The buzz in news this week involves a recent John McCain town hall event in Arizona, where he was heckled by anti-immigrant opponents shouting about stopping immigrants with guns and expressing beliefs that all immigrants are on welfare (actually, they’re not eligible).
In contrast to the extremism in Arizona, we want to share this video from a Sen. Mike Bennet (D-CO) town hall yesterday, in which constituents highlighted the urgency of passing a clear and direct path to citizenship. Sen. Bennet (like McCain) is a member of the Gang of 8 currently drafting immigration reform legislation.
At one point, a constituent named Miguel talks about being a Marine Corps veteran who was honorably discharged in 2009—but whose mother was deported in 2011. “My whole world got turned upside down,” he says, before speaking about how he’s been trying to bring her back despite the fact that she is now barred from the country for 10 years.
Watch the video (courtesy of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition) below:
“We have an obligation to the people who have served this country,” Sen. Bennet tells him.
Later in the video, an advocate with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition asks immigrants in the room currently under deportation proceedings to stand, because these are the people who are “being most impacted by immigration laws right now.”
Those inclined to take the McCain event too seriously should remember: a majority of Americans do support immigration reform, and there are millions of Americans-in-waiting who need it. The Republican Party needs it too, for their own political survival.