The Senate Gang of 8 immigration bill has been released, a number of hearings have been held, and markup is scheduled to start in a few weeks. Meanwhile, the strength of the pro-immigration reform movement continues to demonstrate its power–and the movement is growing every day.
This morning, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform–who gave a strong statement on the economics of immigration reform during a hearing earlier this week–joined Ali Noorani from the National Immigration Forum to discuss polling from the Winston Group finding that strong majorities of Republicans support immigration reform. Here are some of the poll’s highlights:
- Republicans believe that immigration is positive for America: Fewer than 1 out of 4 Republicans think immigration is a bad thing for America
- Republicans and Americans believe our immigration system is broken: 82% of Republicans, and 74% of all Americans, think our immigration system is working poorly
- Republicans and Americans want broad reforms: 72% of Republicans, and 68% of all Americans, think our immigration system needs “a lot of changes” or a “complete overhaul.”
- Republicans and Americans overwhelmingly support the comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced by the US Senate “Gang of 8”: 67% of Republicans, and 74% of Americans, support the Gang of 8 bill.
- Republicans and Americans believe that the Gang of 8 bill will strengthen border security: 71% of Republicans and 61% of Americans believe the Gang of 8 bill will strengthen border security, while just 2% and 3%, respectively, think it will weaken border security.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest environmental group, voted yesterday to support immigration reform. The organization released a blog post this morning authored by Executive Director Michael Brune and President Allison Chin, noting that the founder of the Sierra Club–the legendary environmentalist John Muir–was himself an immigrant, and discussing reform in terms of family unity and civil rights. Here’s an excerpt from their blog post:
The American immigration system is broken. It forces approximately 11 million people to live outside the prevailing currents of our society. Many of them work in the fields, mop floors, care for other people’s children, and take low-wage jobs to support their families. Many work in jobs that expose them to dangerous conditions, chemicals and pesticides, and many more live in areas with disproportionate levels of toxic air and water pollution.
The 20 million Americans with family members whose legal status is in limbo share the Sierra Club’s concerns about climate and the environment. For example, our own polls indicate that Latinos support environmental and conservation efforts with even greater intensity than the average American: 90 percent of Latino voters favor clean energy over fossil fuels. A California study found that 74 percent of Asian-Americans, the fastest growing group in America, accept climate science. Yet, significant numbers of these stakeholders and change agents have been denied their civil rights in the public arena.
The Sierra Club is committed to partnering with all who share our urgent concerns about advancing our democracy and fighting the climate crisis. It is time for us to work together.
That is why the Sierra Club Board of Directors has voted to offer our organization’s strong support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Such a pathway should be free of unreasonable barriers and should facilitate keeping families together and uniting those that have been split apart whenever possible.
The Sierra Club’s endorsement is especially significant considering that it has not historically supported immigration reform–other environmental organizations, in fact, have supported anti-immigrant groups like NumbersUSA and the hate group Federation for American Immigration Reform. But with everyone from evangelical denominations to law enforcement leaders to business interests and labor activists getting onboard with immigration, the Sierra Club’s announcement is just the latest illustration of the growing American demand for reform.
