AP: Companies in the U.S. call for immigration reform
Major businesses and Republican Party donors are urging the GOP to work towards immigration reform in an attempt to pressure the House Republicans as they head into August recess. The groups sent two letters, one of them signed by 400 business leaders, and the other signed by more than 100 GOP donors.
Both groups argued in favor of immigration reform for economic reasons and asked for the House to move forward with immigration reform legislation.
The House is not expected to take action until this fall, and Republicans could choose to move forward with a series of small bills focused on border security.
The business letter was signed by a wide range of companies, including AT&T, IBM, and Institute of American Meat. It says that the current system is “completely inadequate” for global competition, “unable” to respond to the needs of our national economy and that “failure is not an option.”
The letter from the donors also argues a political point, that Republicans are in great danger if people perceive that they prefer to do nothing rather than fix our immigration system. The donor letter asks for a “path to legal status” for undocumented immigrants..
The following outlets also reported on this subject: Univision
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La Opinion: It’s up to Boehner
Speaker of the House John Boehner, was right when he said that Steve King’s comparison of DREAMers to human drug mules is “deeply wrong and offensive” and that it does “not reflect the values of Americans or the Republican party.”
However, Boehner’s condemnation doesn’t match his actions. Steve King has also compared immigrants to cattle and dogs in the past; and Boehner has the authority to remove him from the House Judiciary Committee.
If Boehner chooses to remove Steve King from the Committee he can avoid the damage that King’s hateful messages are doing to House Republicans when it comes to Latinos and immigration reform.
Boehner can send a powerful message about the values and beliefs of the Republican Party by removing Steve King from the House Judiciary Committee..
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La Opinión: Judge dismisses lawsuit against deferred action
Federal Judge Reed O’ Connor,last week dismissed a lawsuit filed by Kris Kobach (the author of Arizona’s SB 1070), and ICE agents’ union against President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. The lawsuit was dismissed because of jurisdictional issues.
Judge O’ Connor said that the lawsuit could stand on merit if it were not for the issue of jurisdiction. Other law experts said that DACA would have still prevailed because the federal government is entitled to exercise their legal discretion in those cases.
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EFE: Activists deliver 224 cantaloupes and demand a vote on immigration reform
Immigration reform activists walked through the halls of Congress and delivered 224 cantaloupes as a symbol of immigrant labor, also demanding vote on immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
The activists explained to the press that they were delivering the 224 cantaloupes to members of Congress who, last month, voted in favor of a Steve King amendment that would defund the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The action was also intended to condemn Iowa Congressman Steve King’s comments stating that DREAMers have “calves the size of cantaloupes” because the majority of them are drug runners.
United We Dream leader Jose Diaz said that Speaker of the House John Boehner should allow a vote on immigration reform that creates a path to citizenship for the 11 million. The cantaloupes that were delivered had a sticker on them with the following message: “This cantaloupe was picked by immigrants in California. You gave Steve King a vote. Give us a vote for citizenship.”
The following outlets also reported on this subject: La Opinion, Univision
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Univision: Dozens of arrests during an act of civil disobedience in the name of immigration reform
Dozens of protesters were arrested last Thursday in front of the Capitol during an act of civil disobedience in favor of immigration reform. Among those arrested were activists from groups that protect immigrant rights, members of religious organizations, labor leaders, and leaders of social organizations. Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) joined the protest and spoke in favor of immigration reform.
The day of the protests came as Congress began to head out of town for August recess. Demonstrators spoke out against current immigration laws and condemned inaction in the House of Representatives. Immigration reform has been stalled in the House after the passage of a bipartisan bill in the Senate that included a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants.
House Speaker John Boehner has decided to only take up projects that have the support of the majority of the majority and has established that they prefer a piecemeal approach to immigration reform. Luis Gutierrez said that (based on prior statistics) during the August approximately 44,000 immigrants will be deported–thanks to the lack of comprehensive immigration reform, . Several organizations that participated in the protests said that over 30 leaders were arrested and said they plan on having similar actions over the next 40 days around the country.
The following outlets also reported on this subject: AP, La Opinion, Univision, EFE, Telemundo
