This weekend, the AFL-CIO and the US Chamber of Commerce agreed to a guest worker visa program, a major breakthrough in one of the biggest hurdles to immigration reform legislation. The agreement means that the “all major policy issues” have been resolved in the run-up to legislation. As...
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Over the weekend, officials at the US Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO announced that they had reached an agreement on a guest-worker program in immigration reform, one of the key holdups in the process to legislation. Though some members of the Senate Gang of 8 were quick to note...
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Big news this afternoon with reports that a deal has been reached between the gang of eight senators and the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce on the creation of a new worker program. And, Ana Avendaño, Director of immigration and community action at the AFL-CIO, tweeted: We have a deal...
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Update: Young has issued a full apology: “I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should...
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In the latest blow to GOP minority outreach, the big news of the day involves Rep. Don Young (R-AL), who referred to immigrants as “wetbacks” while speaking on a local radio station yesterday: “My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” Young, an...
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A range of developments underscores the momentum behind immigration reform, while highlighting the newfound support for reform from both traditional and non-traditional backers. Even the spate of stories last week that asked if business and labor disputes would help scuttle the overall reform effort were overblown, as the talks...
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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is at it again—apparently making up Texas friends with property overrun by border crossers. During an appearance on a Texas radio show this morning, Cornyn claimed that people all over the world are now crossing the border through Texas and that any immigration reform that...
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President Obama gave interviews to Univision and Telemundo yesterday in which he expressed confidence that immigration reform would be accomplished this summer. The Senate Gang of 8 is “actually making progress” on immigration, he said. “I’m actually optimistic.” Otherwise, the President noted, he has his own legislation waiting in...
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Four Senators from the bi-partisan “Gang of Eight” that is drafting immigration legislation will tour the U.S./Mexico border at Nogales, AZ today. After their visit, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will hold a press conference. With all eyes on the Senators, they...
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Last week we wrote about a letter that six anti-immigrant Senators sent to Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Senators, out to stall and eventually kill immigration reform, complained that the legislative process was moving too quickly and requested more time to hold more hearings,...
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