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PICO, Presente, MoveOn, AVEF Deliver 30,000 Petitions Condemning Rep. Rohrabacher’s Treatment of DREAMer Jessica Bravo

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picoLast month we brought to you the story of Jessica Bravo and anti-immigrant super-hardliner Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).  When Jessica, a DREAMer, came to Rohrabacher’s office to ask him to support immigration reform, he screamed at her that he “hate[s] illegals” and told her “now I know where you live.”

The story of the sitting Congressman’s unacceptable behavior spread online, and groups like America’s Voice, PICO, Presente.org, and MoveOn.org eventually collected 30,000 petitions condemning Rohrabacher’s outburst.  The petitions were directed at Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner (OH), asking him to denounce anti-immigrant comments like Rohrabacher’s and to keep his extremist Congress members in line.  This morning, members of the petition groups, including Rev. Troy Jackson from PICO, several other PICO clergy members and Gabriela Garcia from Presente, went up to Speaker Boehner’s office to drop off the 30,000 petitions and ask Boehner to support immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

At the office, a Boehner legislative aide—Daniel Levia—spoke with the group about his own immigrant background.  While he said that Boehner was aware of Rohrabacher’s comment, the Speaker is unable to condemn everything that members of the House say [author’s note: probably because he would spend all of his time doing so].  Levia also said that Speaker Boehner supports immigration reform and wants bills to pass through the House Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s (R-VA).  PICO and the clergy members told stories of immigrant families being torn apart, and the meeting ended with a Catholic prayer.