just disagree on the approach,” she said.

Rubio has publicly stated that he is not in favor of pursuing a full comprehensive reform package, he believes it’s easier to push for a set of “comprehensive” bills. Although some of his Republican colleagues including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have previously supported one sweeping immigration reform bill in the past.

Momentum is already building inside of the Senate. The so-called “Gang of eight” or eight senators who are beginning discussions on immigration reform are likely to become an influential force. Such senators include Sen. McCain, Sen. Lyndsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D – N.Y.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) among others. Organizers indicated that they are working “closely” with them.

Murguia explained that this broad coalition will also be targeting those “20 percent” of freshman Congressional members.

Eliseo Medina of SEIU says it will be a “massive pro-immigration” movement

The White House is likely to play a pivotal role in their campaign for immigration reform as they collaborate with each other. Although, it is dubious whether the president will be rated on a score card.

“I don’t believe at the end of the day president Obama wants his legacy to be a failed effort around comprehensive immigration reform and I know he doesn’t want the take away after eight years in office to be the one thing we can say about him and immigration is that he deported the highest number of immigrants than any previous president in the history of our country,” she said.

The strategy resembles a multi-layered approach advocated in the election through social media engagement, online petitions, advertising and grassroots mobilization in areas where the Latino vote made a “huge difference.”

They will also be delivering the information on the score card district-by-district and state-by-state based on individual members of Congress. The report card is projected to be finished by the end of 2013. Until that time, there will be plenty of advocacy including in early March where NCLR is projecting they will bring 200 to 300 individuals or grassroots activists to Washington D.C.

“I think that beginning next year, you are going to see a massive pro-immigration reform campaign unlike any that has ever been waged in this country, so stay tuned, it’s going to be a doozy,” said Eliseo Medina, secretary treasurer of SEIU.

Center-right organizations and business stakeholders sign on to pursue immigration reform

Another part of the strategy is continuing voter registration and naturalizing more persons who are eligible. Still, the contention is likely to be getting more Republicans and Democrats to sign on. That’s part of the reason why momentum for immigration is building from different fronts including center-right organizations.

Jennifer Korn, president of the Hispanic Leadership Network, told VOXXI they have been joining with both conservative and liberal organizations to push for the “best way forward” on immigration reform. She said “it’s going to be a heavy lift.”

“We’ve already started working on the Hill,” said Korn. “After the New Year, we will all be in contact with each other on who we are meeting with, who are allies are—we will be releasing a blue print on immigration what our stance is—we hope that president Obama is going to work in a bipartisan way and that he and Senator Reid don’t try to push a huge bill that doesn’t have any Republican ideas in it.”

Part of the reason why immigration reform failed in previous years is also because not enough pressure was placed from business stake holders. That’s what makes this movement so distinct from previous years, explained LULAC executive director Brent Wilkes.

“Now, that this election is over that releases them from that strategy. There’s no sense in trying to damage Obama anymore. He’s the president for the rest of this term,” he said.

Wilkes added that they’ve been working with the Partnership for a New American Economy led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that includes such influencers as Microsoft and Bill Marriott. They’re hoping to gain support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“I think if we got some of those elements plus some of the conservative religious leaders together, I think we got by far a really strong coalition. I think it’s going to be hard for Congress to not do a bill,” he said.

Originally published by Voxxi as Latino leaders wage mobilization for immigration reform

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Before You Go

10 Major U.S. Federal Immigration Laws
The Naturalization Act of 1790(01 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1790 was our country's first set of laws dealing with citizenship. Applicants had to be "a free white person" of "good moral character." This excluded indentured servants and slaves. Good moral character was substantiated by establishing residence for at least one year in the state from where he was applying, and at least two years of residence in the country. The Naturalization Act of 1795 would extend that requirement to five years, and is still standard today. (credit:Flickr)
The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868(02 of10)
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A Reconstruction Amendment that was added to the U.S. Constitution following the Civil War, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment establishes for the first time that children born on U.S. soil would be conferred U.S. citizenship regardless of their parent's citizenship status, race, or place of birth. Last year, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 to Congress, and challenged this. The bill would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for a child to be granted citizenship. According to the bill's text, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and "clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth."Prior to this, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) introduced a similar bill in 2009. (credit:Getty)
The Naturalization Act of 1870(03 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1870 explicitly extended naturalization laws to "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." This meant that for the first time, African-American children would be conferred citizenship upon birth. Asian immigrants and other people of color are excluded per the Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1795. (credit:Getty)
The Page Act of 1875(04 of10)
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Named after Republican Representative Horace F. Page, this is the first U.S. federal immigration law to explicitly prohibit the immigration of a particular group: persons of Asian descent. Primarily meant to limit Chinese immigrant labor and prostitution, the Page Act prohibited the immigration of: (1) contracted labor from "China, Japan, or any Oriental country" that was not "free and voluntary," (2) Chinese prostitution and (3) criminals and women who would engage in prostitution. Ultimately, the Page Act severely restricted the immigration of Asian women. Only 136 of the the nearly 40,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived in the months before the bill's enforcement were women. And, it would pave the way for the Chinese Exclusion Act.In this picture, Michael Lin, chair of the 1882 Project, a coalition of rights groups seeking a statement of regret over that year's Chinese Exclusion Act, speaks on May 26, 2011 in Washington, DC, at the US House of Representatives in front of a reproduction of a 19th-century sign that aimed at rousing up sentiment against Chinese Americans. Lawmakers introduced a bill that would offer an official statement of regret for the act, which banned further immigration of Chinese to the United States and ended citizenship rights for ethnic Chinese. (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN TANDON). (credit:Getty)
The Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882(05 of10)
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Signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first federal immigration law to prohibit immigration on the basis of race. The bill barred all Chinese laborers, skilled and unskilled, from immigrating to the U.S. for ten years. It was made permanent by 1903, and was not lifted until the 1943 Magnuson Act. The 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark finally extended naturalization laws to persons of Chinese descent by ruling that anyone born in the United States was indeed a U.S. citizen. This editorial cartoon from 1882 shows a Chinese man being excluded from entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty." The sign next to the iron door reads, "Notice--Communist, Nihilist, Socialist, Fenian & Hoodlum welcome. But no admittance to Chinamen." At the bottom, the caption reads, "THE ONLY ONE BARRED OUT. Enlightened American Statesman--'We must draw the line somewhere, you know.'" (Image Source: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 54 (1882 April 1), p. 96. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons). (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
The Naturalization Act of 1906(06 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1906 further defined the naturalization process: the ability to speak English was made a requisite for immigrants to adjust their status. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration Act of 1924(07 of10)
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U.S. President Coolidge signed this U.S. federal bill into law. It capped the number of immigrants who could be admitted entry to the U.S. and barred immigration of persons who were not eligible for naturalization. And, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 required, an immigrant had to be white in order to naturalize. The quotas varied by country. Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons, NYCMarines. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act)(08 of10)
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The McCarran-Walter Act kept up the controversial Immigration Act of 1924, but formally ended Asian exclusion. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965(09 of10)
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When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, it abolished the quota system that favored immigration from Europe and limited immigration from Asia and South America. (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996(10 of10)
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The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) is a piece of legislation that defined an array of issues to do with legal and illegal immigration -- from outlining how border patrol agents should administer visa processing, to the minutiae of how to handle deportation proceedings -- IIRIRA established enforcement and patrolling practices. (credit:AP)
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