Thread: Latino lawmakers new strategy for immigration reform

Latino lawmakers rev up a new strategy for easing the path for an immigration reform bill
3:25 AM EST, February 25, 2009
By SUZANNE GAMBOA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Latino lawmakers and advocates are taking a new approach to the push for changes in U.S. immigration policy, making a humanitarian appeal to Americans to support fellow citizens who have relatives living in fear of detention and deportation.

First up: community meetings at churches in 17 cities, with the first set for Friday in Providence, R.I.

"We are going to focus on families and put this in a biblical, moral perspective," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who created the model for the campaign with meetings in Chicago and New York.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York, chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Tuesday that the National Family Unity Campaign is a "first step on putting a human face on how the broken immigration system is impacting the men and women of America."



Before the presidential election campaign, the debate over immigration focused more on enforcement — building barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, conducting raids and expanding detention — than proposals to create a path for citizenship for the estimated 12 million immigrants in the nation illegally.

The stepped-up enforcement has led to stories like that of Diego Lino, a U.S. citizen, and his wife, Francisca Lino, who entered the country illegally. Their four children, including twin daughters who suffer medical problems, are U.S. citizens.

Francisca Lino was arrested when she went to an immigration interview for legal residency, available through a Clinton administration program for illegal immigrants married to U.S. citizens. She is scheduled to be deported to Mexico on March 15, according to Gutierrez's office.

Gutierrez and other lawmakers hope the public will realize that the immigration policies of recent years have not just affected immigrants but American citizens as well. Many U.S. families include people of mixed status, where only one parent is a citizen or has legal residency, or the children are citizens and parents are in the country illegally.

They hope to draw in other minority lawmakers by pointing out that the family separations are happening to immigrants, documented and undocumented, and their U.S. citizen families, who may be black, Asian, Irish or of other national origins.

"When we finish this 17-city tour, you will hear testimonies from across this nation from American citizens. Our goal is to raise the banner of comprehensive immigration reform," Gutierrez said.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., offered his own tragic stories to parry the pro-immigration arguments.

"I have rescued illegals when they were drowning and rescued the bodies on the highways," he said. "When they go to the churches, why don't they go see what's happening on the border and then go to Latin America and see what's happening to the towns there? No one is talking about the way illegal immigration is breaking families apart to start with."

Bilbray said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is addressing a symptom of immigration policies when it should be ensuring employers are not hiring illegal workers.

___

On the Net:

Congressional Hispanic Caucus: http://velazquez.house.gov/chc/

Immigration Reform Caucus: http://www.house.gov/bilbray/irc/


http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld ... 6194.story

I used to live in Phoenix, I KNOW whats going on down there. These Politicians are STEALING our Soverneigty and attempting to turn America into something that looks like a 3rd World Country.
They are getting thier way, and the PC Crowd is allowing it.
NO ONE HAS THE GUTS TO SAY NO!!! Affraid of being called a Rascist, or a Redneck, or they will lose VOTES, or MONEY...
They need to be taken behind the woodshed and TAUGHT A CIVICS LESSON! After that, A HISTORY LESSON!
Political Correctness is killing this Country, it is re-writting American History in a BAD WAY! Our Economy is crumbling in part from Illegal Immigrants (Aliens). Soon the Drug Cartels will overthrow the Mexican Goverment and a FLOOD of people will come across the border.
And the once GREAT America will be nothing more than a giant refugee camp.

I think we all have to find our place in fighting to get the illegals out of our country.

Initially, I spent a lot of time and energy trying to educate people about the illegals problem in our country and how it has a direct correlation to our economic situation. Some people came to understand while others wanted to debate the issue with me and inevitably ended up calling me a racist. Of course, when and if, it got to that point, I knew they could not debate me on the issues, and the discussion was over.

I have decided that my time and energy is better used in working on solving the problem of how to save my family and our country. And my approach to the problem takes many forms. I think those who “get itâ€