Michael Matza, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Tuesday, August 20, 2013, 4:40 PM
philly.com

As lawmakers in Harrisburg and Washington savor what's left of the summer recess, proponents of state and federal immigration reform are intensifying lobbying efforts.

On Wednesday, union members, immigrants and faith leaders will hold a "speak out" at Los Patrillos Taqueria in Norristown, followed by visits to the local offices of U.S. Reps. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), in Blue Bell, and Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) in Trappe.

Activists will present data released Tuesday by the American Action Network, a center-right nonprofit, which contends the immigration overhaul passed by the U.S. Senate in June would create 13,033 jobs in Gerlach's district, and 12,416 in Meehan's, over the next decade. Critics say those numbers are overestimates.

With Pennsylvania unemployment "hovering at 7.5 percent," said a release from Service Employees International Union local 32BJ, supporters want the House of Representatives "to move forward with a bill to create jobs by providing a path to citizenship."

The House is expected to take up immigration when Congress returns Sept. 9.

Some Capitol Hill observers say the jobs data could provide cover for Republican lawmakers considering support of reform.

But staunch opponents, including Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), say the jobs the bill creates will go to new immigrants on work visas rather than native-born Americans.

"We don't have a shortage of workers," he said earlier this month. "We have a shortage of jobs."

Also Wednesday, supporters of the Pennsylvania Dream Act, which would allow discounted, in-state tuition for Pennsylvanians regardless of their immigration status, will gather at the South Philadelphia office of Juntos, a Latino-immigrant support group, to launch a social media campaign designed to bring attention to SB713, the state Dream Act bill. It was introduced in January by Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R., Lancaster), and assigned to the education committee where it awaits action.

Participants in Juntos' #Free2Dream campaign will be photographed Wednesday wearing white ribbons across their mouths. Each ribbon will have the participant's "dream" career, or current career, written in red to show, organizers say, "how the inability to access higher education is silencing a whole community."

The photos will be uploaded to Tumblr, shared on social media, and sent directly to state representatives.

"I am undocumented," said Juntos youth leader Karla Rojas, 20, "and not afraid to fight for my dreams."

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