Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference that Congress needs to get serious about reforming the immigration system, and Latinos need to make their voices heard by voting. She also expressed the President’s support for the DREAM Act, which Jorge Ramos endorses elsewhere in the Spanish-language press as a suitable “Plan B” in the absence of comprehensive reform.
Napolitano at CHCI. News agencies including the AP and EFE report on comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference. Napolitano said that:
“both parties need to sit down and work out not just a bill, but an immigration system that is just. This is what we’re asking and what we support.”
The secretary concluded:
“These problems won’t go away or get solved unless Congress acts.”
Napolitano also explained how her department is enforcing immigration laws in a more effective and intelligent way to focus on immigrants who pose a genuine threat to national security.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month—which begins this week—the secretary also urged the Latino community to vote in November, according to EFE:
“Your voice is your vote, man…Your vote is the currency this town lives on.”
Napolitano also reiterated that she and President Obama both comprehensive immigration reform and the proposed DREAM Act, which would legalize undocumented youth.
