“Qué Pasa” is our weekly roundup of news, opinion, and links from Spanish-Language online news publications:
La Opinion: Congressmen look to continue with immigration reform
Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) told La Opinion that the Senate bill should be put on the table if the House Republicans cannot advance a proposal. He also said that House leaders should be required to put the interest of the people before the interests of their own party.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) said that while there are other priorities, such as the budget, there is still time for immigration reform. He also said that the support of the Republicans is important and that “there are two areas we must continue working: border security and the prevention of violations of the rule of law.”
Lucille Roybal Allard (D-CA) wants to focus on and highlight the rights and benefits of women. She said that women should not have to depend on the status of others and that the immigration system should be just and fair for women.
A group of 39 lawmakers (New Democrats) had assured before the August recess that if no progress had been made by September 30th, they would introduce their own proposal for immigration reform. Joaquín Castro (D-TX), who is part of this group said that a proposal would be presented but they are still working out details.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) led a meeting with various party members to discuss ways to push immigration reform.
So far four proposals have come out of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives and would be ready for a vote if leadership in the House allowed for one.
EFE: Undocumented activists demand Obama to stop deportations
Seven undocumented activists handcuffed themselves to the White House fence on Wednesday to demand that President Barack Obama stop deportations. They ignored warnings from the police that they were violating federal law, and chanted things such as “Obama, entiende, el pueblo se defiende” (“Obama understand, the people must defend themselves”).
The protest was one day after Obama said during an interview with Telemundo that he would not take executive action to stop deportations because he can not ignore the law. In this interview Obama also said it is up to Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform and stated that he will support any bill that has all the components for a comprehensive solution.
Speaker of the House John Boehner said that his party will develop its own version of an immigration reform bill, but so far we haven’t seen any movement.
Pro-immigration groups will continue their campaigns all over the country and will continue to put pressure on for immigration reform.
The following outlets also reported on this subject: AP, Telemundo, Univision, Notimex, La Opinion
